The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced additional funding for carbon capture pipelines as landowners and private enterprises battle over the future of proposed projects throughout the Midwest. Last week, federal officials allocated another $27 million to support carbon transport endeavors, bringing the total set aside since January 2021 to nearly $400 million. These pipelines, such as the one proposed by Summit Carbon Solutions, aim to capture CO2 released from industrial facilities, including ethanol production plants, and transport them to permanent geologic storage sites. These solutions, if implemented, will reduce how much CO2 is discharged into the atmosphere, but the companies behind such projects have met stiff resistance from environmental groups concerned about their safety and long-term effects on the land where they are located. Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) Executive Director Monte Shaw says, “Ironically, there are so-called environmental groups in Iowa who oppose carbon capture and storage (CCS). They claim to want to address CO2 but oppose one of the key tools to do so. They claim to want to promote electric vehicles, but they oppose mining for the necessary battery minerals in the US. They claim to support sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), but they oppose CCS, the key to unlocking the SAF market for farm feedstocks. This is counter to President Biden’s recent call for agriculture to supply 95 percent of SAF feedstocks. It’s hard to take seriously groups who talk so often out of both sides of their mouths. It’s clear they are more interested in destroying Iowa agriculture than in improving the environment.” Carbon pipelines have also faced pushback from private landowners opposed to the proposed use of eminent domain to seize private property for a non-governmental purpose. The Iowa Utilities Board is hosting a weeks-long public hearing on a petition for a hazardous liquid pipeline permit, which is expected to last through Sept. 29.
