Emissions of Beetaloo Basin gas projects ‘significantly underestimated’ by government, analysis finds

Fri, 1 Dec 2023 12:11:14 +1100

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

Andrew Pam
<https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/oct/31/emissions-of-beetaloo-basin-gas-projects-significantly-underestimated-by-government-analysis-finds>

"Fracking to extract gas from the Northern Territory’s Beetaloo Basin could
lead to much larger greenhouse gas emissions than the territory government has
claimed, according to new analysis.

The report by Climate Analytics, and commissioned by the Nurrdalinji Aboriginal
Corporation, finds the projected emissions associated with proposed gas
developments in the Beetaloo basin had been significantly underestimated in
government modelling, while the availability of carbon offsets had been
overestimated.

In May, the NT government announced it was satisfied it had met the
recommendations of a scientific inquiry into fracking, including a key
recommendation – recommendation 9.8 – meant to deal with the climate risk
associated with new gas projects.

Underpinning its decision was a report by the national science agency CSIRO’s
Gas Industry Social and Environmental Research Alliance (GISERA), which
receives funding from the gas industry.

That report found emissions from fracking in the basin could be either fully
reduced or offset within Australia. If production was particularly high, it
would also require offsets bought from overseas. Use of international offsets
is not permitted under the federal government’s safeguard mechanism.

Climate Analytics examined this report and found it “underestimated emissions
for the Beetaloo project and its associated LNG production facilities across
the board, across all areas of the proposed project, from methane leakage on
extraction to liquefaction emissions intensity”.

“We estimate these emissions would add up to 11% of Australia’s 2021
emissions,” the authors state."

Cheers,
       *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics

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