1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:03,040 Speaker 1: Australia is about to hold its first federal election since 2 00:00:03,120 --> 00:00:06,480 Speaker 1: record breaking bush fires, fueled at least in part by 3 00:00:06,559 --> 00:00:10,440 Speaker 1: intense heat and drought and made worse by climate change. 4 00:00:11,480 --> 00:00:14,920 Speaker 2: Flames have been reported to have reached seventy meters high 5 00:00:15,120 --> 00:00:19,360 Speaker 2: that These pictures from Monday show huge blazers in the 6 00:00:19,400 --> 00:00:23,759 Speaker 2: state of Victoria. The plume of smoke generated by the 7 00:00:23,800 --> 00:00:28,240 Speaker 2: inferno covers five and a half million square kilometers. That's 8 00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:29,560 Speaker 2: the size of Europe. 9 00:00:29,920 --> 00:00:33,120 Speaker 1: The fires finally died out just over two years ago, 10 00:00:33,400 --> 00:00:45,800 Speaker 1: after burning for nearly a year across sixty million acres. 11 00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:50,040 Speaker 1: Around the world, the fires were covered as a wake 12 00:00:50,120 --> 00:00:53,880 Speaker 1: up call on climate change, but in Australia, the government 13 00:00:54,040 --> 00:00:58,040 Speaker 1: under Conservative Prime Minister Scott Morrison has seemed more concerned 14 00:00:58,080 --> 00:01:01,200 Speaker 1: with putting a positive spin on its climate record in 15 00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:06,520 Speaker 1: the lead up to this weekend's election. Soon after the fires, 16 00:01:06,600 --> 00:01:10,000 Speaker 1: the government proposed a gas fired recovery from the pandemic, 17 00:01:10,760 --> 00:01:13,960 Speaker 1: and in twenty twenty Australia became the world's biggest exporter 18 00:01:14,040 --> 00:01:17,760 Speaker 1: of gas, with a government scrambling to fast track projects 19 00:01:17,800 --> 00:01:23,360 Speaker 1: including fracking on indigenous lands and offshore drilling to help 20 00:01:23,440 --> 00:01:26,760 Speaker 1: sell its expansion into gas the Morrison government has invested 21 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:30,319 Speaker 1: in promoting new technologies, including carbon capture and storage and 22 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:34,720 Speaker 1: a product it calls clean Hydrogen made from coal and gas. 23 00:01:35,280 --> 00:01:38,800 Speaker 3: We're investing billions in projects like hydrogen harbs and seaweed 24 00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:40,560 Speaker 3: for food arm which means. 25 00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:42,640 Speaker 1: In the lead up to the election, the government ran 26 00:01:42,760 --> 00:01:47,400 Speaker 1: an unprecedented ad campaign branding its investment in new technologies 27 00:01:47,440 --> 00:01:48,760 Speaker 1: as positive energies. 28 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:51,680 Speaker 3: Australia's making positive energy and there's more on the way. 29 00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:54,880 Speaker 3: We've put solar panels here, here and there. In fact, 30 00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:56,919 Speaker 3: more than one in four homes have solar. 31 00:01:58,040 --> 00:02:00,720 Speaker 1: The slogan is weirdly similar to the theme of this 32 00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:06,720 Speaker 1: week's Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association's conference, Positive Energy 33 00:02:06,880 --> 00:02:11,359 Speaker 1: for a Changing World. Both major parties, Morrison's conservative Liberal 34 00:02:11,360 --> 00:02:14,880 Speaker 1: Party and the more center left Labour Party, send speakers 35 00:02:14,919 --> 00:02:22,079 Speaker 1: to the conference just days before the election. But despite 36 00:02:22,120 --> 00:02:26,040 Speaker 1: all this talk of positive energy, many Australians are heading 37 00:02:26,040 --> 00:02:30,079 Speaker 1: to the election with less positive feelings about climate change. 