With the recent permit approval for Summit Carbon Solutions to construct an underground pipeline, the company is beginning the process for an additional route.

On June 25th, the Iowa Utilities Commission approved Summit’s permit to build a 688 mile underground pipeline to capture liquid carbon dioxide from ethanol plants to an underground storage facility in North Dakota. CEO Lee Blank says the ethanol industry consumes about 50 percent of the US corn crop, making it the largest consumptive market for the US farmer. He believes that with the market’s ever-changing landscape, they want to be on the forefront of helping ethanol plants with the new low carbon product market.

“The project is designed to help the ethanol industry lower their carbon intensity so they can go reach these markets. These markets are paying premiums for the products that they are delivering to them. And those premiums will then filter back into the US farm gate, through the ethanol industry, and help strengthen the balance sheet of the US farmer.”  

Blank points out that the second route that they have determined is to tie in with two new ethanol companies, Valero and POET Biorefining. One of the new proposed pipelines goes through Greene County about 27 miles. 

According to the IUC, the initial informational meeting dates that Summit had submitted for this past April and May were rejected. Blank explains what the main concern the commission had as to the reason for the initial denial.

“Frankly, they don’t want to do that because they want the Iowa farmer to be done planting and quite frankly that’s the right decision, because so do we. We want them to be able to come to the meetings and participate in this public meeting.”   

According to Greene County Environmental Administrator Chuck Wenthold, the informational meeting date for Greene County on its second permit proposal is slated for August 28th at noon at Clover Hall on the Greene County Fairgrounds.