C02CRC Otway Project

The C02CRC Otway Project is a proposed carbon dioxide storage demonstration project which is proposed to inject 100,000 tonnes of compressed CO2 rich gas into a depleted natural gas field 2 km below the surface and about 30 km east of Warrnambool in Victoria’s south-west, within the geological formation known as the Otway Basin. A promotional brochure describes the project as "the world's largest research and geosequestration demonstration project".

Background
The project was announced in April 2008 and welcomed by WWF Australia. "Carbon storage plants like Otway are necessary to determine whether CCS is practical for reducing greenhouse gas emissions; however more demonstration projects are needed," a media release issued in the name of WWF's Paul Toni stated.

Greenpeace spokesman Mark Wakeham told the Stateline program that "I guess you have to be asking the question, why are they trialling this technology in a paddock near Warrnambool instead of at a power station in the Latrobe Valley. If they were fair dinkum about using this technology in the next decade or two, they'd be applying it to an existing coal fired power station."

Project Website
Website: http://www.co2crc.com.au/otway/

Related SourceWatch Resources

 * Carbon Capture and Storage

External resources

 * Peta Ashworth, Shelley Rodriguez and Alice Miller, "Case Study of the CO2CRC Otway Project", CSIRO Energy Transformed Flagship, November 2010. (Pdf)