The EPA has issued final permits ExxonMobil to drill and operate three carbon injection wells in Jefferson County, Texas.

On Oct. 21, the EPA issued final permits authorizing the wells as part of ExxonMobil’s Rose Carbon Storage Hub, planned for rural farmland southwest of Beaumont. The permits allow Exxon to store up to 53 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) over a 13-year period.

ExxonMobil plans to store carbon dioxide emissions captured from high-concentration industrial sources, such as hydrogen or ammonia plants, direct-reduced iron plants, and natural gas treatment facilities. The CO2 will be transported via pipeline and injected underground for long-term storage.

Such projects are intended to permanently store carbon dioxide from deep underground to keep it out of the atmosphere and stop it from warming the climate. However, the technology has not yet been proven effective at large scale.