World's largest carbon capture plant at one-third capacity, Chevron Australia reveals

US oil and gas giant Chevron has confirmed its flagship carbon capture and storage project off Australia's northwest coast is operating at just a third of capacity as problems limit the facility. The revelations come amid growing calls from the oil and gas industry for carbon capture to be used to offset emissions as part of a wider shift towards renewable energy and decarbonisation. But Chevron Australia's David Fallon insisted carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology was working and the reinjection plant at the giant Gorgon gas field could be a model for others. “Gorgon CCS works,” he said. It has its problems and is not working the way Chevron and our JV partners (joint venture partners) would like.” Speaking in Adelaide at the annual meeting of the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association, Mr Fallon argued that carbon capture was a proven and viable technology. He said the problems at Gorgon, in which Chevron is sequestering carbon under Barrow Island on Western Australia's Pilbara coast, were specific to that project and not to the wider process. According to Mr. Fallon, his problems related to the need to extract water from the tank in which the carbon was located. (Daniel Mercer, ABC News)