(Iowa Capital Dispatch) – Summit Carbon Solutions has reached an agreement to nearly double the number of ethanol facilities that will connect to its proposed carbon dioxide pipeline system in Iowa, the company announced Monday. The agreement with POET — which says it is the world’s largest biofuel producer — would add 17 ethanol plants to the proposed system in Iowa and South Dakota. A dozen of those are in Iowa, which gives Summit a total of 25 in the state. Those sites would extend Summit’s footprint into at least seven new counties in Iowa, but the precise routes of those extensions are not yet clear.

The company could not immediately provide an estimate of how many additional miles of pipe will be required. The new locations are near Arthur, Ashton, Coon Rapids, Corning, Emmetsburg, Fairbank, Gowrie, Hanlontown, Iowa Falls, Jewell, Menlo and Shell Rock. Summit’s first hazardous liquid pipeline permit request — which has reached the final stage of the Iowa Utilities Board regulatory process — includes about 690 miles of pipe and 12 ethanol producers. Summit filed for a second permit for a 31-mile extension to another ethanol plant last year.

2023 map of the original proposed Summit CO2 pipelines

The latest announcement is a direct result of Navigator CO2’s abandonment of a similar pipeline proposal about three months ago. POET had an agreement with Navigator to connect to its system. Summit’s system would connect to ethanol plants in five states and transport their captured carbon dioxide to North Dakota for underground storage. The ethanol plants would then produce fuel that is classified as “low carbon,” enabling the producers to sell into new markets and to be eligible for generous federal tax credits.

The Iowa Utilities Board is now considering whether to grant Summit a permit and what conditions it might have. The board has not indicated when it will issue its decision.