Sequestration in Oz

Australia has launched the first carbon sequestration project in the southern hemisphere using technology developed by researchers at the US Department of Energy (DOE).

The Otway Basin Pilot Project will inject and monitor carbon dioxide (CO₂) in a depleted gas field in south east Australia to demonstrate the feasibility of storing the greenhouse gas in the Waarre Formation of the Otway Basin, and similar formations worldwide, to fight global climate change.

The $36m Otway Basin Pilot Project is one of 19 sequestration projects endorsed by the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum (CSLF), an international climate change initiative that focuses on the development of technologies to cost-effectively capture and sequester CO₂.

The project is directed by Australia's Cooperative Research Centre for Greenhouse Gas Technologies (CO2CRC). Project partners include the DOE and a variety of other public and private organisations.

Up to 100,000 metric tons of CO₂ will be injected more than a mile beneath the earth's surface. A team of Australian, American, and other international researchers will monitor the storage reservoir before, during, and after the CO₂ is injected. The injection process will span one to two years, while monitoring and modelling activities will last for several years beyond that.