The Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium (MGSC) has begun injecting carbon dioxide into a sandstone formation under Decatur, Illinois, as part of one of the country's first large-scale carbon sequestration projects.
The project, which is run by the Illinois State Geological Survey -- part of the Prairie Research Institute at the University of Illinois -- will inject one million tonnes of CO2 over the next three years into a rock formation that lies 7,000 feet beneath the surface. They say there are several layers of shale above the CO2 injection zone that will keep the injected gas in place permanently. The Mt. Simon sandstone has a CO2 storage capacity of somewhere between 11 billion and 151 billion metric tonnes. The CO2 is being captured from a plant producing ethanol.