A climate solution or distraction? The carbon capture facility at Chevron's Gorgon project tells a cautionary tale

Beside the turquoise waters of the Indian Ocean, on top of the red sand of Western Australia's arid north-west, relics of Australia's industrial past stand like museum pieces.

The derricks of oil wells bob up and down on Barrow Island, more than 1,200 kilometres north of Perth, much as they have done since the discovery of reserves in the 60s.

But look a little further, beyond the derricks, and another construction — of shiny steel pipes and machinery on an epic scale — looms much larger.

It is the Gorgon project — a gas plant owned by US energy giant Chevron of truly monumental size that is Australia's most expensive ever resources development.

The gas is chilled to minus 162 degrees Celsius and compressed to a tiny fraction of its natural form — 1/600th — before being loaded onto specially designed ships that can hold and transport this liquefied natural gas, or LNG.

From there, the gas is sent to Australia's biggest trading partners in North Asia, where it is used to feed the energy-hungry economies of Japan, China and South Korea.

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