South West Hub: a carbon capture and storage project

The South West CO2 Geosequestration Hub (the South West Hub) is located in South West Western Australia in proximity to industrialised regions around Kwinana, Kemerton, and coal mining and power production facilities around Collie. Recognition that there is a potentially suitable geosequestration site in the region near extensive emission sources led to the formation of the South West Hub and its submission as a potential Flagship under the Australian Federal Clean Energy Initiative (CEI). An area with geosequestration potential was identified based on data from years of active research in the region to investigate oil and gas potential, ground-water resources and more recently for geothermal energy potential and now carbon storage. Three interesting factors stand out regarding this site: (1) the storage site relies primarily on residual and dissolution trapping, (2) some of the CO2 will be sequestered by mineralisation during the amelioration of bauxite residue from some nearby alumina plants, and (3) th...