“This admission from Chevron highlights once again that carbon capture and storage (CCS) in the fossil fuel sector is an expensive failure,” said the Climate Council’s Senior Researcher, Tim Baxter.

Gorgon’s CCS project is the biggest facility of its kind in the world. It is meant to capture and store four million tonnes of CO2 per year, which is 80 percent of the carbon dioxide emissions found in its reservoir.

“We are still waiting for Chevron to release the full figures, but we know from the company’s own admission that it has failed to meet its five year target,” Baxter said.

“This result is no surprise. After decades of CCS research and billions of dollars of investment, there is little to show for it.

“Over the past decade, the costs of renewable energy like wind and solar have plummeted. Over the same period, CCS has remained extremely expensive. There are still no projects operating anywhere in the world that have delivered CCS on time, on budget, or in the quantities promised.

“CCS is simply an attempt to prolong the life of polluting fossil fuels which are driving climate change. We need to transition away from burning coal, oil and gas and instead power our economy with renewables and storage.”