Summit wants to add 340 pipeline miles in Iowa

Summit Carbon Solutions plans to expand its carbon dioxide pipeline footprint in Iowa by about 50 percent — or about 340 miles — to connect to more ethanol plants, according to new regulatory filings.

The company is awaiting approval from the Iowa Utilities Board on its initial proposal to lay the backbone of its pipeline system. That plan includes about 690 miles of pipe in Iowa that would connect to a dozen ethanol plants to transport their captured carbon dioxide to North Dakota for underground storage.

The scope of the company’s project in Iowa has expanded considerably in recent weeks and is the result of another company, Navigator CO2, abandoning its plans for a similar system. Two large ethanol producers — POET and Valero — that had initially agreed to be part of Navigator’s project have since signed with Summit.

That has resulted in Summit more than doubling its number of ethanol plant partners in Iowa to a total of 30. There are 42 in the state.

“I view our project as representing a meaningful shift in agriculture to lower the carbon intensity of biofuel products,” Summit Chief Executive Officer Lee Blank said this week when the company announced Valero’s participation.

The company indicated this week it would file for 14 more hazardous liquid pipeline permits in Iowa to connect to the POET and Valero facilities, including one that is in South Dakota. A review of the expansion routes filed with the Iowa regulators shows that they will include about 340 miles of new pipe in 22 counties.

It’s possible for Summit to add even more ethanol plants to its proposed pipeline network, said Sabrina Zenor, a Summit spokesperson. The project now includes 57 ethanol producers in five states and is expected to transport more than 16 million metric tons of carbon dioxide each year.

The system has a total capacity of about 18 million metric tons, Zenor said.

Summit and ethanol producers would benefit from federal tax incentives for capturing and sequestering carbon dioxide that would otherwise be emitted into the atmosphere and for producing low-carbon fuels. Ethanol plants would further benefit by being able to sell their fuels into low-carbon markets, either for vehicles or planes. More than half of the corn Iowa farmers produce is used to make ethanol.

Opponents of Summit’s project have wide-ranging concerns, from landowners’ rights and public safety to investors capitalizing on government incentives and the long-term preservation of ethanol production, which some view as environmentally damaging.

The Iowa Utilities Board is poised to make a decision on the company’s initial permit in the state. Summit’s project initially was rejected in the Dakotas, but North Dakota is reconsidering and the company plans to reapply in South Dakota.

Summit filed requests Monday with Iowa regulators to schedule public meetings in 22 counties for its expansion plans. The company proposed the first meeting for Adams County on April 22. The rest would be held over about three weeks, ending May 9.

The request for meetings starts Summit’s regulatory processes for what are anticipated to be 14 permit applications. That is the number of new lines that would branch from the original proposal to connect to one or more additional ethanol producers. Zenor said state rules require multiple applications for the proposed expansion.

The affected counties include: Adams, Bremer, Buena Vista, Butler, Clay, Fayette, Floyd, Greene, Guthrie, Hamilton, Hancock, Hardin, Ida, Kossuth, Mitchell, Montgomery, O’Brien, Osceola, Palo Alto, Sioux, Webster and Worth.

This article first appeared in the Iowa Capital Dispatch.