Putting It Backwhere It Came From: Is Geological Disposal of Carbon Dioxide an Option for Australia?

Abstract

Liquefied natural gas projects with a total value of around $20 billion are planned for Australia. Over the next decade or so, they have the potential to generate an increase of approximately 3% in Australia's GDP, and an excess of 50,000 jobs. One of the major risks to this vast investment is uncertainty over how to deal with the major increase in direct carbon dioxide (C02) emissions that will result from these developments. The 1997 Kyoto Protocol has served to focus even more attention on this issue.Potentially, a solution to sustaining Australia's economic development, whilst at the same time meeting emission targets, may lie, in part, in developing suitable methodologies for C02 sequestration. One of the key sequestration options is geological disposal. The method, which involves injection of supercritical C02 into the deep subsurface, is being tested on a commercial scale in only one place in the world at the present time, although several other countries are now developing research programs into the technique.The APCRC research program GEODISC is investigating the applicability of this method in Australia. Whilst the focus of GEODISC is on the application of C02 disposal to the Australian natural gas industry, its outcomes will have implications for other industries such as power generation and minerals processing. It will also be looking at some of the other potential benefits of geological sequestration, such as enhanced oil recovery and enhanced coalbed methane recovery.The program will establish the most viable locations for C02 injection, determine the key areas of technical, social and economic risk, and help define a pilot injection program to address the most critical areas of uncertainty. GEODISC brings together six major petroleum companies, the Australian Greenhouse Office and key Australian research groups. The total cost of GEODISC will be approximately $10 million over four years. The major expected outcome of GEODISC will be to help the Australian gas industry plan the way ahead in terms of C02 emissions in an environmentally acceptable manner, whilst concurrently ensuring that the industry does not incur major cost disadvantages, which may adversely impact upon Australia's international competitiveness.

Regional study on potential CO2 geosequestration in the Collie Basin and the Southern Perth Basin of Western Australia

“…Geological storage of carbon dioxide is the process whereby the captured CO 2 is transported and injected into the geological subsurface for long-term storage (Cook et al, 2000;IPCC, 2005;Gibson-Poole et al, 2007).…”

CO2 geological storage: A review on present and future prospects

“…The supercritical CO 2 tends to be buoyant and will rise upward through the rock until it encounters a barrier of non-porous rock. In supercritical form, a larger volume of CO 2 can be stored in the pore space available [19,20]. CO 2 can be trapped by a number of different mechanisms and depend on specific geological conditions.…”

Basin-scale Assessment of the Geological CO2 Sequestration Potential of the Sydney Basin, Australia: Part One

“…In EOR or EGR, the CO 2 is used to incrementally increase the cumulative volume of hydrocarbons extracted by either immiscible or miscible flooding, thus providing an economic benefit while CO 2 is stored. As with depleted oil and gas fields, the potential storage capacity may be limited due to the physical size of the field (Islam & Chakma, 1993;Cook et al, 2000;IPCC, 2005). EOR and EGR operations that geologically store CO 2 are currently underway in Canada (Zama, Pembina and Weyburn), USA (Salt Creek, Monell, SWP Paradox, and Teapot Dome), and China (Liaohe).…”

“…Geological storage of CO 2 is the process whereby CO 2 is captured and separated from a source (such as a natural gas field with high CO 2 concentration, LNG or mineral processing plant, or coalfired power station), is transported and then injected into the geological subsurface for long-term containment (Figure 3) (Cook et al, 2000;IPCC, 2005). The main geological requirements of a place to store CO 2 include a porous and permeable reservoir rock (to allow injection and storage of the CO 2 ), overlain by an impermeable seal rock (to retain the injected CO 2 in the geological subsurface) (van der Meer, 1992;Bachu et al, 1994;Rochelle et al, 1999).…”