Indiana is a step closer to getting its first active carbon capture and sequestration project after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved the Class VI injection well for the One Carbon Partnership CCS project near Union City, which is about halfway between Indianapolis and Dayton, OH.
The project is designed to capture and permanently store up to 450,000 MT/year of carbon dioxide (CO₂), with sufficient pore space to inject 13.5 million MT over 30 years. It is a joint venture between Cardinal Ethanol and Vault 44.01 Ltd., which has 10 carbon-capture projects in development across five states. Cardinal has ethanol production in Indiana and Kansas and is headquartered in Union City. A press release by Vault did not indicate when the project might begin operations.
It is the second Class VI permit approved by the EPA in Indiana. Wabash Valley Resources (WVR), which is planning to build a commercial-scale ammonia production facility using CCS technology in West Terre Haute, received its permit in 2024 but has not begun operations. It is designed to produce up to 500,000 MT/year of ammonia while capturing 1.67 million MT/year of CO₂, a project we reviewed in Love Is A Long Road. The project received a conditional commitment for a loan guarantee of up to $1.559 billion in September 2024 from what was then known as the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office, now known as the Office of Energy Dominance Financing. WVR said in January that Baker Hughes would play a key role in developing the site’s carbon-capture process and injection wells.
The EPA’s online permit tracker shows eight Class VI well permits are under review in Indiana, all in the first two steps of the EPA’s approval process — four in the Completeness Review Phase, with four more in the Technical Review Phase. Nationwide, there are 201 wells under review (see chart below), nearly all of them in the first two steps. Those numbers do not include Arizona, Louisiana, North Dakota, Texas, West Virginia or Wyoming, all of which have authority over their own Class VI well permits.
