For further information about CSIRO's GISERA and our research projects on the impacts of onshore gas development nationally, visit www.gisera.csiro.au
The project reviews regulatory frameworks in relation to principles derived from international literature and considers social concerns with regard to decommissioning of wells and well pad infrastructure.
The project provides recommendations for an integrated approach to improving the social, economic and environmental effectiveness of decommissioning of wells and well pads.
Status: Completed
Research theme: Social and economic impacts
Research state/ territory: New South Wales
This study reviewed principal indicators of community function and well-being, the resources and strategies necessary for enabling and enhancing community responses, and how communities respond to major developments in their region.
This report can be used to inform strategic investments that will help maintain or enhance community function and well-being.
Status: Completed
Research theme: Social and economic impacts
Research state/ territory: Queensland
This project examined and measured the changes since the end of the construction and beginning of the operations phases through comparisons with survey 1 in 2014.
This study identified strategies that can be enacted by local and state government to proactively reduce stresses associated with rapid change and also to take advantage of opportunities arising from resource development.
Status: Completed
Research theme: Social and economic impacts
Research state/ territory: Queensland
This project involves monitoring and communicating the changes and trends in community wellbeing, resilience and attitudes to CSG development across different phases of industry operation in south west Queensland, and identifies how these vary between the construction, post-construction, and operations phases of development.
The project will inform the community, industry and government understanding of how and why community wellbeing and attitudes to CSG vary between regions and phases of CSG activity for planning and approval purposes.
Status: Completed
Research theme: Social and economic impacts
Research state/ territory: Queensland
This research identifies community aspirations and their overlaps and/or disparities with existing resources, industry, and policy trajectories.
Specifically, the project aims to understand how different community segments see the future of the region and how these reflect the economic and policy avenues for the region. In turn, the research will help inform sound industry and policy activities to satisfy the social licence to operate.
Status: Completed
Research theme: Social and economic impacts
Research state/ territory: Queensland
This project aimed to understand how to design farms for a new, mixed land use.
The study provides design principles and practices that optimise farm, and gas infrastructure and operations, while minimising negative impacts and maximising benefits.
Status: Completed
Research theme: Agriculture
Research state/ territory: Queensland
Monitoring grazing land with coal seam gas (CSG) infrastructure to better understand the impacts of infrastructure, traffic and dust on animals and pastures.
This research will provide detail of livestock behaviour, pastures, soil processes and dust deposition for a real CSG property.
Status: Completed
Research theme: Agriculture
Research state/ territory: Queensland
This project will assist in the preservation of agricultural productivity during land use changes.
The study will result in developing methods for most equitably and/ or cost-effectively preserving agricultural productivity.
Status: Completed
Research theme: Agriculture
Research state/ territory: Queensland
This project aimed to understand how farmers perceive and value CSG developments on their own and others’ farms.
The result of the research provided information that assists farmers, from a range of production systems (such as extensive grazing to intensive cropping), and developers to negotiate means of co-existence that maximise benefits and minimise social and economic costs.
Status: Completed
Research theme: Agriculture
Research state/ territory: Queensland
This project will share understanding of changes on farms and in towns during CSG development in the Surat area.
The research will provide a detailed landscape map showing changes during CSG developments. Researchers will also gather feedback on the research to date, including its strengths and information gaps.
Status: Completed
Research theme: Agriculture
Research state/ territory: Queensland
This project aims to understand the direct and indirect impacts of tracks and traffic on invasive species and erosion in agricultural landscapes.
The research will result in the development of guidelines for use by landowners and industry.
Status: Completed
Research theme: Agriculture
Research state/ territory: Queensland
This research identified the nature and likely extent of damage to agricultural soils, and methods for improving soils.
The project aimed to provide methods for installing and operating gas infrastructure that avoids soil damage. The work has also identified novel methods for avoiding damage and improving soils, and rehabilitating any damage that does occur.
Status: Completed
Research theme: Agriculture
Research state/ territory: Queensland
This project aims to deliver outputs from targeted flood modelling scenarios developed in response to on-going engagement with stakeholders in the Cooper GBA region.
The outputs will include changes to flood risk and flood characteristics under future climate scenarios. They will also include flood characteristics resulting from any future gas industry developments, such as floodplain infrastructure, diversions or extraction activities.
Status: In progress
Research theme: Ground and surface waters
Research state/ territory: Queensland
The project studied how sediments from dredging and discharges can affect sea grass and turtles.
The report quantified the risks to turtle populations from dredging and increased boat traffic.
