PUBLIC LECTURE: Geophysical monitoring of WA natural gas and CO2 projects: balancing energy & environment

Join Winthrop Professor David Lumley as he talks about how WA is poised to embark on several new world-class energy projects. These include over A$250 Billion investment in major offshore natural gas reserves in the Carnarvon, Browse and Bonaparte basins, of which Gorgon is the first. Developing these new gas reserves will require handling many millions of tons per year in naturally occurring CO2, extracted during the LNG (liquefied natural gas) process. To avoid releasing this CO2 into the atmosphere, which may be bad for both the environment and business, there is widespread interest in methods to dispose of the CO2 safely. Perhaps one of the best available options is to accelerate nature's course by re-injecting and storing it in deep rock formations, a process called "geo-sequestration".

Prof. Lumley will discuss ongoing research at UWA Geosciences in geophysical monitoring to help optimize recovery of the natural gas energy resource, and to monitor the integrity of the CO2 sequestration environmental process.