Privately backed CapturePoint LLC has submitted an application to build a carbon capture storage facility in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, roughly 90 miles north of Lafayette, according to a filing with the EPA.
The application, a so-called “Class VI well permit” required to permanently sequester carbon, was filed in June, a company spokesperson said, declining to comment on the size or scope of the project.
The development is one of several proposed in Louisiana, which would take emissions from refineries and industrial facilities and store them underground.
Many energy companies have viewed carbon capture as a way to lower greenhouse gas emissions, but the projects also face resistance from environmental groups, which would rather see a move away from fossil fuels altogether.
Several other carbon capture projects are proposed for Louisiana, including one by Occidental Petroleum Corp. in Allen, and a joint venture between TotalEnergies SE, a unit of Sempra Energy, Mitsui & Co. and Mitsubishi Corp. at the Cameron LNG facility.
Louisiana is in the process of obtaining enforcement authority for Class VI wells from the EPA, which would speed up the approval of projects. The state does not currently have a time estimate for when that might be granted, a spokesperson for Louisiana’s Department of Natural Resources said.
The EPA only has two active Class VI well permits, both for Archer Daniels Midland in Illinois, and around two dozen pending permits.
Allen, Texas-based CapturePoint currently has EOR operations, which injects carbon into old wells to boost production, and carbon pipelines.