Landowners' and environmentalists' objections to CO2 pipelines test future viability of carbon-capture programs

Navigator CO2 Ventures' proposed Heartland Greenway System
would store liquified carbon dioxide underground in Illinois

Heavy opposition to two proposed carbon-dioxide pipelines in the Midwest throws the future of carbon-capture programs into question. The pipelines would collect and liquefy carbon dioxide from Midwestern ethanol, fertilizer and other industrial-agriculture plants, then carry it thousands of miles and store it deep underground. But dozens of farmers are refusing to sell and other organizations are also rallying opposition, Leah Douglas reports for Reuters.

If the companies—Iowa-based Summit Carbon Solutions and Texas-based Navigator CO2 Ventures—are forced to resort to eminent domain to get the land, the pipelines could remain in limbo for years while messy courtroom battles play out, Donnelle Eller reports for the Des Moines Register. In Iowa alone, more than 400 people "have filed objections with the state's regulatory agency, questioning whether the pipelines are needed, safe and should be allowed to cross valuable farmland that's been passed down through multiple generations."

The technology is relatively untested, and landowners worry that it could damage crops or harm people. Douglas notes, "A 2020 liquid CO2 pipeline rupture in Yazoo County, Mississippi, for example, sickened dozens of people."

Summit Carbon Solutions' pipeline would store CO2 in North Dakota.

Iowa's Sierra Club chapter and other environmental groups think carbon capture and sequestration are "a lifeline to carbon-based industries, at a time when the world needs to be ending its dependence on fossil fuels in order to stave off the worst impacts of climate change," Kate Payne reports for Iowa Public Radio.

"The companies say the projects would help ethanol and other energy-intensive ag industries remain viable as the nation seeks to cut net greenhouse emissions in half by 2030 to address climate change. Summit says carbon sequestration would lower ethanol's carbon footprint to net zero by 2030 and allow it to be sold into California and other states with low carbon fuel standards," Eller reports. "Summit says it has the capacity to capture up to 12 million metric tons of carbon annually, an amount equal to removing 2.6 million vehicles from the road each year. Navigator says its pipeline has the capacity to capture about 15 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually, the equivalent of removing 3.2 million vehicles from the road."