What are the likely environmental controls on a CCS project in Queensland?
We are unaware of any moves that may have been taken to date by the State Government to write a code of environmental compliance for CCS exploration or to develop a model environmental authority for CCS injection and storage. However, an obvious influence will be the Draft Environmental Guidelines for Carbon Dioxide Capture and Geological Storage 2008 released by the Environment Protection and Heritage Council in November 2008 after development by the Federal Government in conjunction with all State and Territory Governments. This 19 page document boils down to a few pages with a dozen or so high level guidelines on “the application of current environmental regulatory processes” in relation to the following four areas: 1. Environmental assessment • CCS project proponents should provide detailed site characterisation and reservoir modelling and there should be continuous assessment of risks throughout the life of the project. • Special care should be taken in relation to groundwater res
