Craig Schaunaman, who farms thousands of acres, has been invested in the ethanol industry since its early days and even served on the board of an ethanol plant.
But a carbon-capture pipeline supported by dozens of ethanol plants would cross his land, and he’s against it, even though ethanol officials say the pipeline is crucial to the future viability of the industry.
“Eminent domain should not be used for a private company’s gain,” Schaunaman said.
Schaunaman received a letter in mid-2021 from Summit Carbon Solutions, one of the companies planning to build a carbon-capture pipeline across the Midwest, requesting permission to conduct surveys on his land that would involve digging.
“I told them they were not allowed to do surveying without compensation,” he said.
By the fall of 2021, Summit approached him with an initial offer that he considered “under market value” to place a permanent easement on his land. By May 2022, the company had offered him “three times as much,” but Schaunaman remained adamant about not allowing the construction of a pipeline carrying potentially hazardous liquified carbon dioxide on his property, saying, “It’s about property rights for me.” He declined to disclose the amounts of the offers. But he, like some other farmers, has an active lawsuit against Summit Carbon Solutions claiming the company doesn’t have a right to enter their land.
In South Dakota, where two of every three ears of corn are turned into ethanol, Schaunaman isn’t the only corn farmer on a proposed carbon-capture pipeline route who says the ethanol industry is putting profits over property rights.
Ed Fischbach, a corn farmer near Mellette, never received an initial offer from Summit Carbon Solutions, because he signed on with a lawyer representing opponents of the project as soon as he could.
“I made it very clear in the very beginning that I was against it,” Fischbach said. “The ethanol companies are already making massive profits. They don’t need this to maintain viability.”
However, according to Sioux Falls-based POET, the nation’s largest ethanol producer, pursuing additional profits and higher demand for corn through a carbon-capture pipeline is worth it.
“Bioethanol companies like POET are moving forward with carbon-capture projects because they represent an unparalleled opportunity to create value for family farmers and drive investment in our rural communities,” said Erin Smith, a spokesperson with POET.
Fischbach said it all depends on what people value.
“Ethanol has had its drawbacks, too,” he said. “Land values have gone up, which isn’t good if you’re a young family farmer who has to pay more in taxes. There’s a lot of native grass that got torn up when the ethanol industry became strong, and people started planting corn on more marginal ground.”
Corn and carbon capture
Ethanol, which is typically made from corn, is an additive to gasoline that partially reduces the nation’s reliance on foreign oil. However, while ethanol is a renewable resource, its production still emits greenhouse gases, which trap heat and contribute to climate change. During the fermentation process, organic materials are broken down, releasing carbon dioxide. In addition, the production of ethanol requires fossil fuels for growing, transporting and processing corn.
To address some of that environmental impact, pipelines would capture carbon dioxide emitted from ethanol plants and transport it in liquefied form to be stored deep underground at a carbon sequestration site. The sites are in underground geologic formations where the carbon can be permanently injected.
The Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline would run about 2,000 miles in total, connecting to 34 ethanol plants across South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota and North Dakota (and sequestering the carbon at an underground site in North Dakota). It would transport up to 12 million tons of carbon dioxide per year.
Another project, the Heartland Greenway pipeline, would run about 1,300 miles in total, connecting to 31 ethanol plants across South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and Illinois (and sequestering the carbon at an underground site in Illinois). It would transport up to 15 million tons of carbon dioxide per year.
The goal of carbon sequestration is to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, to mitigate climate change. It would also enable ethanol plants to sell more of their fuel in states and countries with higher emission standards — like California and Canada.
Source: southdakotasearchlight.com
Photo Credit: flickr-maureen
Categories: South Dakota, Energy