38 00:02:30,160 --> 00:02:32,520 Speaker 1: The country has yet to truly reckon with the fires 39 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:35,080 Speaker 1: that burnt out a little over two years ago, and 40 00:02:35,160 --> 00:02:38,480 Speaker 1: already this year there've been floods, heat waves and mass 41 00:02:38,480 --> 00:02:44,200 Speaker 1: bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef. The government's positive spin 42 00:02:44,320 --> 00:02:47,040 Speaker 1: on future technologies that will allow the gas industry to 43 00:02:47,120 --> 00:02:51,240 Speaker 1: keep polluting today also downplays other problems for the fossil 44 00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:55,320 Speaker 1: fuel industry, including the growing costs and pollution risks of 45 00:02:55,360 --> 00:03:00,280 Speaker 1: aging coal mines and rusting oil rigs. The industry tree 46 00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:03,400 Speaker 1: is facing a growing bill to clean up its old infrastructure, 47 00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:08,239 Speaker 1: but some companies have been finding creative solutions, including one 48 00:03:08,320 --> 00:03:11,880 Speaker 1: company which hopes government grants and commercial customers for carbon 49 00:03:11,919 --> 00:03:14,960 Speaker 1: capture and storage will help it deal with an empty 50 00:03:15,040 --> 00:03:21,960 Speaker 1: hole at the bottom of the t or C. That's 51 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:25,680 Speaker 1: the story that we're digging into today on Drilled. I'm 52 00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:46,200 Speaker 1: Lindall Rowlins, reporting from Australia. In twenty nineteen, Australia signed 53 00:03:46,200 --> 00:03:49,720 Speaker 1: a new treaty with tim Or Leste, recognizing that oil 54 00:03:49,760 --> 00:03:52,400 Speaker 1: and gas fields in the t or C that Australia 55 00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:55,280 Speaker 1: had laid claim to for decades were in fact in 56 00:03:55,360 --> 00:03:59,760 Speaker 1: Ti Marie waters. But by the time the treaty was signed, 57 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:02,000 Speaker 1: any of the most viable oil and gas fields in 58 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:06,640 Speaker 1: the t or Sea were close to empty. Instead, what 59 00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:10,200 Speaker 1: was left were rusting oil rigs, hundreds of kilometers of 60 00:04:10,240 --> 00:04:13,360 Speaker 1: pipelines and empty wells under the sea that would need 61 00:04:13,400 --> 00:04:15,200 Speaker 1: to be filled with concrete. 62 00:04:15,920 --> 00:04:18,919 Speaker 4: Decommissioning is a growing challenge for the Australian oil and 63 00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:22,680 Speaker 4: gas industry and was recently estimated that removal of oil 64 00:04:22,680 --> 00:04:26,360 Speaker 4: and gas equipment and plugging wells will cost around twoty 65 00:04:26,400 --> 00:04:28,039 Speaker 4: two billion Australian dollars. 66 00:04:28,080 --> 00:04:31,080 Speaker 1: Here's Adrian Evans from the Maritime Union of Australia. 67 00:04:31,600 --> 00:04:35,200 Speaker 4: There's currently one thousand and eight offshore wells, fifty seven 68 00:04:35,279 --> 00:04:39,240 Speaker 4: fixed facilities, six and a half thousand kilometers of pipeline, 69 00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:43,400 Speaker 4: fifteen hundred kilometers of umbilicals, and some five hundred and 70 00:04:43,400 --> 00:04:46,120 Speaker 4: thirty five subsea structures such as manifolds. 71 00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:48,960 Speaker 1: Evans were speaking at a Senate inquiry that was called 72 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:52,600 Speaker 1: after an Australian company, Woodside, sold two oil fields in 73 00:04:52,680 --> 00:04:56,320 Speaker 1: the tm Or Sea to a company which soon went bankrupt. 74 00:04:56,720 --> 00:04:59,839 Speaker 1: These two oil fields came with a rusting oil platform, 75 00:05:00,279 --> 00:05:04,840 Speaker 1: the Northern Endeavor, and clean up costs to prevent potential spills. 76 00:05:05,360 --> 00:05:09,440 Speaker 5: The Northern Endeavor is still there, it's rusting, it's leaking, 77 00:05:09,720 --> 00:05:12,760 Speaker 5: it's in terrible shape and it's potentially a huge danger 78 00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:17,159 Speaker 5: to both tim Or Lester and Australia if it fully 79 00:05:17,240 --> 00:05:18,800 Speaker 5: leaks out what it has. 80 00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:22,720 Speaker 1: Charles Schiner has spent decades researching oil and gas revenues 81 00:05:22,760 --> 00:05:25,920 Speaker 1: in the tm or C. For the timers, think tank Laohamatook. 82 00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:29,840 Speaker 5: It'll cost somewhere around two hundred million more than two 83 00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:32,880 Speaker 5: hundred million dollars to be commissioned the Northern Endeavor and 84 00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:35,640 Speaker 5: lamon Eric Arena and bring it to a safe condition. 