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Chinese look at WA carbon project

Chinese officials have toured WA's South-West to see firsthand the complicated process of capturing and storing underground the carbon emissions from industrial projects.

The South West Hub carbon capture and storage project, which is a proving ground for Chevron's plan to bury emissions from the giant Gorgon precinct on Barrow Island, was inspected last week by the delegation from Beijing.

"A vital concern to both countries is the creation and use of low-emission technologies, to cut waste and increase the amount of energy gained from each tonne of coal," WA Mines and Petroleum Minister Bill Marmion said.

"Carbon capture and storage, or CCS, is a developing technology that offers very good prospects of emissions reduction in the future."

The Chinese visited Harvey and Waroona as part of the seventh Australia-China Bilateral Dialogue On Resources and Energy Co-operation.

"This is an area with excellent prospects as an injection site for the underground storage of carbon dioxide in the Lesueur Sandstone," Mr Marmion said. "The Chinese are also aware of the advances we have made in CCS in co-operation with industry in WA. The Gorgon Project at Barrow Island is the world's largest carbon sequestration project, storing up to 4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year and set to reduce the project's greenhouse gas emissions by 40 per cent."