Status: Completed
Research theme: Biodiversity
Research state/ territory: Queensland
This project developed a profile of the gas industry and its role within the regional economy, in addition to scenarios for how the local gas industry may evolve.
The study contributed knowledge for policy makers and local businesses regarding the socio-economic value of gas activity for local communities, and an improved capacity to forecast outcomes from industry development.
Status: Completed
Research theme: Social and economic impacts
Research state/ territory: South Australia
This study will develop and test a decision support framework to improve management of groundwater resources.
Research outcomes will consider probable future groundwater use scenarios, taking account of climate change and various future water use patterns for irrigation, forestry, onshore gas and other industries in the south east of South Australia. A science-based decision support framework will assist policy development and decision-makers to manage valuable water resources.
Status: In progress
Research theme: Ground and surface waters
Research state/ territory: South Australia
This project will analyse possible impacts and opportunities from gas development for rural areas in South Australia’s south east.
The research provides information to assist community understanding and inform policy regarding potential impacts and opportunities from conventional gas development on primary industries.
Status: Completed
Research theme: Agriculture
Research state/ territory: South Australia
This project is developing a profile of the gas industry and its role within the regional economy, and developing scenarios for how the local gas industry may evolve.
The study develops knowledge for policy makers and local businesses regarding the socio-economic value of gas activity for local communities, and an improved capacity to forecast outcomes from industry development.
Status: In progress
Research theme: Agriculture
Research state/ territory: South Australia
This research aims to measure levels of perceived risk, benefits, knowledge, and other underlying drivers of trust and social acceptance of conventional gas development in South Australia’s south east, and develop baseline data on community values, well-being and future expectations.
Status: Completed
Research theme: Social and economic impacts
Research state/ territory: South Australia
This project will provide forecasting, which calculates the likely economic effects during the operations phase and lessons to support local businesses.
Understanding potential future impacts on regional economies can better inform local businesses on how they can respond.
Status: Completed
Research theme: Social and economic impacts
Research state/ territory: Queensland
This study determined the sensitivity of the region’s flora and fauna to changed fire regimes, and the thresholds at which changed fire regimes cause substantial ecological impact.
The research provided advice on how to best manage the biodiversity impacts of altered fire regimes associated with CSG development.
Status: Completed
Research theme: Biodiversity
Research state/ territory: Queensland
This research improves the understanding of how ecological and biological traits of rare species of plants, commonly encountered in restoration projects, and different environmental factors determine viable population sizes. using computer models.
Evidence-based guidelines were produced, using computer models, to determine the size of plant populations needed to maximise the establishment and persistence of rare plant species.
Status: Completed
Research theme: Biodiversity
Research state/ territory: Queensland
This research identified genetic and demographic factors that may limit the success of establishing a rare daisy (Rutidosis lantana) in a new location.
The report outlines best practice guidelines for moving the Rutidosis lantana, a rare daisy, to a new location. The guidelines will help to minimise biological limits to reproductive success and maximise population viability of the daisy.
Status: Completed
Research theme: Biodiversity
Research state/ territory: Queensland
This work identifies and understands the broad range of existing and new threats to biodiversity across a CSG development region.
The final report assists in determining which conservation management activities will best mitigate the risks to biodiversity.
Status: Completed
Research theme: Biodiversity
Research state/ territory: Queensland
This project studied two species, the Golden-tailed gecko and Glossy black-cockatoo, to assess the range of impacts from CSG development in south-west Queensland on their habitat.
The project provided management options for the Golden-tailed gecko and Glossy black-cockatoo habitats to ensure their long-term endurance.
Status: Completed
Research theme: Biodiversity
Research state/ territory: Queensland
This project investigates potential groundwater contamination causes, pathways and vulnerabilities to understand onshore gas water quality impacts for south east South Australia.
The research achieves a realistic quantification of groundwater contamination risks in gas development areas in south east South Australia, providing improved knowledge for regulators, industry and community.
Status: Completed
Research theme: Ground and surface waters
Research state/ territory: South Australia
This research aims to improve groundwater balance models in the onshore gas development regions of south east South Australia.
Through this study, an improved understanding of groundwater flow regimes in selected gas development areas of the Otway Basin will help inform decision making and community understanding of water takes by the gas industry in relation to other water uses and management measures required for optimal water use.
Status: Completed
Research theme: Ground and surface waters
Research state/ territory: South Australia
This study aims to demonstrate the potential for microbial degradation of fluids and chemicals used by the onshore gas industry across the Tertiary Limestone Aquifer (TLA) in the Limestone Coast region of south east South Australia.
