Greenhouse gas storage plays an important role in lowering emissions.
Greenhouse gas storage is commonly known as carbon capture and storage (CCS) or carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS). It is a method used to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from industrial processes.
The CCS process involves:
- capturing carbon dioxide (or other greenhouse gases) from industrial processes
- condensing the carbon dioxide into a liquid form for transportation
- transporting the liquid carbon dioxide to a suitable location
- injecting and permanently storing the liquid carbon dioxide in an underground geological formation, where the liquid is trapped within the geological formation.
You can find out more about CCS on the Geoscience Australia website.
For CCS and CCUS policies and programs, see the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water website.
When explaining Australian CCS and CCUS requirements, we use the legislated terminology ‘offshore greenhouse gas storage’.
Regulating offshore greenhouse gas storage
We regulate greenhouse gas storage in Australian Commonwealth waters under the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006.
Australian Commonwealth waters start 3 nautical miles from the coastline and extend to the boundary of Australia’s Exclusive Economic Zone.
The Act is supported by 5 regulations that apply to both greenhouse gas storage and oil and gas activities:
- Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Greenhouse Gas Injection and Storage) Regulations 2011
- Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Resource Management and Administration) Regulations 2011
- Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Environment) Regulations 2009
- Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Safety) Regulations 2009
- Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Regulatory Levies) Regulations 2004.
We also regulate offshore oil and gas legislation.
Managing offshore greenhouse gas storage titles
The National Offshore Petroleum Titles Administrator (NOPTA) and the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) perform regulatory functions for offshore greenhouse gas storage activities:
- NOPTA administers offshore greenhouse gas storage titles in Australian Commonwealth waters. NOPTA publishes information about titles and applications on the National Electronic Approvals System (NEATS) website. Find out how to use the NEATS portal.
NOPSEMA independently regulates offshore petroleum and greenhouse gas storage health and safety, well integrity, and environmental management. NOPSEMA also assesses and accepts environment plans.