Chevron’s carbon capture and storage (CCS) facility at its Gorgon LNG plant in Australia underperformed in 2021 with 2.26 million tons of carbon dioxide injected underground, well below its annual capacity of 4 million tons per year of CO2.
For comparison, annual CO2 emissions by Australia is 494.2 million tons per year
Chevron’s CCS project has been working well below its annual capacity since it was launched in August 2019, three years after the Gorgon LNG project began operations, as the company grappled with new technology and technical problems.
Sand issues
One of the major issues has been the presence of sand that has clogged parts of the CCS project. This prompted Chevron to significantly reduce the amount of CO2 injected underground.
As a geologist, the only carbon capture that will ever work long term is sequestration in rock, back to where we have removed carbon from in the first place. All of these other methods are just to look nice or like we are trying but honestly offer very little. Read more about the real solution here