Seventeen biofuel plants will be added to Summit Carbon Solutions' carbon pipeline route under a new partnership with POET, the nation's largest producer of ethanol.
The agreement, announced Monday, will add five plants in South Dakota and 12 plants in Iowa to Summit's previous 34-facility path, which also spans Nebraska, North Dakota and Minnesota. The planned pipeline would transport liquid carbon dioxide from these facilities to North Dakota, where it would be stored underground.
There will now be a total of 51 plants involved in the pipeline project, according to Summit spokeswoman Sabrina Zenor.
POET is joining the project after its previous partner, Navigator CO2, scrapped its multi-state pipeline plans after struggling to secure permits in Iowa and South Dakota.
"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 CEO Jeff Broin said in a release. "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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Ethanol producers’ hopes of securing access to some biofuel subsidies and markets hinge on using Summit's pipeline to lower their greenhouse gas emissions. The project, however, has proved divisive among landowners who have expressed concerns about the potential use of eminent domain to secure access to their land.
Public utility commissions in North and South Dakota last year denied Summit's original applications for permits, though the company's CEO Lee Blank told Agri-Pulse following the decisions it would develop new proposals to submit to the regulators.
The South Dakota POET plants will be included in Summit's new application to the state's Public Utilities Commission, while separate applications will be filed in Iowa for the 12 plants located in the state, the release said.
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