Fast-Tracked For Success: Carbon-by-Rail

by Luke Geiver (Ethanol Producer Magazine) To help ethanol producers manage captured CO2, Frontier Carbon Solutions LLC is full steam ahead with a carbon-by-rail logistics operation that could serve producers from Illinois to California. Robby Rockey, CEO of Frontier Infrastructure Holdings LLC, the Tailwater Capital-backed parent company of Frontier Carbon Solutions, says the rail-based network could be up and running by the end of 2027.

“Our rail option is months away, not years,” Rockey says. Once operational, Frontier will load CO2 captured and liquefied at ethanol plants into railcars, transport it to Wyoming and inject it into a sequestration well.

The carbon-by-rail approach relies on existing rail lines and providers like Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern, as well as CO2 liquefaction infrastructure, specialized insulated railcars and a geologically suited Class VI sequestration well capable of storing CO2. All of that, according to Rockey, already exists and is ready for implementation into Frontier’s logistics network.

“This is such a big opportunity,” says Steven Lowenthal, co-CEO at Frontier. Carbon by rail is already happening across the country, he explains. “We can do this right now.”

Rail has a lower upfront cost for carbon management, but a higher operating cost over time. In most cases, a pipeline requires a 15-year commitment, at minimum, for a developer to justify the buildout. With rail, that commitment can be as little as five years.

Although carbon by rail may be novel to ethanol-based carbon-management strategies, several industries have long relied on the concept, such as food and beverage, helium, mining and enhanced oil recovery.

Liquefaction skids are placed adjacent to a CO2 stack. The liquified CO2 is then stored in tanks prior to transfer to railcars. The U.S. Department of Transportation requires DOT-105 or DOT-112 railcars to move such gases. Either option is suitable for transporting liquefied compressed gases under pressure. The Railway Supply Institute says 105 or 112 cars already make up roughly 20% of the existing North American tank car fleet.

Frontier’s team is completing a massive, multi-purpose carbon storage hub in Southwest Wyoming called the Sweetwater Carbon Storage Hub. The hub has already obtained three Class VI underground injection permits. Once complete, it will store more than 350 million metric tons of CO2 across a 100,000-acre network. The SCS hub will offer the capacity to sequester 10 million tons annually.

To connect CO2 producers from across the Midwest and the west to the hub, Frontier has also built the Granger Carbon Terminal in Wyoming. According to the company, the terminal is the world’s first large-scale rail-to-sequestration offloading facility. If a CO2 emitter can capture CO2, transport it via rail to the Granger site, Frontier can then move the CO2 through Granger and sequester or store that carbon within its SCS hub.

Frontier is already adding ethanol producers to the network today. Some may need track upgrades or added liquefaction capabilities.