Environmental Guidelines for Carbon Dioxide Capture and ...

With any new technology there is a need to learn from experience whilst ensuring that anyprojects are subject to an effective environmental risk management and approval regime.The Otway Project in Victoria is the only operational CCS project in Australia at this time.The Otway Project is designed to demonstrate the safe production, transport and geologicalstorage of carbon dioxide, and provide a facility to develop monitoring and verificationtechniques. Background information on the Otway Project is at: Appendix 2: The OtwayProject – Case Study. Although there are approximately a dozen Australian CCS projectconcepts, it is anticipated that only two or three demonstration or commercial projects willbecome operational in the next decade. These early projects and similar internationalprojects (refer Appendix 3: CCS Projects) should be monitored closely so that theknowledge and learning experience can be used to guide the development of appropriateenvironmental management of future commercial projects.Guiding PrinciplesCCS projects will be subject to the following principles which underpin the resourcemanagement and environmental protection regulatory framework that has been endorsedover time by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG):• Ecologically Sustainable Development principles - COAG, 1992• Occupational Health and Safety principles including those articulated in theNational Minesite Safety Framework - COAG, 2002• Principles of Good Regulation set out in the Principles and Guidelines for NationalStandard Setting and Regulatory Action by Ministerial Councils and Standard SettingBodies - COAG, 1985 (amended 1997, 2004, 2007)• The Intergovernmental Agreement on the Environment sets the framework fornumber of considerations that should apply to industrial and resource projectsincluding the principles of polluter pays, intergenerational equity and theprecautionary principle - COAG, 1992• Carbon Dioxide Capture and Geological Storage – Australian Regulatory GuidingPrinciples sets the guiding framework to facilitate a nationally consistent approach tothe application of CCS projects - Ministerial Council on Mineral and PetroleumResources (MCMPR), 2005• Principles for Stakeholder Engagement – Ministerial Council on Mineral andPetroleum Resources, 2005.GuidelinesThe system of carbon dioxide capture and geological storage (CCS) is based on theconcept of imitating natural geological systems which have stored natural gas, oil andcarbon dioxide in geological formations for millions of years. Although permanentgeological storage of carbon dioxide is a new concept, the technologies that are needed in aCCS system are being applied in a range of industries and have known risk profiles. Whatis needed is system integration at the scale necessary to achieve the major reductions inemissions envisaged by Governments.3