- Carbon pollution dumping has proven to be a big, expensive failure, costing Australian taxpayers more than $1 billion with little success
- Carbon capture requires dangerous seismic blasting, which kills marine life, but Inpex has not disclosed scale and environmental impacts of blasting
- Australian public has until 5 May to lodge submissions about project
The Australian public has until 5 May to lodge submissions to oppose an application for the largest carbon pollution dumping experiment in the world, the Australian Marine Conservation Society said today.
Last week Japanese gas giant Inpex resubmitted its plans to the Australian Government for a carbon pollution dumping proposal off the Northern Territory coast under the new national environmental protection laws. Inpex's Bonaparte Carbon Capture and Storage Project is the largest proposed carbon pollution dumping experiment in the world. It would collect carbon dioxide from fossil fuel and other industrial activities near Darwin Harbor and pipe it more than 250km to dump under the seabed in the Bonaparte Gulf over a 30-year period.
Carbon dumping projects also need to use dangerous seismic blasting for decades, starting from before the dumping starts to decades after operations have ceased. Yet Inpex's proposal fails to disclose the exact areas, scale, timelines, frequency and the extent of the environmental impacts of those seismic blasting plans. Without these details, the Australian Government can't assess the threat that Inpex's project could have on the environment. Inpex has also omitted significant risks and potential environmental impacts from its proposal, including from oil spills and carbon pollution leaks. The Northern Territory Seafood Council has reported reduced catches from seismic blasting.
AMCS Fossil Fuels Campaign Manager Hannah Tait said: "Seismic blasting is the first step in carbon pollution dumping and it's loud, like an underwater bomb. It's deadly for marine life and can impact all levels of the food chain from its very foundations, killing zooplankton more than a kilometre away, deafening whales and impacting fish, turtles, crustaceans, molluscs. It involves loud, powerful air guns blasting every few seconds, 24 hours a day, sometimes for months on end.
"Carbon pollution dumping also requires decades of dangerous seismic blasting. It is currently unknown how long the pollution must be monitored for, and under Australian law that decision and cost is left to future governments and therefore the taxpayer.
"The carbon pollution dumping experiment has proven to be a big, expensive failure, costing Australian taxpayers $1.3 billion with little success. Nearly 90% of all projects have failed, and the ones that become operational underperform by 20-90%. The world's biggest CCS experiment, part of the Gorgon gas project in Western Australia, aimed to capture less than 10% of the carbon emissions Gorgon produces, yet it only captures less than 3%.
"Carbon pollution dumping is a greenwashing tactic used by the fossil fuel industry to keep expanding. It not only threatens marine life through repeated seismic blasting and risk of spills; it's a proven failure that locks in dependence on fossil fuels. Projects must also pipe corrosive carbon pollution long distances, risking pipeline ruptures that can harm local communities.
"The world has never seen a carbon dumping project of this scale, and Inpex hasn't demonstrated how these plans can be rolled out without significant risk."
Environment Centre Northern Territory (ECNT) Senior Climate Campaigner Bree Ahrens said: "From Darwin Harbour to the Bonaparte Gulf, this project puts the environment and public safety behind gas industry profits. Carbon pollution dumping is a demonstrated failure that won't solve the climate crisis - and communities in the NT see through this gas industry scam."
