‘Horror show’ label rejected

An oil and gas giant has refuted claims made by the State’s peak conservation body that its latest venture would be the country’s highest-polluting fossil fuel project.

Conservation Council of Western Australia critiqued Woodside’s Burrup Hub LNG proposal in a report titled “Australia’s most polluting fossil fuel mega-project.” CCWA director Piers Verstegen said the report raised the alarm on the Burrup Hub, which he called an extremely risky venture that would do enormous damage to the climate and environment, with very few benefits for West Australians.

“This is the first time the overall impacts of the Burrup Hub project have been examined, and it is an absolute horror show,” he said. “If approved, the Burrup Hub would be the most polluting fossil fuel project ever to be developed in Australia, with a total carbon footprint of around six billion tonnes over its 50-year life, and combined annual emissions of 139 million tonnes — roughly four times the annual pollution of the proposed Adani coal mine.

“The Burrup Hub would also produce the dirtiest gas in the world with an emissions intensity of almost one tonne of carbon pollution for every tonne of LNG produced from the Browse Basin.”

However, a Woodside spokesperson claimed natural gas helped reduce global emissions.

“It is clean, reliable and the ideal partner for renewables,” the spokesperson said.

Woodside said it had evaluated a range of options to manage carbon dioxide emissions from the Browse Joint Venture project.