Aussies ready to put carbon on the ocean floor

Australia looks like it’s about to test a new carbon capture system that sounds to Greenbang a bit like shoving all those old magazines you don’t want to throw out under the bed and then forgetting about it while it gets covered in dust and pet hair: according to Reuters, Australia is putting its carbon under the sea.

Reuters quotes Energy Minister Martin Ferguson as saying:

Australia has significant geological storage potential, particularly in our offshore sedimentary basins. I am hoping that amendments to the Offshore Petroleum Act 2006 will be passed in time for the government to release acreage for exploration in 2008.”

Meanwhile, government scientific advisor Professor Ross Garnaut said in government paper emissions trading is the way forward for Oz. Here’s how he put it:

Australia must now put in place effective policies to achieve major reductions in emissions. The emissions trading scheme (ETS) is the centre-piece of a domestic migration strategy. To achieve effective mitigation at the lowest possible cost, the ETS will need to be supported by measure to correct market failures or weaknesses related to innovation, research and development, and to network infrastructure.”