A facility in the US has successfully captured and stored one million metric tons of carbon dioxide.

The carbon is captured from the Archer Daniels Midland Company’s ethanol production facility in Illinois and is compressed before being transported across a mile-long pipeline and injected around 7,000 feet below the surface.

The Basin-Decatur project is part of the US Department of Energy’s Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships initiative, which is helping develop and deploy carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies across the country.

Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said: “This milestone is an important step towards the widespread deployment of carbon capture technologies in real-world settings.

“The successful testing of these technologies and the lessons learned support a range of industries in the region while also reducing the amount of emissions in the atmosphere and protecting the planet at the same time.”

• carbon capture, CCS, US