It’s the first carbon capture and storage project allowed under state primacy.
Red Trail Energy – the ethanol plant near Richardton – has begun CO2 capture and storage. It became the first facility to be permitted under state primacy to do this.
"This particular project opens the door for a lot of other industries in the state to follow," said Red Trail CEO Gerald Bachmeier.
Bachmeier said this will also lower the carbon intensity of the ethanol, making it more attractive in the "clean fuels market."
"If you look at the LCFS — Low Carbon Fuel Standard — in California, it's measured by the carbon intensity of the fuel," Bachmeier said. "The lower that value, the higher the premium you receive for the product."
Bachmeier said it's not only California, but the Oregon and Vancouver markets.
"As we see more states going to a lower carbon fuel standard — I believe Minnesota is researching it now — it (Red Trail ethanol) will have a higher value than conventional ethanol," Bachmeier said.
Red Trail is injecting approximately 500 metric tons of CO2 emissions daily into the Broom Creek formation, and the CO2 is stored more than a mile underground.