85 00:05:37,040 --> 00:05:40,479 Speaker 1: After the inquiry, the federal government introduced a levy on 86 00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:43,640 Speaker 1: Australian oil exports to pay for the decommissioning of the 87 00:05:43,680 --> 00:05:47,800 Speaker 1: Northern Endeavor, but this didn't make companies like Chevron, which 88 00:05:47,800 --> 00:05:49,599 Speaker 1: would have to pay a larger share of the costs. 89 00:05:49,640 --> 00:05:54,200 Speaker 1: It's exactly happy the decision to impose the costs and 90 00:05:54,320 --> 00:05:58,880 Speaker 1: oil companies did benefit at least one company, though Woodside, 91 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:01,919 Speaker 1: which sold the Northern End just before it began to 92 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:03,400 Speaker 1: rust into the sea. 93 00:06:03,920 --> 00:06:06,320 Speaker 5: Somehow doesn't have any responsibility, even though the other ones 94 00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:07,839 Speaker 5: who made all the money from this field. 95 00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:10,719 Speaker 1: He says, this is not the first time that Woodside 96 00:06:10,720 --> 00:06:14,040 Speaker 1: has benefited from the Australian government's decisions in the tm. 97 00:06:13,920 --> 00:06:17,359 Speaker 5: Or CEA Woodside is politically well connected enough that they 98 00:06:17,400 --> 00:06:20,080 Speaker 5: could wipe the tens and walk away and somehow doesn't 99 00:06:20,120 --> 00:06:22,160 Speaker 5: have any responsibility even though the other ones who made 100 00:06:22,160 --> 00:06:23,320 Speaker 5: all the money from this field. 101 00:06:23,839 --> 00:06:27,320 Speaker 1: But the two fields Woodside abandoned weren't the only fields 102 00:06:27,320 --> 00:06:29,680 Speaker 1: in the tm Or Sea that need to be decommissioned. 103 00:06:30,279 --> 00:06:33,680 Speaker 1: Further east is a much larger field known as Bayou Undan. 104 00:06:34,360 --> 00:06:39,680 Speaker 1: In twenty nineteen, another Australian company, Santos, purchased Conoco Phillips's 105 00:06:39,800 --> 00:06:43,720 Speaker 1: interests in the tm Or Sea, including Bayou Undan, as 106 00:06:43,720 --> 00:06:46,120 Speaker 1: well as another field that has yet to be developed 107 00:06:46,120 --> 00:06:49,400 Speaker 1: in the Australian part of the tm Or Sea called Barossa. 108 00:06:50,880 --> 00:06:53,799 Speaker 1: Jason Fowler is a marine ecologist with the Environment Center 109 00:06:53,920 --> 00:06:54,840 Speaker 1: Northern Territory. 110 00:06:55,520 --> 00:06:58,200 Speaker 6: Santos are up for about a billion dollar bill to 111 00:06:58,480 --> 00:07:01,880 Speaker 6: decommission the old Bayou Known field. Now, the reason for 112 00:07:01,960 --> 00:07:04,719 Speaker 6: this is because there's dozens and dozens of gas wells 113 00:07:04,760 --> 00:07:08,719 Speaker 6: out there. They all need to be properly capped and sealed, 114 00:07:08,760 --> 00:07:11,200 Speaker 6: so you need to pump, concreting them and really seal 115 00:07:11,240 --> 00:07:13,600 Speaker 6: them up properly so they never ever leak. You know, 116 00:07:13,640 --> 00:07:16,239 Speaker 6: if they do leak, you could very well have oil 117 00:07:16,280 --> 00:07:19,600 Speaker 6: and condensate and gas bubbling up to the surface forever 118 00:07:20,160 --> 00:07:23,800 Speaker 6: and which forms permanent pollution, which is something you don't 119 00:07:23,840 --> 00:07:24,840 Speaker 6: want to ever see. 120 00:07:25,400 --> 00:07:28,920 Speaker 1: But Santos has announced that its plans could potentially offset 121 00:07:29,080 --> 00:07:31,760 Speaker 1: or at least delay some of the costs of decommissioning 122 00:07:31,800 --> 00:07:34,200 Speaker 1: by You and Done by turning the empty field into 123 00:07:34,200 --> 00:07:40,320 Speaker 1: a carbon capture and storage project. Here's Dina Rui from Jubilee, Australia. 124 00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:43,120 Speaker 7: So what they want to do is they want to 125 00:07:43,640 --> 00:07:47,760 Speaker 7: pipe the gas from the Barossa gas field to Darwin, 126 00:07:48,960 --> 00:07:52,840 Speaker 7: extract the CEO two and then pipe the gas for 127 00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:57,880 Speaker 7: five hundred kilometers out to the biol and Done facilities. 128 00:07:57,920 --> 00:07:58,240 Speaker 8: Again. 