Eight ethanol plants will be added to Summit Carbon Solutions' carbon pipeline route in Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota and South Dakota under a new partnership with energy giant Valero.
The agreement, announced Monday, brings the total number of ethanol facilities on Summit's path to 57. The proposed pipeline would transport liquid carbon dioxide from these facilities to North Dakota, where it would be stored underground.
The eight Valero facilities produce 1.1 billion gallons of ethanol per year, according to a press release.
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“I am excited to welcome one of the premier energy companies in the world into our project, bringing in a new era where agricultural innovation and energy market expansion go hand in hand,” Summit Agricultural Group Executive Chairman Bruce Rastetter said in the release. “By integrating Valero’s facilities into this project, we will make major strides in providing more than a billion gallons of low-carbon fuels to a marketplace hungry for the product.
Valero follows the nation's top ethanol producer POET in joining Summit's project. Both were previously involved with a project led by Navigator CO2, which scrapped its multi-state pipeline plans after struggling to secure permits in Iowa and South Dakota.
Regulators 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.
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