Louisiana has authorized construction of its first ever carbon capture and storage well, opening the way to a new industry that could reduce greenhouse gas emissions from industrial plants, reports NOLA.com.
The order from the state Department of Energy and Natural Resources comes more than a year and a half after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency granted it authority to permit wells for the technology, which injects high-pressure carbon dioxide in a near liquid state into formations deep underground.
Issued based on well drilling, seismic testing, computer modeling and other data, the new Class VI permit near Hackberry would allow an arm of Sempra Infrastructure to build a well that could pump up to 2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually for 20 years under Black Lake southwest of Lake Charles.
Creating more than 200 construction jobs and up to 10 operating jobs, the project will include a proposed well site, compression facility and a 9-mile pipeline routed along existing rights of ways to minimize impact. Read more.