129 00:07:59,200 --> 00:08:02,800 Speaker 1: At santos recent Annual General Meeting, the Chair of the Board, 130 00:08:02,920 --> 00:08:06,320 Speaker 1: Keith Spence, described the proposal as a bold plan to 131 00:08:06,440 --> 00:08:10,680 Speaker 1: repurpose bio Undan facilities for carbon capture and storage after 132 00:08:10,880 --> 00:08:14,920 Speaker 1: gas production ceases. Spence said by Undan could store up 133 00:08:14,960 --> 00:08:17,920 Speaker 1: to ten million tons of CO two per year, including 134 00:08:17,960 --> 00:08:20,760 Speaker 1: two point three million tons of CO two from the Barossa, 135 00:08:21,400 --> 00:08:23,840 Speaker 1: which Santos claims would make the Barosa one of the 136 00:08:23,920 --> 00:08:28,080 Speaker 1: lowest carbon gas projects in the world. Santos says it's 137 00:08:28,120 --> 00:08:31,360 Speaker 1: already had expressions of interest from commercial customers in South 138 00:08:31,440 --> 00:08:34,120 Speaker 1: Korea and Japan who want to store their CO two 139 00:08:34,640 --> 00:08:38,240 Speaker 1: at Bayou Undan. Gas from the Barossa will be exported 140 00:08:38,280 --> 00:08:42,080 Speaker 1: to countries including Japan and Korea, but the South Korean 141 00:08:42,200 --> 00:08:45,480 Speaker 1: organization Solutions for Our Climate has launched a court case 142 00:08:45,520 --> 00:08:49,280 Speaker 1: claiming that claims about the Barosa project and carbon capture 143 00:08:49,320 --> 00:08:54,760 Speaker 1: and storage amount to greenwashing. Here's Don Jay, a researcher 144 00:08:54,800 --> 00:08:55,640 Speaker 1: with Solutions for. 145 00:08:55,600 --> 00:09:02,160 Speaker 9: Our Climate, especially with the barski A projects. Their claim 146 00:09:02,280 --> 00:09:05,960 Speaker 9: is that it would use carbon capture and storage also 147 00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:11,160 Speaker 9: called a CCS technology in the production stage, but according 148 00:09:11,200 --> 00:09:15,120 Speaker 9: to their plan, assuming it even worse, they will only 149 00:09:15,200 --> 00:09:19,640 Speaker 9: capture about sixteen percent of the total projected amount of emissions. 150 00:09:20,280 --> 00:09:24,719 Speaker 9: On top of that, they plan to compress carbon dioxide 151 00:09:24,720 --> 00:09:30,120 Speaker 9: and transport this over nine hundred kilometers of pipeline, which 152 00:09:30,120 --> 00:09:34,840 Speaker 9: would actually end up producing so much emission that so 153 00:09:34,960 --> 00:09:38,840 Speaker 9: much additional emission that it would negate the entire purpose 154 00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:44,199 Speaker 9: of adding CCS. 155 00:09:46,280 --> 00:09:49,440 Speaker 1: Solutions for Our Climate are also concerned that the Korean 156 00:09:49,480 --> 00:09:53,000 Speaker 1: government is underwriting fossil fuel expansion in Australia through its 157 00:09:53,080 --> 00:09:54,479 Speaker 1: Export Credit Agency. 158 00:09:55,320 --> 00:10:00,440 Speaker 9: Our governments gave about one hundred and twenty seven billion 159 00:10:00,520 --> 00:10:03,559 Speaker 9: dollars for the last ten years to the overseas oil 160 00:10:03,559 --> 00:10:04,360 Speaker 9: and gas projects. 161 00:10:04,960 --> 00:10:08,200 Speaker 1: Even if Santos's claims that Bayou and Done can store 162 00:10:08,320 --> 00:10:11,599 Speaker 1: ten million tons of CO two per year are true, 163 00:10:12,280 --> 00:10:16,200 Speaker 1: its proposal to store CO two underwater hundreds of kilometers 164 00:10:16,200 --> 00:10:20,080 Speaker 1: out to see is much more logistically complicated than other 165 00:10:20,200 --> 00:10:23,640 Speaker 1: more simple carbon capture and storage projects that have failed 166 00:10:23,679 --> 00:10:24,839 Speaker 1: to meet their targets. 167 00:10:25,679 --> 00:10:30,319 Speaker 7: And as we know, CSS is an improven and very 168 00:10:30,320 --> 00:10:34,400 Speaker 7: expensive technology and it doesn't really work at a large scale, 169 00:10:34,920 --> 00:10:37,600 Speaker 7: and this has actually never been done at an offshore 170 00:10:37,679 --> 00:10:41,959 Speaker 7: facility like biot in them before. So again Sentus is 171 00:10:42,160 --> 00:10:45,079 Speaker 7: just using CCS as a green washing tool to push 172 00:10:45,160 --> 00:10:48,400 Speaker 7: through one of the dirtiest gas projects in Australia and 173 00:10:48,480 --> 00:10:49,480 Speaker 7: possibly the world. 174 00:10:49,880 --> 00:10:52,920 Speaker 1: RUI says Barassa has yet to be drilled because it 175 00:10:52,960 --> 00:10:56,280 Speaker 1: has much higher concentrations of CO two than other fields 176 00:10:56,360 --> 00:10:57,080 Speaker 1: in the Team or C. 177 00:10:58,240 --> 00:11:01,160 Speaker 7: So the Barissa gas field is one of the dirtiest 178 00:11:01,200 --> 00:11:05,439 Speaker 7: gas projects in the world. It has double the amount 179 00:11:05,480 --> 00:11:10,360 Speaker 7: of CO two at eighteen percent, of any other offshore 180 00:11:10,440 --> 00:11:16,120 Speaker 7: Australian gas fields currently in operation. And this is important 181 00:11:16,320 --> 00:11:19,520 Speaker 7: because the Barossa gas is supposed to be piped to 182 00:11:19,760 --> 00:11:25,120 Speaker 7: Darwin LNG and this is actually, so eighteen percent is 183 00:11:25,280 --> 00:11:29,480 Speaker 7: three times the CO two content that the Darwin LNG 184 00:11:29,800 --> 00:11:33,760 Speaker 7: facility can actually handle. So what Sentas is planning to do, 185 00:11:34,480 --> 00:11:37,840 Speaker 7: and they've said this themselves, is to vent two thirds 186 00:11:37,880 --> 00:11:41,640 Speaker 7: of the CO two from the Barissa field directly into 187 00:11:41,640 --> 00:11:44,680 Speaker 7: the atmosphere before the gas is even piped into Darwin. 