Landowners in Iowa found themselves watching three different multi-state project proposals that could have brought carbon sequestration pipelines across their state. It always seemed unlikely that all three would come to fruition.
Now, there is now just one active proposal to try to move forward.
Mt. Simon Hub has been shelved. It might be permanent, or it might be temporary. Wolf Carbon Solutions, an energy company based in Denver, Colorado, had proposed a pipeline that would have transported liquified carbon dioxide from ADM plants in Cedar Rapids and Clinton, Iowa, to an ADM facility near Decatur, Illinois.
The CO2 would then be stored there permanently. Developers said the pipeline could have been eligible for $1 billion in federal carbon sequestration tax credits. Supporters contend pipeline projects reduce carbon emissions. Those emissions could contribute to extreme weather changes.
Some skeptics are not convinced that underground pipelines are worth the risk to communities if they rupture.
On December 2nd, Wolf Carbon alerted the Iowa Utilities Commission that it was halting the project.
“While Wolf has continued to build relationships with landowners and stakeholders interested in the Project, a number of factors have continued to delay Wolf’s ability to proceed with the Project and Wolf has decided to cease pursuit of the required regulatory approvals at this time, as Wolf does not deem it to be an efficient utilization of resources for the Commission staff to continue processing the Petition without any certainty around Wolf’s timing for proceeding on the Project,” the filing stated.
RELATED: Find the documents for Wolf Carbon Solutions proposed hazardous liquified carbon dioxide pipeline through Iowa and Illinois here. And read the most recent filing from the company that notified the Iowa Utilities Commission that it did not plan to move forward with the project.
Corridor Business Journal examined Wolf Carbon’s filings and reported on why the company’s decision to stop the project could change in the future. Read that article here.
Some landowners and a pipeline opposition group celebrated the news following Wolf Carbon’s announcement. They have questioned whether the project had a community benefit and criticized it for requiring a pathway through private property.
Wolf Carbon Solutions previously announced that it would not request eminent domain authority to force landowners to allow access through their property.
Mt. Simon Hub is the second carbon pipeline project to halt plans. Navigator CO2 Ventures had been developing a 1,300-mile pipeline that would travel from ethanol plants and other facilities in five states and transport the captured carbon dioxide to Illinois.
But the company announced in October that it would stop the project. The South Dakota Public Utilities Commission the previous month denied Navigator CO2’s Ventures’ permit, which did not conform with some county ordinances that restricted pipelines.
Chief Executive Matt Vining said in a statement explaining the company’s decision to halt the project, “We are disappointed that we will not be able to provide services to our customers and thank them for their continued support.”
Iowa Capital Dispatch provided a background on the Navigator CO2 Ventures multi-state liquid carbon capture pipeline project, the opposition to it, and the uncertainties that the company said that it had faced for the future. Read that story here.
Summit Carbon Solutions, an Ames, Iowa-based company, is now the only remaining project. Summit had proposed the largest plan of the original three projects. The company is still working on a revised plan to gain permit approval in South Dakota.
Its $8 billion carbon capture pipeline could cross five states and eventually empty into an underground storage facility in North Dakota. The company received regulatory approval in North Dakota last month.
The Des Moines Register updated Summit Carbon Solutions’ latest plans that could include partnering with some of the ethanol producers that had planned to work with Navigator CO2 Ventures. Read that story here.
