DEVELOPMENTS in Western Australia’s oil and gas sector are
setting the scene for the State to become a world leader in the research into
and application of a new technology that can significantly reduce green house
gas emissions.
Carbon dioxide sequestration is the injection of CO2 gas
underground and is being developed as an alternative disposal method to venting
harmful greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
Norway leads the field in the research and application of
CO2 sequestration. A natural gas project in the Norwegian North Sea (Sleipner)
has been successfully injecting CO2 beneath the seabed for the past eight
years.
However, more recent developments in Australia, and
specifically in WA’s oil and gas sector, indicate the country is emerging as a
key player in CO2 sequestration.
The $11 billion Gorgon development in the State’s North West
holds the key to this.
If developed, the Gorgon project will dwarf any other
commercial operation with CO2 sequestration. It is five times the size of the
Norwegian project.
Scientists agree that, depending on the Gorgon project, WA
and Australia could soon rival countries such as Norway and the US in the field
of CO2 sequestration.
CSIRO petroleum research scientist Lincoln Paterson said
there was a lot of work looking at CO2 Sequestration in Australia.
However, he said while the Gorgon project was influencing
some of this, it was not the only reason.
Recent studies have shown that Australian and particularly
Western Australian geology is among the best for C02 sequestration.
