BISMARCK, N.D. -- How well we capture carbon and other greenhouse gases from coal-fired power plants will make a great difference in North Dakota's energy future.
It's what needs to happen to make all of that talk of clean coal real.
Basin Electric Power Cooperative has received backing from the federal government for a $300 million loan to develop a carbon sequestration project for the Antelope Valley Station near Beulah, N.D. The backing comes from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and it came in the final week of Ed Schafer's tenure as U.S. secretary of agriculture.
The magnitude of the loan expresses how much could be at stake.
There's a coming together of elements that make the Basin project particularly engaging.
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First, Basin already captures carbon at its synfuels plant and pipes it more than 200 miles northwest to oil fields in Saskatchewan. The CO2 is used in the recovery of crude oil from wells. So, Basin has some hands-on experience with carbon capture.
And then North Dakota's Williston Basin has taken on new life with the enhanced tapping of the Bakken Formation. The CO2 from Antelope Valley would go to Bakken oil fields in western North Dakota, helping to increase the production of crude oil.
Third, it seems the Williston Basin structures beneath the land surface are particularly conducive to carbon sequestration.
Finally, the North Dakota Legislature has a pair of bills aimed at regulating aspects of carbon sequestration.
The elements for a successful project appear to be lining up.
That doesn't mean there will not be tough questions. We still do not know the long-term impact of carbon sequestration. A scientifically sound understanding of the environmental effects of the process needs to be developed. Clean coal processes also must clear public opinion and political hurdles, not just in North Dakota, but in green-leaning urban areas and Congress. And, despite a successful demonstration project, there likely will be complicated technical challenges to capturing and sequestrating CO2 at Antelope Valley.
North Dakota needs to continue to keep pressure on the federal government to deal with energy issues in a comprehensive and progressive manner, one which acknowledges the contribution that can be made by coal. It needs to help meet the challenge of bringing energy from producing states to markets that need it. We are going forward one step at a time.
