Community
Many scientists believe that global warming and climate change is likely to occur unless society can develop and implement effective greenhouse gas mitigation strategies.
Science suggests that climate change is caused by the emission of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere through the burning of fossil fuels. The most abundant greenhouse gas, apart from water vapour, is carbon dioxide.
Geosequestration, or carbon capture and storage, is one of a portfolio of solutions, which include energy efficiency and renewable energy that can make deep cuts into greenhouse gas emissions.
The technology involves the capture from a stationary industrial source; transport (usually via pipeline); injection; and storage of carbon dioxide in deep geological formations.
A major barrier to the success to these projects is not technological but societal. Community acceptance in Australia will mean that geosequestration projects can go ahead, but community rejection of the projects will mean the technology would not be implemented.
The not-for-profit Cooperative Research Centre for Greenhouse Gas Technologies is undertaking Australia’s first geosequestration project in south-western Victoria.
This community will lead the rest of the country in community attitudes to geosequestration and will influence the acceptance of similar projects in other communities in Australia.
However, consultation requires that the community understands complex science and technology concepts such as global warming; the production of greenhouse gas emissions; geophysics, geochemistry and technical risk analysis.
For the past three years (to early 2008), the dairying community of Nirranda South in the south-west Victoria has been asked to hear about, learn about, understand, consider and support geosequestration. The consultative process is key to the community acceptance of this project.