The CEO of Navigator CO2 Ventures says the group representing ethanol producers won’t stop supporting carbon capture pipelines in Iowa, despite a decision to kill a pipeline that would run across Iowa and four other states.
The announcement came Friday that Navigator would abandon the project, citing "unpredictable" regulatory and government processes, especially in Iowa and South Dakota.
Monte Shaw, the executive director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, says he's "still disappointed."
“Being able to sequester carbon from ethanol production can be absolutely key to agriculture’s future, so we’re going to work with all the projects and try to move them forward," he said. "Navigator’s announced they’re suspending, but there are other multiple projects out there and we’ll continue to push those and get them over the finish line.”
Navigator's $3.5 billion, 1,300-mile pipeline would have run from northwest Iowa to the state’s southeast corner, transporting CO2 from ethanol and fertilizer plants to be sequestered underground in Illinois.
Jess Mazour of the Sierra Club says despite what she sees as a victory for an unlikely coalition of landowner, environmental and community groups, it’s no time to rest.
“I think the most important things is we need to recognize that this isn’t over," Mazour said. "There’s still the Summit and the Wolf Pipeline and potentially others that we don’t know about yet. So it’s really important that everyone stays vigilant and we work during the 2024 legislative session to pass a bill that makes it so this never happens again.”
Last week, Summit Carbon Solutions announced it's pushing back its timeline to begin operating a $5.5 billion carbon capture pipeline across Iowa and four other states, citing regulatory hurdles plus environmentalist and landowner opposition. Mazour says CO2 pipelines are not worth the environmental and safety risks, which are placed on ordinary Iowans, while the rewards go to investors in the pipeline companies.
