Conestoga drills Class VI well to decarbonise ethanol production

Biofuels producer Conestoga Energy has drilled its first Class VI well near its Bonanza BioEnergy ethanol plant in Garden City, Kansas, to permanently store carbon dioxide emissions generated during the plant’s production process.

If approved by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the well could potentially store all the plant’s CO2 emissions – over 150,000 tonnes annually. The well could also store CO2 from third-party sources.

The well is 14 miles from Conestoga’s enhanced oil recovery site and will use the captured CO2 to boost oil production. This is done by injecting CO2 into old oil fields to increase pressure and extract more oil, while also storing the carbon underground.

Conestoga hopes to submit its full Class VI permit application to the EPA this summer. The permit submission will include detailed geologic, seismic, and environmental data.