Research Partnerships
We support partnerships that provide the Australian natural gas industry, government and community with quality-assured scientific research.
The University of Queensland's Centre of Natural Gas (UQ-CNG)
Founded in December 2011, the UQ-CNG conducts and coordinates research on technical and social challenges associated with the development of CSG resources in Australia. The Centre also contributes towards educating the next generation of professionals to work in the coal seam gas sector. The current member organisations are the University of Queensland, Australia Pacific LNG, QGC, Arrow and Santos.
The Centre’s vision is to become a leader in creating new knowledge and capability that will enable the CSG sector to meet Australia’s energy needs, while addressing community, government and industry challenges.
There are four research focus areas: Water, Social Performance, Geoscience and Petroleum Engineering. Achieving a suitable balance across these areas is a key challenge for the Australian CSG industry and is the guiding principle behind the Centre’s education and research strategy.
Governance of the Centre is subject to the University of Queensland’s policies and procedures. Key decisions about UQ-CNG activities and priorities are made by the Centre Director, with guidance provided by two advisory boards – the Strategic Advisory Board (SAB) and the Technical Advisory Board (TAG).
Gas Industry and Environmental Research Alliance (GISERA)
Australia Pacific LNG and CSIRO are founding members of a national research alliance called GISERA.
CSIRO’s experience in social, economic and ecological sciences provides impartial research which is then made available to industry, regulators and the wider Australian community.
The natural gas industry seeks to provide comprehensive analysis on industry activities and create ongoing improvements where necessary. Through partnerships with industry members, government agencies and stakeholders, research can inform future regulation and monitoring of natural gas developments around Australia.
GISERA is an innovative alliance that applies research rigour, accuracy and transparency to identified areas relating to the industry.
The study areas for GISERA are:
- Agriculture: identifying landscape/development configurations that minimise impacts
- Water: better understanding risks associated with extraction and use of groundwater
- Greenhouse gas footprint: improving characterisation and management of gas industry greenhouse gas impacts
- Biodiversity: understanding vulnerable components of the marine ecosystem to minimise or offset impacts
- Marine: understanding vulnerable components of the marine ecosystem to minimise offset impacts
- Socio-economic: informing and supporting change to enhance regional and community benefits
A robust and transparent governance framework has been designed to ensure the delivery of quality peer-reviewed and publicly available science.
