Navigator CO2 canceled its plans for a multi-state carbon dioxide pipeline on Friday, citing challenges securing permits in Iowa and South Dakota, two major states on its route.
The 1,300-mile pipeline, which would would have also transported liquid carbon dioxide through parts of Illinois, Minnesota and Nebraska, failed to secure approval from the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission last month. Navigator told the Iowa Utilities Board in an abeyance request that it would need to change its Iowa route following the South Dakota decision.
“As good stewards of capital and responsible managers of people, we have made the difficult decision to cancel the Heartland Greenway project," Navigator CEO Matt Vining said in a release. "We are disappointed that we will not be able to provide services to our customers and thank them for their continued support.”
Carbon sequestration pipelines are viewed as essential to lowering the carbon footprint of ethanol, in part to make the biofuel economically viable as a feedstock for sustainable aviation fuel.
Many landowners across the Navigator pipeline's path have vocally opposed the project due to the risks involved with installing and living near a carbon dioxide pipeline. Several also opposed the idea of Navigator using eminent domain for the project.
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Tom Buis, the CEO of the American Carbon Alliance, called Navigator's decision "incredibly disappointing" in a statement. The ACA is a trade group that advocates for carbon pipeline development.
"The American Carbon Alliance will continue to stand arm-in-arm with the commodity groups, industry leaders, and American farmers to help transform the ag and energy economy through carbon capture technology. This is an opportunity of a lifetime, and we cannot afford to let it slip away.”
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