First U.S. Construction Permit with CO2 Limits Issued

On November 30, 2009, the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (IDEQ) issued the first construction permit in the U.S. containing specific limits on emissions of CO2.  The permit was issued to Southeast Idaho Energy, LLC for the construction of a coal gasification plant to produce fertilizer.  The original permit IDEQ issued to the facility did not address CO2 emissions. However, after the Sierra Club and the Idaho Conservation League demonstrated to the satisfaction of IDEQ that CO2 emissions from the facility were a threat to regional and national air quality, provisions were included in the permit to require a 58% reduction in CO2 emissions from baseline levels.  As stipulated in the permit, the facility will have five (5) years to meet the CO2 reduction requirements and until then will be allowed to purchase equivalent carbon offsets.  The facility plans to meet these required reductions by selling the generated CO2 to oil companies in Wyoming that will use it for enhanced oil recovery projects. The facility is also looking into geological sequestration as a possible CO2 control technology.