NSW Minister for Natural Resources Ian Macdonald announced the forthcoming partnership at the opening of the CO2CRC annual research symposium in the Hunter Valley.
Geosequestration – the capture and storage of carbon dioxide (CO2) – is capable of taking Australia one step closer to addressing climate change through the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
Over the next two years CO2CRC, in collaboration with the CSIRO Flagship Program, aims to establish the CO2 storage potential of coal systems in the Sydney Basin near major emission sites in the Hunter Valley.
CO2CRC chief executive Dr Peter Cook said the sandstones and organic-rich shales surrounding the coal seams would also be evaluated for their storage potential, and work would be carried out to determine if coal seams could act as a seal to contain CO2 as well as storing it.
Cook welcomed the NSW Government’s support of the organisation’s research program saying he believed the state would benefit from the research activities already underway and yet to come.
