Greenhouse Gas Monitoring Project

Page last updated:13 October 2021

Monitoring the effectiveness of geological storage of CO2 is a challenging task because CO2 is naturally present in the atmosphere, soil, ocean and groundwater. ŮŮÊÓÆµcollaborates with a number of organisations to develop and test techniques and tools to detect and quantify CO2.

Greenhouse gas monitoring project, 2009–2015

The Greenhouse Gas Monitoring Project was established in 2009 as part of Geoscience Australia's Carbon Capture and Storage Program and concluded in 2015. The primary aim for the project was to assess monitoring techniques for geological storage of carbon dioxide (CO2) and collect regional atmospheric and groundwater baseline data in selected onshore areas. The work assisted government and industry to determine best practice in this emerging field. Follow the links below to find out more about each aspect of the project, including publications and datasets from the project

Monitoring the effectiveness of geological storage of CO2 is a challenging task because CO2 is present naturally in the atmosphere, soil, ocean and groundwater. ŮŮÊÓÆµcollaborated with a number of organisations to investigate techniques that could detect and quantify CO2 migration or leakage.

Remotely operated, atmospheric greenhouse gas baseline station (Arcturus) trialled in central Queensland (GA-CSIRO)

Installation of monitoring equipment at the GA-CO2CRC Ginninderra Controlled Release Facility

Outputs

  • Controlled Release Studies - installed and operated a joint ŮŮÊÓÆµ- facility to conduct shallow sub-surface and above surface releases of greenhouse gases. The facility enabled researchers to test existing and develop new monitoring and quantification techniques.
  • Conducted , one , and one combined . Data from the sub-surface release experiments is available for .
  • Conducted an of controlled release sites and discovered all sites exhibit similar patchy leakage behaviour. This information can be used to better inform monitoring strategies for geological storage sites.
  • Installed a prototype, remotely operated, atmospheric greenhouse gas baseline station in central Queensland (joint CSIRO-ŮŮÊÓÆµfacility). For more information see the and .
  • A showed that detection of CO2 leakage using a single atmospheric monitoring station is not effective but could be suitable for monitoring or .
  • Conducted eight joint Geoscience Australia-Geological Survey of Queensland groundwater surveys that have produced a new for the Bowen and Surat Basins.
  • Produced a .
  • Applied emissions quantification techniques to a .
  • Contributed to the that provides data on CO2, water, and energy exchange between the biosphere and the atmosphere, and other meteorological and biological measurements, from 212 sites around the globe.
  • Developed a for estimating CO2 and CH4 emissions that uses both point and line (laser) measurements. The free software code and data are available here {https://github.com/Lcartwright94/BayesianAT}.