North Dakota’s Industrial Commission has approved a $1 million grant to Enerplus Resources, for a project to capture and sequester carbon dioxide from internal combustion engines, used in oil production.
The money comes from the Clean Sustainable Energy Fund.
"New wells, when they come on, or are very remote, end up having to use power generators to provide electricity, whether it's for artificial lift, lighting, or what have you," said Clean Sustainable Energy Authority director Al Anderson. "Those exhausts all go into the atmosphere right now."
Anderson told the Commission Enerplus believes about 25 percent of its emissions are due to that type of equipment.
"They're working with a technology provider, that is looking at building some modular units to capture that exhaust and convert it into liquid CO2," Anderson said. "It would be used for injection, or enhanced oil recovery, or other uses for that liquid CO2 that might exist."
Anderson said the project fits well with oil companies’ “Environmental, Social and Governance” standards for investment.
"We're hopeful it will be successful," Anderson said. "We hope it will make economic sense for moving forward and reducing emissions in our oil and gas."
Enerplus has most of its assets on the Fort Berthold reservation.
