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CO2 Capture and Storage

The greatest CO2 story ever told

Dakota Gasification Company's Great Plains Synfuels Plant is an international leader in technologies that capture, compress, and transport carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from a coal gasification process. The Synfuels Plant captures more carbon dioxide (CO2) from coal conversion than any facility in the world, and is a participant in the world's largest carbon sequestration project. Dakota Gas sends carbon dioxide through a 205-mile pipeline to Saskatchewan, Canada, where oil companies use it for enhanced oil recovery operations that result in permanent CO2 geologic sequestration. The geologic sequestration of CO2 in the oil reservoir is monitored by the International Energy Agency (IEA) Weyburn CO2 Monitoring and Storage Project.

• Dakota Gas captures about 3 million tons of CO2 per year.
• Up to 50 percent of the CO2 is captured each day the plant is operating.
• Dakota Gas ships about 8,000 metric tons of CO2 daily.
• Since 2000, CO2 emissions at the Synfuels Plant have been reduced by about 45 percent.
• Dakota Gas is making research contributions to CO2 sequestration technology.
• As of Dec. 31, 2008, Dakota Gas has captured more than 16 million tons of CO2.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are captured from the coal gasification process	Compressor stations along the CO2 pipeline move the CO2 to enhanced oil recovery fields for geologic sequestration	Geologic sequestration: the CO2 is injected into depleted oil fields where it is used for enhanced oil recovery

With increasing demand for the capture and storage of CO2, Dakota Gas has seen a dramatic reduction in its CO2 emissions at the Synfuels Plant. As an added environmental benefit, virtually all of the injected CO2 is expected to remain permanently sequestered in the depleted oil fields long after they have been abandoned.

Top of page

• The CO2 Story
• Testimony on CO2 capture and storage
• The Great Plains Synfuels Plant Story

Legislative issues

Learn more about legislative issues affecting Dakota Gas by visiting Basin Electric's Legislation page.

What is carbon sequestration?

Carbon sequestration is the process of removing CO2 from the atmosphere and converting it into stored compounds. There are three types of carbon sequestration: Geologic – piping CO2 from the source into extracted oil and gas fields; oceanographic – piping CO2 from the source to the bottom of the ocean; terrestial – the long-term storage of carbon in organic matter (soil) or in trees.

What is a carbon credit?

The quantity of carbon offered in a trade. Carbon Sequestration Units (CSUs) equal to one metric ton of atmospheric CO2 reduced of avoided from an agreed baseline amount. To create a CSU, the amount of CO2 must be measured, verified and registered. One ton of carbon contains 3.67 tons of CO2 equivalent (atmospheric CO2).