WHAT IS GEOSEQUESTRATION?
Summary by Briony Rowley, CMPA Administration Officer
Coal and other fossil fuels are the world’s major sources of energy and drive economic and social development. In Victoria, coal produces more than 85% of our electricity. However, fossil fuels are also the major sources of greenhouse gas emissions and in Victoria coal contributes around half of our emissions. It is therefore critical that Victoria supports the development of technologies such as geosequestration that will such emissions of fossil fuels.
Richard Aldous, Executive Director Minerals & Petroleum
Twenty thousand years ago, volcanoes erupted across what is now south-western Victoria. As well as transforming the landscape around the Western Otway basin, they also generated large amount of CO2.
In some parts of this region, the CO2 was trapped deeply underground where it has remained for thousands of years. We now pump some of this gas out to use in our soft drinks and dry ice.
Scientists believe that we can copy this natural process and put large amounts of greenhouse gas back underground. This process is called
geosequestration.
There are four types of sequestration that may applied to CO2 including:
- Ocean sequestration
- Chemical sequestration
- Biological sequestration
- Geological sequestration
Geosequestration is a technology that puts carbon into deep, secure underground geological storage.
There are three stages in geosequestration:
- Capture and separation – refers to the need to separate the CO2 from other gases such as the mixture of gases in the flue of a power station. This is necessary to ensure that only CO2 is sequestered and not other products contained in the emissions.
- Transport – refers to the need to move large volumes of CO2 from its source to a site where it can be injected underground.
- Injection – refers to the actual injection of CO2 into deep underground storage, at depths of at least 800 metres.
Research into these technologies is being carried out around the world, with Victoria and Australia playing an important role in its development.
Resource: Geosequestration – Putting the Carbon Back, DPI
You must be logged in to post a comment Login