North Dakota’s regulatory framework for geologic sequestration of carbon dioxide continues to lead the nation as the North Dakota Industrial Commission today approved its fourth carbon capture and storage facility. North Dakota was the first state to receive primacy of Class VI wells from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2018.
Orders written by the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR), and signed today by the Commission, approve Blue Flint Ethanol to geologically store carbon dioxide from the Blue Flint ethanol facility located in McLean County. Orders signed also determine the financial responsibilities and approve of the amalgamation of the storage reservoir pore space required to operate the facility.
“We commend Blue Flint Ethanol for its innovation and work in submitting a sound application for carbon capture and storage,” the Commission stated in a joint statement. “By securing over 91% of the leases within the storage unit, Blue Flint demonstrated that carbon capture and storage projects can have wide-ranging benefits for both landowners and our most important industries.”
Wells are categorized in different classes by the EPA. A Class VI well is used to inject carbon dioxide into deep rock formations for long-term storage – also referred to as geologic sequestration. Geologic carbon sequestration is a method of securing carbon dioxide in deep geologic formations to reduce or eliminate its release to the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide can be captured from stationary sources such as power plants and other large industrial facilities, compressed to a fluid state, and injected deep underground into permeable and porous geologic strata in which it will remain isolated. The geologic formation in which the gas is stored must be overlain by another layer of impermeable rock to seal in the injected CO2.
For more information on North Dakota’s Class VI well program visit https://www.dmr.nd.gov/dmr/oilgas/ClassVI
Attachment: North Dakota Industrial Commission approves fourth Class VI carbon capture and storage project