ADM, MGSC and ISGS Announce Carbon Sequestration Project

14/01/08 Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM), the Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium (MGSC) and the Illinois State Geological Survey (ISGS) announce that they are working together on a carbon sequestration project. The project will involve the capture and storage of carbon dioxide from ADM’s ethanol plant in Decatur, Illinois. In this project, carbon dioxide will be stored in the tiny spaces of porous rock deep below the Earth’s surface. This technology is one method of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by permanently storing carbon dioxide in the ground rather than releasing it into the atmosphere.

The project is designed to confirm the ability of the Mount Simon Sandstone, a major regional saline-water-bearing rock formation in Illinois, to accept and store 1 million tons of carbon dioxide over a period of three years. The carbon dioxide will be provided by ADM from its Decatur, Illinois, ethanol plant, and the project will be located on ADM’s Decatur property.

“Carbon sequestration is a promising technology to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. Our goal for this project is to further demonstrate its safety and effectiveness,” said Robert Finley, director of the ISGS Energy and Earth Resources Center. “Deep saline rock formations, like the Mount Simon Sandstone, offer the greatest potential for sequestration of large volumes of carbon dioxide.”

“ADM is pleased to work with the geologists from the MGSC and ISGS, and be a part of this important, timely research,” said Dennis Riddle, ADM president, Corn Processing. “We see potential for carbon sequestration to improve the environmental footprint of biofuels by further reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”

In this project, wells will be drilled into the Mount Simon Sandstone at an expected depth of more than 6,500 feet. Carbon dioxide from ADM’s ethanol plant will be injected into the Mount Simon Sandstone, where the compressed liquid-like carbon dioxide will be stored in the porous saline rock formation. The safety and effectiveness of the storage will be monitored by the MGSC through an extensive monitoring, mitigation and verification program.

The $84.3 million project will be funded by $66.7 million from the U.S. Department of Energy over a period of seven years, supplemented by cofunding from ADM and other corporate and state resources.

The project will begin in spring 2008 with the drilling of the injection well. Environmental monitoring will begin in October 2008 to collect a year of background information. The sequestration and injection of carbon dioxide is scheduled to begin in October 2009 and should conclude in 2012.