Plain Talk: North Dakota has slashed the time it takes to permit a carbon capture project
MINOT, N.D. — I suspect that many in the general public, when they hear about carbon capture, think of it as some pie-in-the-sky thing. Something that’s being developed. That’s in the work. Not really something that is, as yet, a practical part of modern industry.
Except, the state of North Dakota just permitted its first carbon capture project under state primacy. Which is to say, that state officials reviewed and permitted the project, not the feds.
It’s the first time that’s ever happened in the United States.
That state control made all the difference.
That’s what Gerald Bachmeier, the chief executive officer of Red Trail Energy, said on this episode of Plain Talk. His company just added carbon capture to their ethanol facility near Richardton, North Dakota. It officially began capturing carbon on June 16, 2022, and they expect to store underground 100 percent of the 180,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emitted annually from its fermentation process.
