Tallgrass Energy, ADM plan CO2 transport and sequestration deal

Pipeline firm Tallgrass Energy on Wednesday said it will convert a natural gas pipeline into carbon dioxide service, and ship CO2 from an Archer-Daniels-Midland Co corn-processing plant in Nebraska to a permanent underground storage hub in Wyoming. Tallgrass will convert its Trailblazer natural gas pipeline, which runs through Nebraska, Colorado and Wyoming, into a 400-mile carbon dioxide system capable of transporting over 10 million tons of CO2 per year.

The pipeline will connect to Tallgrass’ recently announced CO2 sequestration hub in eastern Wyoming. That facility is anticipated to start service in 2024.

Many companies are proposing carbon capture and storage hubs as a way to sequester greenhouse gas emissions from industrial facilities and refineries in a bid to slow global warming. But for most states, the permitting of underground carbon injection wells requires federal approval which can take years.

Wyoming and North Dakota both hold enforcement authority, or primacy, over the permitting of carbon injection and storage wells, which has enabled them to speed up the approval process.

This week oil major BP Plc and industrial gas supplier Linde Plc announced plans for a carbon capture project near Houston. Exxon Mobil and a joint venture between Talos Energy and Chevron have also announced plans for carbon capture projects off the U.S. Gulf Coast.