Outdoor-lab

[CSIRO logo appears on screen.]

Voice-over: Carbon capture and storage or CCS has the potential to help Australia significantly reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of carbon based energy sources which contribute to climate change. The CCS process involves capturing and storing carbon dioxide or CO2 deep underground reducing the amount being released into the atmosphere.

Linda Stalker: CCS has already been done around the world and to research its potential here in Australia, CSIRO has established a world first field trial that is improving monitoring technologies for carbon storage facilities to ensure the safe, long term storage of CO2.

Karsten Michael:    Through this experiment at our in situ laboratory, we can demonstrate that monitoring carbon geological storage can be effective, safe, and affordable. The CSIRO in situ lab field site is 140 kilometres south of Perth in Western Australia, situated at the edge of the Southwest hub, which has been identified as a prospective area for storing industrial scale volumes of carbon dioxide and thick sandstone formations.

Voice-over: This site is important because of its location in a fault zone. This is the perfect environment to monitor the potential leakage of injected CO2 under controlled conditions. An existing well was converted into a CO2 injection well adapted with fiber optics and sensors for measuring subsurface temperature and pressure. A second well was drilled and fitted with a fiberglass casing to enable the gas plume to be monitored. Fiber optics are used to measure temperature and acoustic changes along the well. Geophones gather data from seismic waves between sources at the surface and the wells, and sensors detect changes in the electrical properties of any fluids present.

Voice-over: The well is also accessible for geophysical testing to monitor changes in subsurface fluid flow. A third shallow water well was drilled to observe any near surface changes. The first controlled release trial involved the injection of 38 tonnes of food grade CO2 over five days in February 2019. CO2 was trucked in liquid form to the site and pumped from a refrigerated tank through a heater. It was then injected into the well as a gas at 336 metres below ground. Researchers at the in situ laboratory monitored the CO2 plume as it developed using the down hole well equipment.

Voice-over: Borehole seismic surveys were repeated regularly before, during, and after injection. The CO2 was successfully detected after one day of injection by distributed temperature sensing in the monitoring well. This could be imaged in three dimensions using the borehole seismic surveys.

Karsten Michael: Results of surface and shallow groundwater monitoring at the well show there have been no environmental impacts cost, no notable changes have been detected in groundwater quality, in the soil gas chemistry or the atmosphere.

Linda Stalker: The CSIRO in situ laboratory is a unique research facility that provides real world testing of CO2 injection and geological storage. It demonstrates that monitoring technology exists, which can reassure the safety of CCS programs.

Voice-over: With further technological advancements, the CSIRO can play an important role in creating upscale carbon capture and storage facilities. Together, we can create a low emissions future. To find out how our research is addressing the challenges of achieving effective CO2 storage in Australia, visit us at csiro.au/ccs.

[CSIRO logo with text on screen: Australia's National Science Agency.]