Methane emissions from CSG water holding ponds in Queensland

The project will select multiple representative CSG holding ponds to accurately quantify methane emissions, in both summer and winter, using rigorous sampling methods to minimise known methane measurement limitations. This project will provide new data on methane emissions from CSG holding ponds, which will fill critical knowledge gaps, and enhance community’s understanding of the potential climate impacts from coal seam gas production in Queensland.

This project is one of two follow-up (phase 2) projects to GISERA phase 1 project ‘Methane contributions from holding ponds’. This project will focus on comprehensively surveying CSG-related holding ponds by direct measurement of methane emissions.

The results from the first round of fieldwork from this project will be used to guide selection of holding ponds for examination in the related phase 2 project ‘Key controls or contributors to methane emissions from CSG water holding ponds’, which aims to fill knowledge gaps around microbial communities, microalgal growth, and different carbon pools associated with methane emissions from CSG holding ponds.