Australians to store CO2 underground

Australian scientists are pushing ahead with plans to store thousands of tons of carbon dioxide in an underground reservoir.

Known as the Otway Geosequestration Project, thousands of tons of carbon dioxide captured in the state of Victoria will be stored deep underground at a site about 155 miles from Melbourne over the next few months.

A spokesman for the Cooperative Research Centre for Greenhouse Gas Technologies, which is behind the $25 million project, said the natural sandstone and clay sediment in the area provides the perfect environment to store large amounts of carbon dioxide.

Peter Cook told the Australian Broadcasting Corp that, while there are risks involved, he was confident of the project's success.

"This is probably the most advanced project of its type in the world in terms of technologies we're musing to monitor how the carbon dioxide moves and how it reacts with rocks," he said.

Critics of geosequestration have questioned the safety and stability of the carbon dioxide once it is in the ground, specifically the possibility of leaks or an eruption.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International