188 00:11:46,280 --> 00:11:50,240 Speaker 7: And if you look at how much LNG that the 189 00:11:50,320 --> 00:11:54,920 Speaker 7: Barissa Gas will actually produce, it will produce more emissions 190 00:11:55,040 --> 00:11:58,880 Speaker 7: than LNG. So the Barissa Gas is going to produce 191 00:11:59,160 --> 00:12:03,240 Speaker 7: three point seven million tons of LNGI every year at 192 00:12:03,240 --> 00:12:06,000 Speaker 7: the same time as it's going to produce five point 193 00:12:06,200 --> 00:12:09,440 Speaker 7: four million tons of CO two emissions every year. 194 00:12:10,120 --> 00:12:14,439 Speaker 1: The high CO two concentration at Barossa hasn't deterred Santos, 195 00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:17,720 Speaker 1: which also plans to build hundreds of kilometers of underwater 196 00:12:17,800 --> 00:12:19,640 Speaker 1: pipes so that it can send the gas from the 197 00:12:19,640 --> 00:12:22,960 Speaker 1: Barosco field to Darwin, where it plans to take some 198 00:12:23,080 --> 00:12:26,160 Speaker 1: of the CO two out before piping it into another 199 00:12:26,240 --> 00:12:29,479 Speaker 1: part of the tim Or Sea for storage at Bayoundan. 200 00:12:30,360 --> 00:12:35,480 Speaker 1: The new Barossa pipeline would pass through nesting areas for turtles. 201 00:12:35,280 --> 00:12:38,119 Speaker 6: To lay the pipeline through that area. 202 00:12:39,080 --> 00:12:42,520 Speaker 8: Literally you have a giant pipeline ship which is up 203 00:12:42,520 --> 00:12:45,360 Speaker 8: to sixty five meters high. It has a big light 204 00:12:45,440 --> 00:12:48,480 Speaker 8: at the top which is super bright. They measure the 205 00:12:48,520 --> 00:12:53,079 Speaker 8: brightness in intensities of full moons to quin idea of 206 00:12:53,080 --> 00:12:55,720 Speaker 8: how bright this thing is. And that's obviously going to 207 00:12:55,720 --> 00:12:58,040 Speaker 8: have an impact on turtle nesting it and also baby 208 00:12:58,080 --> 00:13:01,120 Speaker 8: turtles that hatch and come off the beach, because turtles 209 00:13:01,160 --> 00:13:03,960 Speaker 8: are attracted to light, and you may end up a 210 00:13:04,080 --> 00:13:07,320 Speaker 8: situation where baby turtles are all rushing towards the plipeline 211 00:13:07,360 --> 00:13:12,000 Speaker 8: ship and accumulating in the in the light spill area 212 00:13:12,040 --> 00:13:14,840 Speaker 8: behind the ship, and this means that they're up and 213 00:13:14,880 --> 00:13:15,600 Speaker 8: bright lights. 214 00:13:15,800 --> 00:13:19,959 Speaker 1: Santos has said that it can manage these risks. For Santos, 215 00:13:20,040 --> 00:13:22,800 Speaker 1: the plan means that not only can they tell investors 216 00:13:22,800 --> 00:13:26,839 Speaker 1: that the Barossa gas project will have low ZO two emissions, 217 00:13:27,280 --> 00:13:31,600 Speaker 1: they can also keep the bayoundun field open longer. But 218 00:13:31,679 --> 00:13:34,880 Speaker 1: logistics aren't the only issue with this proposal, as Shiner 219 00:13:34,920 --> 00:13:38,560 Speaker 1: from the Timeris Think Tank Laohamma took points out, while 220 00:13:38,559 --> 00:13:40,880 Speaker 1: Barossa is in the Australian part of the tim or C, 221 00:13:41,440 --> 00:13:45,080 Speaker 1: the twenty nineteen agreement between tim O Leste and Australia 222 00:13:45,200 --> 00:13:48,600 Speaker 1: recognize that Bayundan was in Timur's waters. 223 00:13:48,960 --> 00:13:56,240 Speaker 5: The boundary agreement that Australia finally reluctantly signed was delayed 224 00:13:56,320 --> 00:13:57,960 Speaker 5: until biohen was almost then. 225 00:13:58,760 --> 00:14:02,120 Speaker 1: So Bayoundan well store the CO two from another field 226 00:14:02,200 --> 00:14:06,040 Speaker 1: in Australian waters after it's been returned to tim or Leste, 227 00:14:06,160 --> 00:14:09,520 Speaker 1: a country with a much smaller carbon emissions per person 228 00:14:09,760 --> 00:14:13,920 Speaker 1: than Australia. Safety commissioning in the t or Se also 229 00:14:14,000 --> 00:14:17,080 Speaker 1: remains a local environmental issue, with the effects of a 230 00:14:17,080 --> 00:14:19,880 Speaker 1: two thousand and nine oil spill still being filled. 