What We Know about Two Carbon Capture Pipelines Proposed in Iowa

November 29, 2021

Print This Article Share it With Friends

by Donnelle Eller (Des Moines Register) ... Two companies — Summit Carbon Solutions and Navigator CO2 Ventures — want to build pipelines that will be used to move carbon dioxide captured from ethanol, fertilizer and other agricultural industrial plants.

The companies plan to use pressure to liquify the carbon dioxide, transport it and then inject it deep underground where it will be permanently sequestered. Summit Carbon plans to sequester carbon in North Dakota; Navigator CO2 in Illinois.

...

Both companies have started the process to get hazardous liquid pipeline permits from the Iowa Utilities Board. Summit says the project, which the company calls the world's largest, will cost $4.5 billion; Navigator, at least $2 billion.

Where would the pipelines be built?

Summit, an Ames company that calls its project Midwest Carbon Express, proposes building nearly 710 miles of pipeline across 30 of the state's 99 counties. Altogether, it would travel 2,000 miles across and into four other states: Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska.

...

Texas-based Navigator CO2, which calls its project Heartland Greenway System, wants to build roughly 900 miles of pipeline across 36 counties. Altogether, it would cross 1,300 miles and also reach into Illinois, Nebraska, Minnesota and South Dakota.

Summit says it would sequester carbon from 31 biofuels plants; Navigator has reached agreements with 20 ethanol and fertilizer plants.

...

Summit says carbon sequestration would lower ethanol's carbon footprint to net zero by 2030 and allow it to be sold into California and other states with low carbon fuel standards.

...

Summit says it has the capacity to capture up to 12 million metric tons of carbon annually, an amount equal to removing 2.6 million vehicles from the road each year.

Navigator says its pipeline has the capacity to capture about 15 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually, the equivalent of removing 3.2 million vehicles from the road.

...

Are there other carbon sequestration pipelines in the U.S.?
The nation has about 5,000 miles of existing carbon sequestration pipelines, with the carbon dioxide mostly used to squeeze more oil out of existing wells, a process called enhanced oil recovery.

Iowa has no carbon capture pipelines.

How will the pipelines affect land?
Both companies will seek right-of-way easements, both permanent and temporary, from landowners. Permanent easements would be 50 feet.

The companies promise to restore the land — and the underground drainage tiles — to the same conditions that existed before construction.

Both companies say they'll reimburse landowners for rights-of-way access, based on market values. And they plan to pay farmers the same percentages for crop damage: 100% of the crop damage the first year; 80% the second year; and 60% the third year.

...

Can Iowans in the proposed pathway of the pipeline refuse?
Yes. But Summit and Navigator can ask the three-person Iowa Utilities Board to grant eminent domain powers if they're determined to serve a public purpose. That would force unwilling landowners to grant easements at fair market values.

Iowa landowners fought the use of eminent domain in the construction of the Dakota Access oil pipeline. The battle reached the Iowa Supreme Court, which decided the state was justified in allowing the use of eminent domain.

...

Jimmy Powell, Summit's chief operating officer, said at a public meeting this fall that the Mississippi carbon dioxide pipeline also contained hydrogen sulfide gas, which made the leak much more dangerous.

Summit's pipeline will capture "the purest form of CO2 that's available," he said. "It's not analogous to the situation in Mississippi."

Powell said Summit plans to take extra precautions to ensure the pipeline is safe, such alcfss X-raying every weld in the pipeline, even though the federal government requires that only 10% be tested.

In a board filing, Summit said it will "exceed the number of valves" that can close to limit CO2 releases than required by federal regulations.

"Note that CO2 is neither explosive nor flammable (it is used as a fire suppressant)," Summit said in the filing. "If released, CO2 will disperse as a gas and no overland flow will occur."

...

Proponents say the projects would help support thousand of jobs at Iowa ethanol plants, some of the best-paying in rural Iowa, as well as beef, poultry and other livestock producers, who use a high-protein livestock feed that's an ethanol byproduct.

An economic study, completed for the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, found that the ethanol and biodiesel industry supports about 37,000 Iowa jobs when farming, trucking, livestock production and other indirect positions are factored in.

Summit says the pipeline project would create up to 17,000 construction jobs for the entire project and up to 460 permanent positions. Navigator says its project would create 8,000 construction positions and 80 permanent jobs.

...

Kirchhoff said the company would share the added income that ethanol plants get from selling their low carbon fuel for higher prices. California, for example, provides about $200 in credits for every metric ton of carbon that's sequestered, he said. And producers of dirtier fuels that don’t meet California’s standards have to buy those credits to comply.

Kirchhoff said part of the company's revenue would come from federal tax credits, which provide about $50 for each metric ton of carbon that's sequestered.

Navigator also said it would look to federal tax credits and low carbon fuel premiums to generate revenue. BlackRock, a New York investment company, is providing the project's financial backing, and Valero Energy, a large Texas oil company with a dozen Midwest ethanol plants, including five in Iowa, is providing commercial participation. READ MORE; includes VIDEO

Will Biden's push for electric vehicles kill ethanol? Not if he wants to cut carbon emissions now, its supporters say (Des Moines Register)

Biggest-Ever Carbon Capture Project Facing Midwest Opposition (Bloomberg Law)

Planned carbon sequestration pipeline gains support of southeast Iowa fertilizer plant (Des Moines Register/Yahoo! News)

Biorefinery Industry Leads the Way in Large-Scale US CCS Rollout (Guidehouse Insights)

Carbon pipelines could extend ethanol's viability, but some Iowa farmers say they're not worth the tradeoffs (Des Moines Register/Our Community Now)

Carbon pipeline company continues fight to keep all property owner names on planned Iowa route secret (Des Moines Register; includes VIDEO)

Opinion: Electric vehicle adoption, ammonia research advances mean CO2 pipelines would quickly become obsolete -- What seems to have been overlooked is the likelihood that those pipelines won't be useful soon after they're finished. (Des Moines Register)

CO2 pipeline official tells concerned Polk crowd that project likely won't need permanent tax subsidies (Des Moines Register)

Iowa's carbon pipeline race meets growing opposition (Axios)

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

What to know about the proposed Iowa carbon pipelines (Des Moines Register)