Ethanol’s New Ground Game

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March 24, 2022

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by Katie Schroeder (Ethanol Producer Magazine) With three CO2 pipelines in development, carbon capture and sequestration is poised to become a transformative force in ethanol production. The industry’s quest for net-zero emissions, in part, depends on it. -- Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) is arguably the hottest subject in ethanol production right now as three different companies push forward with proposed CO2 pipelines and sequestration systems throughout the Upper Midwest. Summit Carbon Solutions, with more than 30 ethanol plants participating, is currently working on getting easements from landowners before starting construction.

More recently, Wolf Carbon Solutions announced its partnership with ethanol producer Archer Daniels Midland Co. as they plan to build a shorter pipeline to service plants in Iowa and Illinois. In January, Navigator CO2 wrapped up informational meetings in communities across its own pipeline footprint. Ethanol Producer Magazine met with representatives of each pipeline to learn more about CCS and what it means for the ethanol industry.

States of Play
The goal of carbon capture is to reduce the atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions produced by various industries. The carbon dioxide is captured, dehydrated and compressed into a liquid, then—in some but not all cases—transported via pipeline to a sequestration site. Once the liquified carbon arrives at the site, it is pumped down into the earth and stored a mile or more below the surface. The deep geologic formations it is stored in must be porous and found beneath a thick cap rock, or upper confining zone, so the carbon dioxide can’t resurface. Some sequestration sites also require a lower confining zone.

Summit’s sequestration site is in North Dakota at a 150,000-acre site northwest of Bismarck. Wolf Carbon Solutions and Navigator CO2 both plan to sequester their CO2 within the Mount Simon formation in south-central Illinois.

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Summit Carbon Solutions
Summit Carbon Solutions plans to build a roughly 2,000-mile pipeline through Nebraska, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa and North Dakota. Currently, the project will partner with 32 ethanol facilities across its footprint to cut each plant’s carbon emissions by as much as 50 percent. According to Kirchhoff (Justin Kirchhoff, president of Summit Ag Investors), the full CCS pipeline system is planned to be operational in the second quarter of 2024.

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Heartland Greenway
Elizabeth Burns-Thompson, vice president of government and public affairs with Navigator CO2, describes the Heartland Greenway project as a “state-of-the-art carbon capture and storage system.” The system will include 1,300 miles of pipeline connecting to about 20 ethanol and fertilizer facilities across a five-state area. The pipeline will go through South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska and Illinois.

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The Heartland Greenway is projected to start construction in 2024, with participating facilities coming online throughout 2024 and 2025. Over the next 18 to 24 months, Navigator will go through the permitting processes for the states it will build in, as well as applying for federal permitting, including EPA approval for a Class VI sequestration well.

Wolf Carbon Solutions
Wolf Carbon Solutions U.S., an affiliate of Canadian company Wolf Midstream, plans to build a 350-mile pipeline going between Iowa and Illinois, with the capability of transporting 12 million tons of carbon dioxide every year. Nick Noppinger, manager of Wolf Carbon Solutions U.S., says that the plant will initially connect to two ADM ethanol facilities and is in active discussions with ADM about capturing emissions from associated cogeneration facilities that power its ethanol and corn processing operations. The pipeline is projected to begin operation mid-2025.

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“The push toward EVs is centered around lowering the carbon footprint,” he (Kirchhoff) explains. “And our view is that if you just look at our ability to sequester CO2 that comes off of an ethanol plant, we believe that very credibly by the end of this decade, ethanol plants that are capturing and sequestering their CO2 can have a net-neutral carbon footprint. And frankly, that’s a spot that’s very challenging to get to from an electric vehicle perspective, largely because of all that goes into manufacturing the battery, even before you try to get electricity from the grid.” READ MORE

Rising through Partnership: Summit Carbon Solutions (Summit Carbon Solutions/Ethanol Producer Magazine)

More Lining Up for Carbon Capture (Ethanol Producer Magazine)

Pipeline Debate: CO2 projects may benefit ethanol, but worry landowners (Iowa Farmer Today)

Opinion: Investing in ethanol’s future with carbon capture: This emphasis on carbon emissions will be extremely beneficial to Iowa farmers, and by extension, all Iowans. (Des Moines Register/EcoEngineers)

Misinformation is derailing renewable energy projects across the United States (NPR; includes AUDIO)

Are CO2 pipelines safe? Three multibillion-dollar projects in the Midwest are focusing attention on carbon dioxide pipelines, which one group says are "terribly under-regulated," but advocates say are safe. (Politico)

Climate, ethanol, jobs, profits at issue in C02 pipeline debate (Quad City Times)