13 January 2021
Sand has a habit of getting into all the worst places, as major gas producer Chevron has discovered, with sand hampering the operation of Australia’s only working carbon capture and storage project, which could result in increased greenhouse gas emissions from the Gorgon LNG project.
The Gorgon LNG project, located off the Western Australian coast, is set to cut back the amount of carbon dioxide it will attempt to store under the sea, after pumping equipment experienced significant issues with sand contamination.
Documents obtained by independent energy news outlet Boiling Cold through a freedom of information request show that the Gorgon carbon capture and storage project has encountered a number of issues since it commenced the storage of carbon dioxide in 2019.