The government says much of the existing CCS legislation in Victoria has not been designed to address the unique issues associated with CCS activities such as the management of long-term CO2 storage.
The discussion paper A Regulatory Framework for the Long-Term Underground Geological Storage of Carbon Dioxide in Victoria, to be released on the Department of Primary Industries website, opens topics for discussion such as access and storage rights, monitoring and verification requirements, environmental and safety impacts and the allocation of responsibilities and liabilities.
A CO2 storage trial currently underway in the state's south-west, near Nirranda, highlights the complex array of legislation for CCS operations, including planning, environment, petroleum and water law, the report says.
As CCS uses many of the technologies used by the oil and gas industries to explore petroleum and gas reserves, many of the same regulatory issues will need to be addressed such as resource conservation, groundwater protection, pipeline transportation and storage and injection of gases.
But the paper says CCS is different from petroleum operations because rather than extracting oil or gas, large volumes of CO2 are compressed, injected and stored underground for the purpose of long-term storage in CCS operations.
CCS regulation will therefore involve consideration of unique legal issues not set out in petroleum legislation, such as potential movement of the injected gas and long-term liabilities.
Victorian Energy Minister Peter Batchelor said CCS was important given its potential role in reducing emissions while enabling the ongoing use of Victoria's brown coal in the Latrobe Valley.
"Given Victoria's dependence on brown coal for energy generation, CCS is of
critical interest to the state," the paper reads.
Victoria has abundant brown coal supplies according to a report released last month by Victoria's Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability, Dr Ian McPhail. He said there were sufficient reserves meet the state's demand for electricity for more than 450 years.
Batchelor said another key driver to making CCS economically viable was a national emissions trading scheme, which would put a price on CO2 emissions.
"An emissions trading scheme is something which the Victorian Government has long called for from the Commonwealth and so with the commitment of the new Federal Government to introduce such a scheme in 2010, now is the time for us to set out how CCS will work in Victoria," Batchelor said.
Tony Mohr from the Australian Conservation Foundation told Environmental Management News he is not opposed to CCS technology but it is still in its infancy and may not be commercially viable until after 2020.
He said governments should focus on supporting the roll-out of renewable energy such as solar and wind, as these technologies are readily available and would help meet 2020 emission reduction targets, which the Federal Government will determine on advice from the Garnaut report due to be released mid-year.
Community consultation sessions will be held later this month and early February and submissions from the public on the discussion paper are due by February 29.
