Australia plans to allow greenhouse gas emissions to be stored in the ocean floor around the island continent, with exploration for suitable sites possibly starting in 2008.
Energy Minister Martin Ferguson said the government would amend the Offshore Petroleum Act this year to allow for seabed storage of carbon emissions from coal-fired power stations.
"Australia has significant geological storage potential, particularly in our offshore sedimentary basins," Ferguson told an energy conference in Sydney late on Tuesday.
Green groups are critical of the plan to store carbon emissions in the ocean floor, saying they are concerned about the chances of leakage of emissions into the ocean environment.