POET ethanol plants in Iowa and South Dakota sign on to Summit CO2 pipeline

POET, the world’s largest ethanol producer, announced Monday it would link its ethanol plants in Iowa and South Dakota to Summit Carbon Solutions’ proposed carbon dioxide pipeline.

POET previously was planning to be connected to the Navigator Heartland Greenway — another CO2 pipeline — but that project died in October amid challenges getting regulator approval in Illinois and South Dakota.

POET, based in Sioux Falls, S.D., has 34 bioprocessing facilities across the Midwest, including 12 in Iowa.

Because POET’s Iowa plants were not on Summit’s original route, they won’t be part of Summit’s permit application now under review by the Iowa Utilities Board. Those plants would be included in a future application, the companies announced in a joint statement Monday. But POET’s five South Dakota plants would be included in an upcoming permit application in that state.

“This addition will facilitate the capture, transportation, and permanent storage of 4.7 million metric tons of CO2 annually from the 17 POET bioprocessing plants,” the news release said.

Summit has proposed a 2,000-mile, $5 billion pipeline that would transport CO2 to an underground sequestration site in North Dakota. The Iowa Utilities Board right now is considering a permit for the 680 miles the pipeline would cross in Iowa.

Summit has said it has voluntary easements on about three-quarters of the Iowa route, the Iowa Capital Dispatch reported, but still would need the board to grant eminent domain rights to force easements on the rest of the parcels. Holdouts and other critics oppose eminent domain and worry about safety of transporting compressed CO2 underground.

There is no timeline for when the state board must decide on Summit’s permit.

Biofuels supporters say CO2 pipelines are critical to the industry’s survival.

“As the world seeks low-carbon energy solutions, carbon capture ensures that ag-based biofuels will remain competitive for decades to come,” POET Founder and Chief Executive Officer Jeff Broin said in a statement. “This is a tremendous opportunity to bring value to farmers, bioethanol producers, and rural communities and counties in participating states, and I believe it will unleash even more opportunities for ag and bioprocessing in the future.”

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