Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2009

The Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2009 (PDF - 1.2MB) (the Act) has been passed by Parliament, and will come into effect no later than February 2010. The Act provides a tenure framework to allow:

• exploration for underground storage reservoirs for permanent storage of greenhouse gases(carbon dioxide)
• storage of greenhouse gases to take place.

The Act is being introduced to encourage development of greenhouse gas (GHG) capture and storage in Queensland. GHG capture and storage is the process of capturing carbon dioxide from power stations, and injecting it deep underground for permanent storage. This process is considered an important option for reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

The Queensland Government treats underground storage reservoirs as a state resource (similar to mineral deposits) and they are therefore the property of the state.

The Queensland Government will manage the development of this industry and will release areas for exploration through a competitive tender process.

The following authorities allow geophysical surveys, exploration, injection and storage activities to take place:

• Greenhouse gas injection and storage data acquisition authority (also called a GHG data acquisition authority)
• Greenhouse gas exploration permit (also called a GHG permit)
• Greenhouse gas injection and storage lease (also called a GHG lease).

For more information, download the Greenhouse Gas Storage fact sheet (PDF - 70KB).