Caring for the Australian countryside

Coal seam gas: alternative energy source or environmental hazard

Tuesday 3 July 2012, 6 pm

Professor Sue Golding
School of Earth Sciences, University of Queensland

Sue Golding holds a PhD degree from the University of Queensland and has more than 30 years experience in the application of geochemistry to the origin of resources in sedimentary basins. She has published more than 100 journal articles and book chapters and edited a pioneering text on coal seam gas entitled Coalbed Methane: Scientific, Environmental and Economic Evaluation. Sue Golding is an international expert on coal seam gas and carbon sequestration in sedimentary basins and a senior researcher with the Cooperative Centre for Greenhouse Gas Technologies (CO2CRC) since 2006. A significant focus of her research group at the University of Queensland is technology related to environmentally sustainable energy provision. The research includes natural analogue studies of coal basins to determine the origins of coal seam methane and of mechanisms that keep carbon dioxide naturally sequestered. She also conducts experimental studies of the impact of carbon dioxide interaction with sandstones and coals.

Coal seam gas: alternative energy source or environmental hazard

The rapid development of the coal seam gas industry in the Bowen and Surat Basins has tested the current regulatory frameworks and lead to widespread community concern about the effects of gas extraction. Much of the debate around coal seam gas production is driven by social and political factors rather than by scientific and technical issues. Nevertheless, a better understanding of the likely groundwater and surface water impacts of coal seam gas production is essential. There is also a clear need to develop whole of region land and water use plans for these basins that make a major economic contribution to the country’s wealth through coal mining and coal seam gas production as well as agriculture and tourism. This lecture will provide an introduction to the science of coal seam gas and will explore the key issues and knowledge gaps in our understanding of the environmental impacts of coal seam gas extraction.

When:	Tuesday 3 July 2012 Refreshments from 5:30 pm (gold coin donation) Lecture and live streaming from 6pm
Where:	Shine Dome, Gordon Street, Canberra View map
Cost:	Free entry and parking
Contact:	RSVPs essential to Shannon Newham Email: rsvp@science.org.au Phone: 02 6201 9462 Fax: 02 6201 9494