New Hampshire has passed a law that prohibits the use of state and county lands for carbon sequestration projects. This move restricts the development of carbon capture and storage infrastructure on public property within the state. The legislation reflects local policy shifts regarding land use and the environmental risks associated with underground carbon storage. This decision could impact regional carbon removal goals and the availability of sites for sequestration technology.
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This is a clear example of land use policy overriding climate tech goals. The state is essentially removing public land from the potential carbon removal inventory. It will be interesting to see if this pushes developers toward private land or just kills the local market entirely.
Private land is a much harder sell for these projects because of the permitting headaches and local opposition. If the state won't lead on site availability, the risk profile for developers in NH just spiked.
Does the law cover the pipelines needed to get the CO2 to these sites, or just the injection points? If they block the land for the storage but allow the pipes, it is a moot point. Usually, these bans are broad enough to stop both.