The project will establish microbial community baselines in the Tertiary Limestone Aquifer. It will also examine microbial degradation in aquifer water samples of a range of chemicals likely to be used in onshore gas activities.
Status: In progress
Research theme: Ground and surface waters
Research state/ territory: South Australia
This project provided information about which chemical compounds are degraded by microbes living in the soils and subsurface aquifers, and the impact on these microbial communities. This data can be used to assess the health of an ecosystem.
The study will enable improved understanding around the biodegradation of certain chemical compounds used in onshore gas production in the south-east of South Australia.
Status: Completed
Research theme: Ground and surface waters
Research state/ territory: South Australia
This intensive monitoring campaign will measure the air, water and soil impacts of hydraulic fracturing of production wells in the Surat Basin.
This project will result in a report summarising the current state of knowledge regarding sources of air, water and soil pollutants associated with CSG extraction using hydraulic fracturing, a peer-reviewed design for a measurement program that will provide enhanced information of the impacts of hydraulic fracturing, and a report presenting an analysis of air, water and soil quality before commencement of hydraulic fracturing activity.
Status: Completed
Research theme: Ground and surface waters
Research state/ territory: Queensland
This research is the most comprehensive investigation into hydraulic fracturing activities in Australia to date and represents the leading edge of international onshore gas studies.
This was a unique research opportunity to monitor the impacts of hydraulic fracturing at six CSG wells prior to, during, and after hydraulic fracturing operations in the Surat Basin. Governance, industry regulation and operational integrity are crucial in managing risk and potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing.
Status: Completed
Research theme: Ground and surface waters
Research state/ territory: Queensland
This project involved a comprehensive assessment of air quality in the Surat Basin region in Queensland. The study used air quality measurement networks and modelling to identify the impact of CSG production activities on air quality in the Surat region.
Status: Completed
Research theme: Greenhouse gas and air quality
Research state/ territory: Queensland
This project will detect and measure methane seeping from underground in the Surat Basin, and identify sources of methane to provide a baseline of methane emissions on a regional scale.
This will result in a methane emissions data set that can be used to compare changes in methane concentrations as coal seam gas production in the Surat Basin increases.
Status: Completed
Research theme: Greenhouse gas and air quality
Research state/ territory: Queensland
This project analysed whole-of-life GHG emissions, including extraction, transportation and usage of CSG in the Surat Basin.
The analysis included domestic and offshore usage of the gas including for electricity generation in Asia. The project provided assessments of benefits and risks related to the extraction, transport and usage of gas in terms of their GHG emission footprint.
Status: Completed
Research theme: Greenhouse gas and air quality
Research state/ territory: Queensland
To gain a better understanding of the speed and direction of groundwater flow, this project measures and models specific chemicals called environmental tracers.
This research provides new data and a modelling approach to assess flow rates and volumes of usable groundwater resources.
Status: Completed
Research theme: Ground and surface waters
Research state/ territory: Queensland
This project aimed to characterise the baseline geochemistry of groundwater and formation water prior to and during initial stages of development to understand groundwater age and origin.
This resulted in baseline measures of groundwater quality and protocols for monitoring changes in groundwater quality, during and after development.
Status: Completed
Research theme: Ground and surface waters
Research state/ territory: Queensland
This project looked to understand and quantify aquifer reactions occurring due to re-injection of CSG water, and their impacts on water quality. This resulted in methods for predicting water quality changes resulting from CSG water re-injection.
Status: Completed
Research theme: Ground and surface waters
Research state/ territory: Queensland
The outcomes of this project include models that assess the feasibility of large-scale groundwater re-injection schemes, and predict how re-injection may reduce impacts from coal seam gas (CSG) development.
Status: Completed
Research theme: Ground and surface waters
Research state/ territory: Queensland
This project aimed to understand, quantify and manage clogging of injection wells during re-injection of CSG water permeates, brines and blends.
Status: Completed
Research theme: Ground and surface waters
Research state/ territory: Queensland
This project assessed the current state of knowledge about the biodiversity of the Canning Basin in Western Australia.
The desktop study identified the plants and animals that occur in the Canning Basin and those species and threatened ecological communities that are of conservation or cultural significance will be identified. This information will be used to identify knowledge gaps and recommend further investigations to fill these gaps.
Status: Completed
Research theme: Biodiversity
Research state/ territory: Western Australia
This project explored and summarised the current state of knowledge of groundwater systems in the Canning Basin, Western Australia.
Results of this research will identify requirements for future investigation, characterisation and monitoring of groundwater systems. This work will build on and bring together previous groundwater studies in this region to understand the current status of groundwater knowledge for the entire basin.
