Previously, we have reported on Summit Carbon Solutions and the 31 ethanol plants that have signed an agreement with the organization, but now Summit has taken its Midwest Carbon Express project to a totally different audience – the public.
Until mid-October, Summit Carbon Solutions is set to hold several informational meetings in roughly 30 counties in Iowa, which is home to 12 of Summit’s partnering ethanol plants. The affected counties are also part of the territory beneath which Summit plans to have its underground carbon capture pipelines.
Project Opportunities
The proposed pipeline is going to span four states aside from Iowa: North and South Dakota, Minnesota and Nebraska. And its estimated carbon dioxide removal capacity is set to be at 12 million tons of CO2 per year.
Once captured from the atmosphere, the carbon dioxide will be transported to an underground cavity, where it will be subjected to a calcification process and essentially turned into rock.
So far, propositions for the pipeline’s thickness range between 4 and 24 inches in diameter, and the suggested depth is a minimum of 4 feet below the surface of the earth. That depth may potentially increase on the basis of property layout specifics and individual conversations with landowners.
Certain state officials have acknowledged the potential of such a carbon sequestration project, with some even seeing it as an opportunity for Iowa to take the lead in this sector, as was expressed by Dan Culhane, president and chief executive officer of the Ames Chamber of Commerce, for instance.
Other officials like Debi Durham, director of the Iowa Economic Development Authority and Iowa Finance Authority, see this carbon capture and storage initiative as an opportunity to help Iowa’s ethanol plants “maintain a competitive advantage.”
Part of Summit Carbon Solutions’ main goals, for now, is to acquire enough land necessary for the pipeline route via voluntary easements.
