Underground coal gassification 'a failure': Lynham

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This was published 7 years ago

Underground coal gassification 'a failure': Lynham

By Amy Remeikis
Updated

Mines minister Anthony Lynham has conceded a Labor trial program to establish an energy industry that only exists in Uzbekistan, was a "failure".

The Palaszczuk Government has banned underground coal gasification within the state's borders and will legislate to make it official by the end of the year following the Linc Energy pilot project ending with charges of serious environmental harm.

Natural Resources Minister Dr Anthony Lynham.

Natural Resources Minister Dr Anthony Lynham.Credit: Michelle Smith

The Chinchilla project was one of two pilot programs the Beattie Labor Government gave the green light to in the early 2000s, along with a study program involving the CSIRO and Carbon Energy.

A project undertaken by Cougar Energy in Kingaroy was shut down in 2010, with the company fined $75,000 after the cancer causing chemical benzene was found to have leaked into groundwater.

But while UCG was heralded as part of the new "clean coal" wave - a way of producing energy from the fossil fuel, while limiting greenhouse gases, the technology to extract it has failed to meet environmental standards in other areas - including how it impacts the land around it - to justify it moving forward to mass commercialisation.

That has seen it stopped or banned in most countries that trialled it, leaving the Linc Energy project in Angren, Uzbekistan as the only commercial UCG operation in the world.

It differed from fracking, which uses fluid pumped into coal seams to force the gas to the surface, by taking place underground within the coal body itself - oxygen was injected into the coal seam, causing it to ignite, releasing gases such as carbon monoxide and methane, which are then extracted through production wells and used to generate electricity.

Late last week Linc Energy was placed into administration, one month after it was committed to stand trial for charges related to serious environmental harm, after four employees fell ill with suspected gas poisoning.

A government commissioned study later found 'permanent acidification' of nearby soil.

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Dr Lynham said the ban was necessary, "to send a clear message".

"That this industry has not been successful here in Queensland, this industry exists in only one country, and that is Uzbekistan," he said.

"We already have the issues associated with Linc Energy...but, this is sensible step for the Queensland Government and a sensible move forward for the resources sector," he said.

He admitted the pilot program, introduced under the Beattie Government, didn't achieve its goals.

"I must say, it has been a failure," he said.

Carbon Energy is decommissioning and rehabilitating its Bloodwood Creek site near Dalby.

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