New Alliance Aims to Build Support for Carbon Capture, Rural Economic Opportunities

June 02, 2023

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by Sara Wyant (Agri-Pulse) Three longtime ethanol industry champions are joining forces to roll out the new American Carbon Alliance and educate others about the positive aspects of carbon capture technology.

The group will be led by Tom Buis, the former CEO of Growth Energy and President of the National Farmers Union, former House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson and Iowa entrepreneur and renewable energy investor Nick Ryan. The ACA will “advocate for public policy that helps transform our ag and energy economy by enhancing our nation’s energy security.”

The group plans to officially launch the Alliance next week, along with additional business leaders, farmers, energy producers, construction trade workers and others. The Summit Agricultural Group, led by Iowa businessman Bruce Rastetter, provided initial support to get the group off the ground, according to a memo obtained by Agri-Pulse. Rastetter is also the driving force behind Summit Carbon Solutions.

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Buis pointed out how closely intertwined carbon capture and storage (CCS) for ethanol plants is to the success of not only those plants but also corn markets, the protection of the environment and to the broader needs for rural economic development.

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Currently, a lower CI score increases the value of ethanol in low-carbon fuel markets, such as California, a state that incentivizes liquid fuels produced with lower carbon than traditional gasoline or diesel. Other states are either starting to follow suit or considering a similar approach.
Ethanol producers who decarbonize their product are also able to generate additional revenue from a 45Q renewable energy tax credit linked to carbon capture.

But carbon capture is not without controversy, especially when firms need to build pipelines to transport the CO2 from where it is captured to the underground geologic formations where it can be stored.

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Some electric vehicle advocates also oppose biofuel industry growth, suggesting low-carbon fuels are not needed as more consumers purchase battery-powered vehicles. But Peterson says that’s an unrealistic perspective.

He says folks in rural America are not buying electric cars like they are in big cities.

“It's going to be 30-40 years before you get the same switch to all-electric — if you ever do — and if there is a bridge fuel, it’s going to be ethanol. It’s the only fuel that can meet some of these requirements, and is available in adequate volumes.”

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Ryan says the Alliance is a 501(c)(6) nonprofit that’s structured as a traditional membership organization designed to attract like-minded individuals and other trade associations. READ MORE

NEW COALITION FORMS TO EDUCATE ABOUT CARBON CAPTURE (Brownfield Ag News)

Ethanol groups join American Carbon Alliance (Ethanol Producer Magazine)

Carbon Capture Magazine's Podcast: An Introduction to the American Carbon Alliance (Carbon Capture Magazine)

Back In The Game: The American Carbon Alliance formed in July (Ethanol Producer Magazine)

Facing The Challenge Of Change -- Bruce Rastetter, CEO of Summit Agricultural Group (Ethanol Producer Magazine)

Excerpt from Ethanol Producer Magazine: For ethanol to continue to be a major demand driver for U.S. corn and, more broadly, American agriculture, it has to become a highly qualified low-carbon fuel or feedstock, Buis says. Any participation in a carbon capture market will help make that scenario a reality for ethanol and its downstream takers. At one time, ethanol reshaped the rural landscape by creating a greater demand for corn, Buis explains as he details days gone past in Indiana when there was more supply than demand for corn and farmers were sometimes spending more to produce corn then they were getting in return. Part of the carbon capture story is linked to continuing the development of a rural scenario that benefits from the production of a commodity, but this time its carbon, Buis says. And to take that stance one step further, carbon can be a commodity in a greater market.

That is part of the ACA’s role, Buis says. People need to understand that carbon is going to be part of a worldwide market. “Either we get the market, or some other country gets the market,” he says. READ MORE

Excerpt from Ethanol Producer Magazine: This pipeline would give ethanol producers “line of sight” on net-zero or ultra-low-carbon ethanol, allowing the industry to have a lower carbon footprint than electric vehicles. “They won’t be able to do that if the pipeline doesn’t go in the ground. But if we do, we have a whole new world that could get opportunities for agriculture and biofuels,” Rastetter says. “And that, in my mind, [will be] really transformative by creating generational wealth in rural America, and you know, frankly that’s what we care about.”

Rastetter explains that Summit wanted to have a variety of plants across the pipeline footprint as well as diversity in the sizes of different facilities. “I don’t think there’s anything that I’ve ever done in my life that will be more transformative to ag than this,” Rastetter says. “And I think one of the messages that we try to send when we speak publicly or talk privately—saying the same thing—is that I’m not here to debate climate change. But I think agriculture [and] biofuels have [always been about] accessing new markets and responding to consumer demand.” READ MORE