Environmental Monitoring
An environmental monitoring program has been in place at the Otway International Test Centre since 2006Environmental Monitoring at the Otway International Test Centre
The environmental monitoring program assures that the geological storage of carbon dioxide at our facility is environmentally sound.
The program ensures that the storage of carbon dioxide has no adverse impacts to the environment and demonstrates compliance with regulatory requirements. The facility is regulated under the Environment Protection Act.
The research project
The assurance monitoring program includes:
- An annual soil gas survey where we measure the composition and the CO2 concentration in the soil gas at approximately 1m depth on a two square kilometre grid above our reservoirs to determine any change in the soil CO2.
- An annual groundwater survey where we access every well in the vicinity of our site reaching either into the Port Campbell aquifer or the deeper Dilwyn aquifer, where we measure the groundwater chemistry.
As a research organisation, CO2CRC has a strong focus on developing new high-resolution monitoring programs. The majority of the research and the instrumentation at the site is to develop new and fit-for-purpose monitoring and verification (M&V) techniques. These techniques comprise highly sophisticated chemical and physical methods which measure CO2 in the geosphere, biosphere, and atmosphere. The ongoing and diverse research projects complement our assurance monitoring.
Results & outcomes
CO2CRC’s CO2 storage project at the OITC has no measurable impact on surface environment and has met all EPA requirements
Publications
Cook P. J Geologically Storing Carbon, Learning from the Otway Project Experience, CSIRO Publishing 2014.
Ashworth P, Rodriguez S and Miller A, Jenkins C, Case study of the CO2CRC Otway National Project, Energy Transformed Flagship, CSIRO, 2011.
Underschultz, J., Boreham, C., Dance, T., Stalker, L., Freifeld, B., Kirste, D., Ennis-King, J., 2011. CO2 storage in a depleted gas field: An overview of the CO2CRC Otway Project and initial results. International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control 5, 922-932.
Ashworth P, Rodriguez S and Miller A, Jenkins C, Case study of the CO2CRC Otway National Project, Energy Transformed Flagship, CSIRO, 2011.
Underschultz, J., Boreham, C., Dance, T., Stalker, L., Freifeld, B., Kirste, D., Ennis-King, J., 2011. CO2 storage in a depleted gas field: An overview of the CO2CRC Otway Project and initial results. International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control 5, 922-932.
Jenkins C, 2013, Statistical aspects of monitoring and verification, International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control 13, 215- 229
Boreham, C., Underschultz, J., Stalker, L., Kirste, D., Freifeld, B., Jenkins, C., Ennis-King, J., 2011. Monitoring of CO2 storage in a depleted natural gas reservoir: Gas geochemistry from the CO2CRC Otway Project, Australia. International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control 5, 1039-1054.