231 00:14:28,720 --> 00:14:31,800 Speaker 7: Local communities there are still dealing with the legacy of 232 00:14:31,840 --> 00:14:35,120 Speaker 7: the Mantara oil spill in two thousand and nine, which 233 00:14:36,040 --> 00:14:40,200 Speaker 7: that meaged the liblorhoods of thousands of seamed farmers. 234 00:14:41,720 --> 00:14:44,720 Speaker 1: Santo's plan to store CO two at bay Undan means 235 00:14:44,720 --> 00:14:47,440 Speaker 1: that it would potentially make more money from the facility 236 00:14:47,680 --> 00:14:52,240 Speaker 1: before paying decommissioning costs. However, Shiner also notes that this 237 00:14:52,360 --> 00:14:54,960 Speaker 1: potentially just delays these costs. 238 00:14:55,440 --> 00:14:58,520 Speaker 5: The decommissioning is a different issue. I mean decommissioning you're 239 00:14:58,560 --> 00:15:01,120 Speaker 5: dealing with all of the toxic chemicals with the oil. 240 00:15:01,200 --> 00:15:04,520 Speaker 5: It can still leak out with whatever other things that 241 00:15:04,760 --> 00:15:10,160 Speaker 5: are on the side rusting metal structures and whatever. And 242 00:15:10,200 --> 00:15:13,160 Speaker 5: that's a local danger. The CO two is a global danger. 243 00:15:13,440 --> 00:15:16,960 Speaker 5: The CO two adds to the garment in the atmosphere, 244 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:18,720 Speaker 5: adds to global climate change. 245 00:15:19,160 --> 00:15:21,720 Speaker 1: After the Northern Endeavor was left rusting in the tm 246 00:15:21,840 --> 00:15:25,440 Speaker 1: or C, the Australian government regulator began to tighten up 247 00:15:25,560 --> 00:15:30,520 Speaker 1: rules around decommissioning. Since tighter regulations were introduced, Santos is 248 00:15:30,560 --> 00:15:33,800 Speaker 1: not the only company to propose carbon capture and storage 249 00:15:33,880 --> 00:15:37,840 Speaker 1: as an option for an old offshore field, but carbon 250 00:15:37,880 --> 00:15:40,520 Speaker 1: capture and storage isn't the only way that companies have 251 00:15:40,560 --> 00:15:44,760 Speaker 1: been finding creative ways to decommission offshore projects. 252 00:15:45,400 --> 00:15:48,480 Speaker 10: Which I had had a mooring out there, a rhizotart mooring, 253 00:15:49,560 --> 00:15:52,720 Speaker 10: and it had kept this rhizo tart mooring in such 254 00:15:52,800 --> 00:15:57,200 Speaker 10: disrepair that it was unable to well purportedly unable to 255 00:15:57,240 --> 00:16:03,720 Speaker 10: bring it on shore for disposal, and as a consequence, 256 00:16:04,160 --> 00:16:09,040 Speaker 10: Woodside proposed to basically pick up this two and a 257 00:16:09,040 --> 00:16:13,440 Speaker 10: half thousand ton piece of metal and plastic and tell 258 00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:17,440 Speaker 10: it about a kilometer away from Ninglu World Heritage Area 259 00:16:17,560 --> 00:16:21,280 Speaker 10: listed reef and leave it there to create what they 260 00:16:21,320 --> 00:16:23,800 Speaker 10: called an integrated artificial reef. 261 00:16:24,440 --> 00:16:27,680 Speaker 1: A recent freedom of information request from the Australian Conservation 262 00:16:27,800 --> 00:16:31,760 Speaker 1: Foundation found that the Australian Department of Agriculture, Water and 263 00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:35,920 Speaker 1: Environment had expressed concerns about Woodside's plan to decommission one 264 00:16:35,920 --> 00:16:39,280 Speaker 1: of its offshore oil rigs by dumping it near a 265 00:16:39,400 --> 00:16:44,160 Speaker 1: World Heritage listed coral reef. This is Anikashu, a researcher 266 00:16:44,200 --> 00:16:46,160 Speaker 1: with the Australian Conservation Foundation. 267 00:16:46,960 --> 00:16:52,920 Speaker 10: There was language like this. Some of the chemicals, for example, 268 00:16:53,120 --> 00:16:56,440 Speaker 10: in the Riser Turret mooring are highly acutely toxic to 269 00:16:56,520 --> 00:17:00,200 Speaker 10: aquatic organisms. They couldn't rule out risk to human health. 270 00:17:00,560 --> 00:17:03,400 Speaker 10: Another thing that was raised by the Department was twelve 271 00:17:03,440 --> 00:17:07,360 Speaker 10: point four tons of plastic which would be leached into 272 00:17:07,359 --> 00:17:11,800 Speaker 10: the environment and probably consumed by turtles and marine animals 273 00:17:12,240 --> 00:17:16,080 Speaker 10: in the receiving area. The department themselves described it as 274 00:17:16,200 --> 00:17:21,600 Speaker 10: questionable and it was really nice to see public servants 275 00:17:21,640 --> 00:17:24,880 Speaker 10: giving Frank and feelus advice and the Environment Department doing 276 00:17:24,920 --> 00:17:27,919 Speaker 10: its job and that is coming to a really tough 277 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:32,120 Speaker 10: but fair interim decision on the matter. Basically, they contacted 278 00:17:33,040 --> 00:17:37,680 Speaker 10: the company and said we are intending to reject this. 279 00:17:38,240 --> 00:17:41,760 Speaker 10: We think it's contrary to international law on sea dumping, 280 00:17:41,880 --> 00:17:43,920 Speaker 10: and there are a number of other bits of information 281 00:17:44,080 --> 00:17:47,840 Speaker 10: that go against and then the company decided to withdraw 282 00:17:47,920 --> 00:17:48,560 Speaker 10: the application. 