Hoeven Announces Nearly $3.5 Million for UND's EERC to Test Geological Storage of CO2

Senator John Hoeven, a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and Energy and Water Development Appropriations Committee, today announced that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded nearly $3.5 million to the Energy and Environmental Research Center (EERC) at the University of North Dakota (UND). The funds will allow EERC to establish a field laboratory in the South Central Cut Bank oil field in Montana to test the geological storage of carbon dioxide (CO2), with the goal of advancing similar storage in the Williston Basin.

Efforts like this are in part made possible due to North Dakota’s regulatory primacy over Class VI injection wells, which are used for the geologic, long-term storage of CO2. Hoeven began working toward achieving this priority in 2008 and recently secured final approval for the state’s application, the first such approval in the nation, which will help advance carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) projects across the state.

“Today’s grant will help EERC advance CCS technologies and not only demonstrate that they are technically-feasible, but also make them commercially-viable,” said Hoeven. “We’ve worked hard to make sure the pieces are in place to implement this technology in North Dakota, both for geological storage and for enhanced oil recovery, including providing the state with regulatory primacy and securing funding through DOE for research like Project Tundra and the Allam Cycle. We will continue our efforts to ensure the federal government supports the good work of EERC and their partners.”