A giant CCS project has not reduced emissions at an even larger gas project. 

Chevron's Gorgon gas development off Western Australia has seen a 50 per cent increase in emissions despite the presence of the largest industrial carbon capture and storage (CCS) system in the world. 

Chevron's data reportedly show a drop in the amount of CO2 stored underground at the liquefied natural gas plant over the last three years. 

The development was approved with the condition that Chevron stored about 4 million tonnes of CO2 a year. 

The CCS development was delayed for more than three years and has failed to reach its promised storage level since it began operating in August 2019. 

The Gorgon facility injected 1.6 million tonnes into the reservoir last financial year, down from 2.2 million tonnes in 2020-21 and 2.7 million in 2019-20. 

Last year’s drop in CO2 storage coincided with a big jump in onsite emissions from the Gorgon LNG operation, from 5.5 million tonnes to 8.3 million tonnes. 

Climate campaigners have criticised the CCS project for not delivering on promises, and said it illustrates how little progress the technology has made despite decades of promises.

The problems in getting the Gorgon CCS development fully operational come as international organisations, governments, and particularly the gas industry continue to stress the technology's importance in meeting global climate goals. 

In Australia, the technology has been promised billions of dollars in public funding this century for little result. 

The Gorgon project, which remains the sole commercial CCS development operating in Australia, received $60 million in federal support.

Chevron, which operates the Gorgon facility on behalf of partners including Shell and ExxonMobil, says managing emissions is “an integral part” of how it plans and runs its business. 

Its spokesperson said the CCS project had stored more than 7.8 million tonnes of CO2 since it started operating, demonstrating the “meaningful contribution CCS technology can play in the pursuit of a lower carbon future”. 

The company had also bought more than 7.5 million tonnes worth of carbon offsets over the life of the project.

Kim Garratt, an investigator with the Australian Conservation Foundation, said the latest government data shows the Gorgon plant is a bigger emitter within Australia than any coal mine. She said it led to much higher emissions after its LNG was shipped and burned in Asian countries. 

New LNG developments have led to a significant increase in national industrial emissions over the past decade and wiped out cuts in pollution from electricity generation due to an influx of solar and wind energy.

The Albanese government says its revamp of the climate policy known as the safeguard mechanism, which passed through parliament with support from the Greens and independents, would prevent further combined increases in industrial emissions and lead to cuts over time.