North Dakota’s Industrial Commission has awarded $300,000 to A-E-2-S Communications for a carbon capture utilization education and marketing project.
The 2023 legislature approved the money. A-E-2-S will come up with an educational strategy about what carbon capture is – and how it can be used for such things as enhanced oil recovery.
Several Legislators signed a letter against the award. Sen. Jeffrey Magrum (R-Hazelton) appeared before the Commission to raise objections. Magrum told the Commission the current project to capture CO2 from ethanol plants and sequester it in Mercer County is the subject of open court cases.
"It seems like an odd time for the state to start promoting carbon capture, right during these two open cases," Magrum said. "You have a court case, you don't generally start promoting something that's going to affect the court case."
But Gov. Doug Burgum – the chair of the Industrial Commission – said the education project isn’t about the proposed Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline.
"The general direction of the state has been, if we want to save coal, if we want to save oil and gas, and if we care about ethanol, we'd better be on the front of this, versus the back end of this thing."
A-E-2-S has to develop a strategy for promotion and education by mid-2025.