“Australia is determined to be one of the leaders in of this international endeavour to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through the capture and long-term geologic storage of carbon dioxide,” Macfarlane said, discusing the fourth multi-national Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum (CSLF), which opened in Berlin this week.

This forum would be largely guided by a recently released United Nations report, which has recommended using existing technology developed by the oil and gas industry to capture and store carbon dioxide underground.

The 650-page report written by 100 experts from 32 countries recommended the capture of carbon dioxide produced by sources such as power plants, refineries and oil plants. It said the emissions should then compressed and stored in geological formations, the oceans or in minerals, instead of being released into the atmosphere.

Macfarlane claimed about half of Australia’s CO2 emissions derived from stationary sources and were therefore suitable for sequestration. He said government agency Geoscience Australia had identified 65 viable carbon dioxide storage sites in Australia.

“Australia has the geology, the scientific expertise, the industry enthusiasm and the political will to capitalise on the carbon capture opportunity, but it’s an opportunity that will take an international effort to realise,” he said.

The UN report estimated the risks associated with underground storage were similar to current practices of storing natural gas and that 99% of properly stored carbon dioxide would not leak in the next 1000 years.

But the report also noted that the capture process required extra energy, which could mean an increased consumption of fossil fuels.