–Summit Carbon Solutions has reached an agreement with Valero to incorporate eight of the company’s ethanol plants in Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, and South Dakota into a proposed carbon capture pipeline project.
Summit officials confirmed the agreement Monday, which will bring the number of ethanol facilities included in the pipeline project up to 57 across five states. The eight Valero facilities produce a combined 1.1 billion gallons of ethanol annually, and their inclusion would lead to the capture of another 3.1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide each year.
Valero operates five ethanol facilities in Iowa, including the plant near Lakota in northern Kossuth County. Of the five facilities in Iowa, only the plant near Albert City in Buena Vista County is located in a county that was not part of Summit’s original pipeline route.
Valero had partnered with Navigator Energy Services for a pipeline project that would have captured carbon from facilities across Iowa and shipped it to underground storage in Illinois. However, that project was scrapped in October following regulatory hurdles in multiple states.
Summit’s pipeline project is still in need of approval from the Iowa Utilities Board, who have not given an indication when a decision may be made.