Status: Completed
Research theme: Ground and surface waters
Research state/ territory: Western Australia
This project will establish a long-term baseline of seismic monitoring data that will characterise the current natural seismic activity and cultural seismic noise within the Canning Basin in Western Australia.
Increased seismic activity associated with hydraulic fracturing is an area of community concern and this baseline study will distinguish any potential increase in seismic activity due to planned gas extraction operations from other seismic sources.
Status: In progress
Research theme: Ground and surface waters
Research state/ territory: Western Australia
This research has improved understanding of GAB groundwater flow in the Pilliga region through the integration of information from models, hydrochemical data and environmental tracers.
The project has provided an assessment of potential changes in GAB groundwater flux (flow volumes) as a result of CSG development using state-of-the-art uncertainty analysis and modelling.
Status: Completed
Research theme: Ground and surface waters
Research state/ territory: New South Wales
This project has identified and quantified methane emission sources such as CSG infrastructure, feedlots, coal mining, legacy bore holes in the Pilliga region.
The research has resulted in a detailed understanding of methane emissions for the Pilliga region that can be used to compare emissions once large-scale gas extraction starts.
Status: Completed
Research theme: Greenhouse gas and air quality
Research state/ territory: New South Wales
This research project helps address public concerns regarding potential impacts on groundwater by improving understanding of sub-surface structures and potential fault zones, which may act as pathways between target coal seams and shallow aquifers or surface water systems.
These results help to further improve the accuracy of future groundwater models in the Narrabri region in New South Wales.
Status: Completed
Research theme: Ground and surface waters
Research state/ territory: New South Wales
Designing optimal groundwater bore networks for groundwater monitoring provides tools for early detection of changes.
Optimal spatial design of groundwater monitoring networks will improve confidence around predicted groundwater impacts, and help minimise the risk of environmental damage.
Status: Completed
Research theme: Ground and surface waters
Research state/ territory: New South Wales
This study identified levels and trajectories of economic, social and demographic variables, in regions within NSW that were experiencing CSG development, and analysed whether or not the CSG industry could change the trajectory of these variables.
This research will result in a comprehensive baseline assessment of economic, social and demographic characteristics of CSG regions in NSW and the potential impacts of CSG on these characteristics.
Status: Completed
Research theme: Social and economic impacts
Research state/ territory: New South Wales
This research will develop more representative models for estimating the groundwater impacts from coal seam gas well fields.
This will improve the prediction of groundwater impacts by ensuring accurate representation of the effects of CSG production in the groundwater models being developed for the Namoi region.
Status: Completed
Research theme: Ground and surface waters
Research state/ territory: New South Wales
This project has developed a study framework to investigate the potential health effects of coal seam gas activities.
The framework is based on community stakeholder, governmental, expert consultation group, and industry input and is designed to ensure that research into possible health effects associated with coal seam gas activity is both scientifically robust and meets community expectations.
Status: Completed
Research theme: Health
Research state/ territory: New South Wales
This project analysed the influence of the NSW on-shore gas industry on regional economic and social indicators, and used economic models to generate descriptions of potential future effects for NSW.
This research improves understanding of the role of the gas industry in NSW across a comprehensive set of economic and social indicators, enabling insights into potential changes to NSW industry, employment, land use, productivity, and human capital under a range of gas industry development scenarios.
Status: Completed
Research theme: Social and economic impacts
Research state/ territory: New South Wales
This work aimed to understand and measure attitudes, perceptions and expectations that exist within the community with respect to CSG development. It also aimed to understand current levels of community wellbeing and community resilience.
The research assessed and produced baseline information about the community’s wellbeing, perceptions, expectations and resilience in relation to CSG development.
Status: Completed
Research theme: Social and economic impacts
Research state/ territory: New South Wales
This project will monitor any changes in local community wellbeing and attitudes to coal seam gas (CSG) during the pre-construction phase of the Santos Narrabri Gas Project in NSW.
This research fills a gap between the pre-approval baseline assessment survey that was conducted by CSIRO’s GISERA in 2017 and a planned future survey to be conducted during the construction phase, should the project proceed.
Results of this research contribute towards a comprehensive longitudinal study over the next five years around community wellbeing and local attitudes towards CSG in Narrabri.
Status: In progress
Research theme: Social and economic impacts
Research state/ territory: New South Wales
This project will establish long-term background seismic data to characterise the current natural seismic activity in the Beetaloo Sub-basin in the Northern Territory. This baseline data can then be used to distinguish any possible increases in seismic activity resulting from future gas development and operations in the region.
