Valero, with five Iowa ethanol plants, joins Summit’s proposed CO2 pipeline

Valero, the world’s second-largest ethanol producer with five plants in Iowa, has agreed to connect to Summit Carbon Solutions’ proposed carbon dioxide pipeline.

Eight of Valero’s facilities, including plants in Charles City, Lakota, Fort Dodge, Albert City and Hartley as well as one plant each in Nebraska, Minnesota and South Dakota, are expected to join Summit’s project, already estimated at 2,400 miles long, if the pipeline is approved by regulators.

“Participation from these eight facilities adds 1.1 billion gallons of ethanol per year and will lead to the capture of 3.1 million metric tons of CO2 annually,” Summit said in a statement Monday.

Summit plans to gather CO2 from ethanol plants and ship it via pipeline to North Dakota, where the company plans to inject it deep into the ground. The project’s estimated cost is over $5 billion, but Summit and its partners could collect up to $18 billion in federal tax credits over 12 years, Inside Climate News reported Monday.

With the inclusion of Valero, a San Antonio-based company, Summit’s project now includes 57 ethanol plants across the Upper Midwest, from which Summit plans to capture and sequester more than 16 million metric tons of CO2 per year, the firm said.

The Iowa Utilities Board is considering Summit’s application for a permit to build 680 miles of its pipeline in Iowa. Summit is asking the board to grant permission to use eminent domain to force landowners to sell easements to it to build and maintain the pipeline.

Summit said in August it had voluntary leases on about 75 percent of the route, but many landowners don’t think they should be forced to have a private hazardous liquid pipeline on their property.

POET, the world’s largest ethanol producer, announced in January it would link its ethanol plants in Iowa and South Dakota to Summit’s pipeline after another pipeline proposal by Navigator Heartland Greenway folded. The POET plants in Iowa are not on Summit’s original route and will require another permit application in Iowa.

Summit plans to file extension permits for the Valero plants on the same timeline as the new POET facilities, the company said. Summit doesn’t anticipate adding the new facilities will require installing a wider pipeline.

“This project ensures the agriculture and biofuels industries will remain dynamic and competitive, meeting the needs of today while preparing for the opportunities of tomorrow,” Bruce Rastetter, founder and executive chair of Summit Agricultural Group, said in a statement.

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