CO2CRC Otway Project

Carbon capture and storage is a hot topic because of its potential to make substantive cuts in CO2 emissions from large industrial sources such as power stations, aluminium smelting, gas processing and cement plants.

The Co-Operative Research Centre for Greenhouse Gas Technologies (CO2CRC) is one of the world's leading research organisations focussed on carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS).

One of the most significant projects is the CO2CRC Otway Project, Australia's first, and to date only, active CO2 storage facility. Located in the Otway Basin in southwest Victoria, the Otway Project has successfully injected over 60,000 tonnes of CO2 into geological formations more than 2000m below the surface.

CO2CRC staff at The University of Adelaide are predominantly involved in storage projects comprising both fundamental and applied areas of research. Using the Otway Project as a field laboratory, the group's research activities provide an understanding of the technologies available for monitoring the movement of stored CO2 and an assessment of the risks associated with all phases of the process. Five staff from the Australian School of Petroleum are engaged in the project.