Liability for Carbon Capture and Storage
Barrow Island
The Australian and Western Australian Governments have just announced that they will accept the long-term liability arising from the storage of CO2 from Chevron’s Gorgon Project. Most scenarios for long-term climate change mitigation assume wide deployment of carbon capture and storage technology and this decision helps clear the way for what will be one of the worlds largest commercial projects.
If a company could be held liable ‘forever’ for the long-term risks associated with carbon storage, then it is unlikely that many projects would proceed. There is a debate going on regarding when and how governments should take on this liability. It will be interesting to see the details of this arrangement and what it bodes for future Carbon Capture and Storage projects.
Tags: Carbon Capture, ccs
