Miners will drill under central Sydney hoping to strike what is believed to be a vast natural gas reserve the government Sunday said could reduce the Australian city's carbon footprint.
Steve Whan, primary industries minister for the New South Wales region, confirmed that Macquarie Energy would begin exploratory drilling in the next few months at St Peters, a heavily populated suburb near the city's airport.
Whan said the miner was searching for coal seam methane gas to power the city of five million people, which is currently heavily reliant on coal-fired electricity. "It is important to make the point that we are talking here about an energy source that could contribute to lowering the carbon footprint of people in the area," Whan told reporters.