primacy

The permitting process for carbon-capture projects is, in some ways, like navigating Houston’s notorious rush-hour traffic — if everyone tries to move at once, gridlock can quickly ensue. That’s true at both the federal level, where the EPA has more sequestration wells under review than ever before, and at the state level, where Louisiana just hit the pause button on its reviews. In today’s RBN blog, we look at how increased interest in carbon capture has exacerbated the permitting backlog.

Discussions and debates around the carbon-capture industry have been everywhere in recent years, from the federal incentives designed to spur its growth and the role it might play in decarbonization efforts to the technical challenges and economic headwinds that add uncertainty to its long-term outlook. And while all of those are important topics worthy of future conversation, none of those potential projects are going to happen without somewhere to put all that carbon dioxide (CO2). The wells used for permanent CO2 sequestration are largely approved at the federal level by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) but a few states have gained control — aka “primacy” — over the permitting process. In today’s RBN blog, we explain what it means to have primacy, why it has become an increasingly important goal in recent years, and the potential benefits that come with it.