Senator John Hoeven announced that Red Trail Energy

In North Dakota, Senator John Hoeven announced that Red Trail Energy will begin the drilling of a stratigraphic well, designed with the intent to be permitted as a Class VI injection well and used to sequester carbon dioxide (CO2) from the company’s ethanol plant in Richardton, North Dakota. The drill pad for the well is already complete, and drilling is expected to begin in early April. The injection well will extend more than a mile underground, with drilling taking approximately 23 days and involving the collection of multiple core samples, sealing the well walls with concrete and a nickel casing and installing an array of sensors to monitor temperature and pressure, among other things.

The capture and storage of CO2 will enable the facility to sell to states with low carbon fuel standards, like California and those in the Pacific Northwest, ensuring a broader market for the company’s product. The project is able to move forward due to Hoeven’s efforts to secure final approval for North Dakota’s regulatory primacy over Class VI injection wells, which are used for geologic or long-term storage of CO2, the first such approval in the nation. Hoeven’s efforts include:

Establishing the North Dakota CO2 Storage Workgroup in 2008, during his time as governor.

Helping advance a bill through the state legislature to create a regulatory framework for carbon sequestration under the North Dakota Industrial Commission.

As U.S. Senator, moving the state’s application for regulatory primacy forward at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and successfully pressing for its approval.