283 00:17:48,840 --> 00:17:52,639 Speaker 1: Yeah. Despite Woodside's record on decommissioning, Shoe notes that it 284 00:17:52,680 --> 00:17:55,879 Speaker 1: has recently purchased more aging off short assets to the 285 00:17:55,920 --> 00:17:59,720 Speaker 1: southeast of Australia in the bas Street. Two weeks before 286 00:17:59,760 --> 00:18:04,080 Speaker 1: the the Morrison government quietly released a report detailing the 287 00:18:04,119 --> 00:18:08,119 Speaker 1: extent of another mass bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef. 288 00:18:08,880 --> 00:18:11,959 Speaker 10: Yeah, it's extremely ironic, isn't it, I think? Yeah. I mean, 289 00:18:11,960 --> 00:18:14,000 Speaker 10: you could dump a shopping trolley in the ocean and 290 00:18:14,040 --> 00:18:17,240 Speaker 10: something will live in it. But is that the same 291 00:18:17,320 --> 00:18:20,760 Speaker 10: kind of biodiversity that you see at Ninglo Reef? No, 292 00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:26,400 Speaker 10: that is virtually impossible. These hard coral reefs are irreplaceable 293 00:18:27,119 --> 00:18:32,520 Speaker 10: and have huge benefits and serve human life and all 294 00:18:32,560 --> 00:18:34,440 Speaker 10: other forms of life on this planet. 295 00:18:35,080 --> 00:18:38,280 Speaker 1: Before calling the election, the Morrison government announced a further 296 00:18:38,359 --> 00:18:41,399 Speaker 1: round of funding for new technologies and the expansion of 297 00:18:41,440 --> 00:18:46,040 Speaker 1: gas projects around the country. Australia's gas exports have grown 298 00:18:46,080 --> 00:18:49,320 Speaker 1: significantly in the past ten years, yet this didn't stop 299 00:18:49,359 --> 00:18:52,320 Speaker 1: the government from promoting itself with a multi million dollar 300 00:18:52,400 --> 00:18:54,560 Speaker 1: green washing ad in the lead up to the election. 301 00:18:54,960 --> 00:18:57,800 Speaker 3: Australia's making positive energy and there's more on the way. 302 00:18:58,000 --> 00:19:01,040 Speaker 3: We've put solar panels here, here and there. In fact, 303 00:19:01,240 --> 00:19:03,800 Speaker 3: more than one in four homes have solar may oh, 304 00:19:03,840 --> 00:19:06,840 Speaker 3: that's a nice lake. Nice because it's also a battery, 305 00:19:06,960 --> 00:19:09,840 Speaker 3: storing energy for our fish tanks and hairdoos. Looking good. 306 00:19:10,119 --> 00:19:13,640 Speaker 3: We're investing billions in projects like hydrogen harbs its seaweed 307 00:19:13,640 --> 00:19:17,120 Speaker 3: for fee, which means thousands more jobs and even less 308 00:19:17,119 --> 00:19:20,840 Speaker 3: emissions because what we do today will define how tomorrow. 309 00:19:22,480 --> 00:19:24,400 Speaker 3: Authorized by the Austraian Government camera. 310 00:19:25,040 --> 00:19:28,119 Speaker 1: In contrast to the environmental impacts of climate change the 311 00:19:28,200 --> 00:19:31,200 Speaker 1: Australians have seen since the last election, the ads were 312 00:19:31,240 --> 00:19:32,640 Speaker 1: bright and upbeat. 313 00:19:32,960 --> 00:19:37,000 Speaker 11: Well, the positive energy campaign looks like a children's TV program. 314 00:19:37,480 --> 00:19:43,399 Speaker 11: It's got green rolling hills, trees, cows and flying scooters. 315 00:19:43,920 --> 00:19:49,320 Speaker 11: It uses big bold graphics, fun quirky and it's forward 316 00:19:49,400 --> 00:19:53,760 Speaker 11: focused and positive. The campaign is basically everything the Australian 317 00:19:53,760 --> 00:19:54,639 Speaker 11: government isn't. 318 00:19:55,359 --> 00:19:58,680 Speaker 1: Belinda Noble from Comms to Claire says that the positive 319 00:19:58,800 --> 00:20:02,400 Speaker 1: energy ad campaign was unusual even for the Australian government 320 00:20:02,560 --> 00:20:07,280 Speaker 1: under Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Who has a background in marketing. 321 00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:12,240 Speaker 11: The terms clean hydrogen and positive energy. The use of 322 00:20:12,240 --> 00:20:15,720 Speaker 11: those terms is a deliberate strategy by the government to 323 00:20:15,760 --> 00:20:18,719 Speaker 11: misinform the public about what they really want to do, 324 00:20:18,920 --> 00:20:22,040 Speaker 11: which is to continue to be one of the world's 325 00:20:22,080 --> 00:20:24,520 Speaker 11: top exporters of fossil fuels. 