In addition, the project will predict the seismic hazard caused by any future natural and induced activities using physics-based ground motion computations.
Status: In progress
Research theme: Land and infrastructure
Research state/ territory: Northern Territory
This project has enabled better understanding of the geochemical properties, recharge rates and recharge mechanisms of groundwater in the Beetaloo sub-Basin.
The study involved the use of analysed groundwater samples to create a set of baseline data against which any potential impacts caused by the gas industry can be measured. It provides information about the baseline geochemistry and groundwater flow characteristics in the Cambrian Limestone Aquifer.
Status: Completed
Research theme: Ground and surface waters
Research state/ territory: Northern Territory
The aim of this project is to monitor and measure background methane levels and rate of change in methane levels during the dry, wet, and fire seasons using mobile survey technology.
The research will provide a better understanding of natural methane levels over the various seasons and result in a baseline for accurately quantifying any future onshore gas impacts.
Status: Completed
Research theme: Greenhouse gas and air quality
Research state/ territory: Northern Territory
This project will provide a systems-based approach to understanding chemicals and their lifecycle during hydraulic fracturing, in flow-back water produced after fracturing, and surface facilities in the Northern Territory.
The research will improve understanding of the degradation and transport of these chemicals within the subsurface. In addition, this study will provide insights into the biodegradation of these chemicals and naturally occurring (geogenic) hydrocarbons in flow-back water as well as in holding tanks and ponds in industry facilities.
Status: In progress
Research theme: Ground and surface waters
Research state/ territory: Northern Territory
This project analysed road and rail freight costs, and flow, passage and volume impacts for identified sites in the Beetaloo Sub-basin using the Transport Network Strategic Investments Tool (TraNSIT) developed by CSIRO.
It considered both construction and operational phases, and tested a range of interventions that may increase road safety while reducing costs and impacts on the environment and local communities.
Status: Completed
Research theme: Social and economic impacts
Research state/ territory: Northern Territory
This study investigates how roads, pipelines and other linear transport infrastructure may impact biodiversity in the Beetaloo Sub-basin during the development of an onshore gas industry.
New scientific information about potential biodiversity impacts will help identify areas that are most threatened by infrastructure development and assist management approaches and decision-making to reduce risk to biodiversity while facilitating development.
Status: In progress
Research theme: Biodiversity
Research state/ territory: Northern Territory
This project will develop high-quality spatial data to help landholders, regulators and the gas industry to evaluate the design and placement of gas infrastructure, protect surface water and vegetation, and reduce erosion, soil damage and dust.
Part of this research will include the development of novel communication tools to improve the exchange of data between stakeholder groups. The project will use modern data visualization techniques to present spatial data relating to landscape processes in the Beetaloo Sub-basin in a ‘virtual landscape’ using augmented reality technology.
Status: In progress
Research theme: Agriculture
Research state/ territory: Northern Territory
This project will use autonomous emissions monitoring stations to quantify fugitive methane emissions from well construction and completion activities from unconventional shale petroleum exploration in the Beetaloo sub-basin.
Results from this study will compare actual measured results with estimated results to verify the adequacy of existing calculated emission estimates.
Status: In progress
Research theme: Greenhouse gases and air quality
Research state/ territory: Northern Territory
This research aimed to improve understanding of how typical onshore gas chemicals degrade in relevant aquifers and soil types.
Research results provide baseline information about microbial communities in aquifers and soils, and improve understanding of how microbes influence degradation of typical onshore chemicals in soils and aquifers. This data can be used to assess the health of an ecosystem.
Status: Completed
Research theme: Ground and surface waters
Research state/ territory: Northern Territory
This project seeks feasible options to offset life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions emitted in Australia associated with scenarios of new production and Australian consumption of onshore gas extracted from the Northern Territory’s Beetaloo Sub-basin.
This project will use scenario analysis to represent potential gas extraction, coupled with technical calculations on the GHG emissions implications of those scenarios.
Status: In progress
Research theme: Greenhouse gases and air quality
Research state/ territory: Northern Territory
This project has determined the distribution and abundance of stygofauna, and characterised subterranean groundwater-dependent ecosystems, through a broad spatial pilot-scale survey of water bores in the Beetaloo Sub-Basin, using direct sampling and DNA-based approaches.
The study provides improved knowledge of stygofauna and subterranean groundwater dependent ecosystems in the Beetaloo Sub-basin and Roper River system, in line with the Final Report of the Scientific Inquiry into Hydraulic Fracturing in the Northern Territory (2018).
Status: Completed
Research theme: Ground and surface waters
Research state/ territory: Northern Territory