Illinois Industrial CCS

The Illinois Industrial Carbon Capture and Storage project at ADM’s Decatur ethanol plant in Decatur, Illinois captures CO₂ produced during ethanol fermentation and permanently stores it deep underground in the Mount Simon Sandstone saline formation. The project builds on an earlier demonstration that injected about 1 million tonnes of CO₂ over three years and progressed to a larger commercial phase that has been capturing and storing approximately 1 million tonnes of CO₂ per year, making it one of the world’s first industrial-scale bioenergy carbon capture and storage (BECCS) operations. The initiative is a public-private effort involving Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) as the site host, the U.S. Department of Energy as a major funder, the Illinois State Geological Survey at the University of Illinois, and technical partners including Schlumberger Carbon Services and Richland Community College. ADM received significant DOE cost-share funding during early phases to support FEED, permitting, construction, and injection activities, and the facility holds EPA Class VI injection permits for long-term sequestration.