326 00:20:24,960 --> 00:20:28,840 Speaker 1: The ads referred specifically to government investments in so called 327 00:20:28,920 --> 00:20:32,040 Speaker 1: clean hydrogen, but a closer look at the website which 328 00:20:32,080 --> 00:20:36,000 Speaker 1: accompanied the Positive Energy ad campaign included more details about 329 00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:39,680 Speaker 1: what the government meant by clean hydrogen and how it's 330 00:20:39,680 --> 00:20:43,560 Speaker 1: connected to carbon capture and storage. The website says carbon 331 00:20:43,640 --> 00:20:47,000 Speaker 1: capture use and storage allows Australian coll and gas to 332 00:20:47,040 --> 00:20:51,600 Speaker 1: be transformed into clean hydrogen, and that carbon capture use 333 00:20:51,640 --> 00:20:55,440 Speaker 1: and storage can permanently cut emissions from a range of sectors. 334 00:20:55,840 --> 00:20:58,320 Speaker 1: If you listen to our last episode from Australia, you 335 00:20:58,359 --> 00:21:00,920 Speaker 1: would have also heard how these plans for an industrial 336 00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:04,240 Speaker 1: help on the lands of the Larikia people will include 337 00:21:04,280 --> 00:21:08,040 Speaker 1: factories that will turn gas into plastics and other petrochemical 338 00:21:08,040 --> 00:21:13,119 Speaker 1: products from frecking on indigenous lands. Despite the Australian government's 339 00:21:13,200 --> 00:21:17,120 Speaker 1: optimism for carbon capture and storage to date, researchers say 340 00:21:17,160 --> 00:21:19,840 Speaker 1: that even some of the world's most ambitious and expensive 341 00:21:19,880 --> 00:21:24,439 Speaker 1: carbon capture and storage projects have only stored relatively small 342 00:21:24,480 --> 00:21:27,760 Speaker 1: amounts of CO two, usually much less than the projects 343 00:21:27,800 --> 00:21:31,160 Speaker 1: were supposed to hold, and unlike the plants that bay Undan, 344 00:21:31,320 --> 00:21:34,600 Speaker 1: these projects weren't hundreds of kilometers away from the initial 345 00:21:34,640 --> 00:21:37,320 Speaker 1: source of CO two via underwater pipes. 346 00:21:37,720 --> 00:21:40,280 Speaker 5: But the CO two will have to still be contained 347 00:21:41,359 --> 00:21:44,800 Speaker 5: in that that side, if it's stored there, and this 348 00:21:44,840 --> 00:21:49,160 Speaker 5: is underground, underwater. It's captured and stored very well by 349 00:21:49,200 --> 00:21:51,159 Speaker 5: the rocks under the tmor C. They've held it for 350 00:21:51,280 --> 00:21:53,800 Speaker 5: hundreds and millions of years, so to take it out 351 00:21:53,840 --> 00:21:57,600 Speaker 5: and then put someone it back is a bit crazy 352 00:21:57,640 --> 00:22:01,160 Speaker 5: that side, if it's stored there and this is underground, underwar. 353 00:22:01,920 --> 00:22:04,960 Speaker 1: As I mentioned at the beginning of this episode, positive 354 00:22:05,080 --> 00:22:08,320 Speaker 1: energy for a changing world was also strangely the theme 355 00:22:08,520 --> 00:22:13,480 Speaker 1: of the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association's conference, which 356 00:22:13,600 --> 00:22:16,879 Speaker 1: attracted speakers from both major parties just a few days 357 00:22:16,920 --> 00:22:17,800 Speaker 1: before the election. 358 00:22:18,920 --> 00:22:23,760 Speaker 11: Yes, quite the coincidence that the gas lobby is using 359 00:22:23,760 --> 00:22:27,760 Speaker 11: the same language as the Australian government, and that's the 360 00:22:27,880 --> 00:22:29,680 Speaker 11: language of positive energy. 361 00:22:30,400 --> 00:22:34,320 Speaker 1: After years of increasingly severe fires, floods and heat waves. 362 00:22:34,520 --> 00:22:39,360 Speaker 1: Many Australians don't share these same positive feelings towards climate change. 363 00:22:39,400 --> 00:22:41,959 Speaker 1: The Labour Party has taken a muted approach to climate 364 00:22:42,040 --> 00:22:44,760 Speaker 1: change to the election, a few years after the mining 365 00:22:44,800 --> 00:22:48,200 Speaker 1: industry and Rupert Murdoch's News Corps led a backlash against 366 00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:53,399 Speaker 1: Labour's more ambitious climate policies. This election will not only 367 00:22:53,440 --> 00:22:56,600 Speaker 1: determine which major party will form government, but will also 368 00:22:56,640 --> 00:22:59,240 Speaker 1: show how many Australians are ready to walk away from 369 00:22:59,240 --> 00:23:02,800 Speaker 1: the major parties as they continue to support fossil fuel expansion.