Ethanol plants, such as the city of Goldfield in Iowa, USA, with 630 inhabitants and a major corn producer, are eager to join new pipeline networks that transport carbon dioxide to places where it can be buried underground.

But these CO2 pipeline projects are facing strong resistance from landowners and environmentalists, similar to that faced by fossil fuel drivers. Opponents say CO2 pipelines threaten to trample property rights and delicate agricultural drainage systems. They also accuse the project of being poorly designed, intended only to reap government tax credits, and not to reduce the gases that trap heat.

This battle is even more intense in Iowa, where there are three major projects to collect CO2 from more than 30 of the state's 42 ethanol plants and send it to underground rock formations in the states of North Dakota and Illinois. Proponents say the projects will strengthen rural economies by raising the value of ethanol sold to places like California and Canada, which pay a premium for low-carbon fuels.

Fights over CO2 pipelines occur throughout the Midwest, in courts and in state public service councils. Congress, meanwhile, considers a legislative agreement on taxes and energy brokered by Democratic Senators Joe Manchin and Chuck Schumer, which would provide more government support for carbon capture and storage. A complementary measure would ease the way for infrastructure permits, such as pipelines and power lines, to serve the oil and gas industry and cleaner energy sources such as wind and solar.

Opponents say they fear that CO2 pipelines could eventually be used to produce more oil. "This completely nullifies any kind of climate reduction," said Sierra Club Iowa branch conservation coordinator Jess Mazou.

Officials at two of the pipeline companies, Summit Carbon Solutions and Wolf Carbon Solutions, which has teamed up with grain giant Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), said they have spent millions of dollars acquiring rights to hijack carbon and have no plans to use CO2 for oil extraction.

Heartland Greenway of Navigator CO2 Ventures, the third-largest company that proposes CO2 pipelines in Iowa, said it still considered offering oil and gas extraction as an option to its ethanol customers, but that they were not interested.

All three companies say they will try to work with farmers to compensate them fairly for gaining the right to put pipelines in their fields and that they expect only a small number of cases to go into eminent domain. Many Iowa farmers say their experiences with the Dakota Access Pipeline, which cuts a 350-mile path from the northwest corner to the southwest corner a decade ago, left them unwilling to have more pipelines.

Owner of three farms near Boone, Iowa, Keith Puntenney said the corn that grows above the pipeline on his land is still suffering because the soils were compacted by the heavy equipment used by pipeline companies. "You can't get normal crops because the roots can't penetrate the compacted soil to the proper depth," explained the farmer.

Pipeline companies said safeguards to protect farmers have improved since the Dakota Access pipeline was installed and that CO2 pipes are in many cases thinner, requiring less heavy equipment.

Source: RPA news