Navigator puts Iowa carbon pipeline permit application on hold

DES MOINES, Iowa After being denied a pipeline route permit in South Dakota, Navigator CO2 Ventures has put its permit application in Iowa on hold.

The Iowa Utilities Board says Navigator has filed a request to suspend activity on its permit application, noting the company will provide the IUB with a status update about the project in March 2024.

The board has continued to take testimony in the Summit Carbon Solutions route applications, most recently taking testimony from affected landowners.

Both Navigator and Summit are seeking to build multi-state pipelines to capture greenhouse gas emissions from ethanol plants and pipe the liquid carbon dioxide to underground storage sites.

Both have been denied route permits in South Dakota. Summit is appealing a denial of a route permit in North Dakota.

Summit also needs a permit for underground storage in North Dakota. Navigator’s plan is for underground storage in Illinois but has yet to secure a permit there.

The pipelines would take advantage of federal tax credits created as an incentive for carbon capture projects. Backers say the ethanol plants would get a lower carbon score, opening up low-carbon fuel markets that would be more profitable. By extension, corn growers that supply the ethanol plants could also benefit.

But there has been pushback from some landowners and local governments, with concerns about safety, damage to farmland and potentially lower property values.

The potential use of eminent domain to force landowners to provide right-of-way for the pipeline has been a focus of pipeline opponents.

Some have called for a moratorium on carbon capture pipelines until the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, the federal agency that oversees pipelines, has completed an update of its safety guidelines.

Navigator’s plans include ethanol plants in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska and South Dakota, including plants operated by South Dakota-based POET.

Summit would link ethanol plants in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota.

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