MICROSOFT CLARITY
Summit Carbon Solutions

Summit Carbon Solutions will open new economic opportunities for ethanol plant partners by allowing them to sell their product in markets that pay more for their product. Being able to access these markets will enhance the long-term viability of the ethanol industry and ensure corn growers across the Midwest continue to have a strong market for their crops.

Low carbon fuel markets are expanding. California, the largest ethanol consuming state, and Canada, the largest U.S. ethanol export partner, have both adopted low carbon fuel standards that pay more for lower carbon fuels. 

Almost all gasoline-fueled vehicles on the road today can use ethanol blends (E10, E15, or E85). Furthermore, unlike EVs, the infrastructure for ethanol fuels already exists throughout the country.

Low carbon fuel standard CI formulas consider all carbon emissions during construction and while the pipeline system is in operation.

SIGNING AN EASEMENT

Summit Carbon Solutions remains committed to visiting with landowners to further understand and address individual concerns about the various types of properties involved with the project. Such efforts are not merely aimed at reaching an agreement on an easement document, but also solidifying relationships for years to come. We’re pleased to have reached such agreements with over 2,700 landowners to date encompassing nearly 4,500 parcels of land. We’re shaking hands with more folks regarding easements every day.

EASEMENT REVISIONS

The easement document memorializes and binds Summit’s commitments and message. Any alteration or reduction in the easement obligations would only be possible with a new agreement from the landowner.

There are 3.3 million miles of pipelines in active operation across the United States. Moreover, in the five states where our project is proposed to operate, there are approximately 173,000 miles of pipeline already in service today.

From carbon capture technology to the CO2 line system to the CO2 sequestration sites, the Summit Carbon Solutions project is utilizing long-standing, proven, and reliable technologies that are safe for landowners and the communities where our project is proposed to be located. The equipment, materials, and people we utilize on this project will reflect that commitment.

  • At our partner ethanol facilities, CO2 capture, dehydration, and compression equipment will be installed to capture CO2 emissions currently permitted and released. CO2 capture, dehydration, and compression is an established process that has already been deployed at more than 40 ethanol plants across the United States. 
  • CO2 lines of varying sizes (four-to-24-inch nominal diameter) and pumpstations will safely transport CO2 from the ethanol plants to the sequestration sites in North Dakota. There are already more than 5,000 miles of CO2 lines in the U.S., all of which are regulated by the U.S. Department of Transportation. There have been zero fatalities or public injuries requiring hospitalizations associated with CO2 lines over the past 20 years.
  • Captured CO2 will be safely and permanently stored in geologic storage areas in North Dakota. Wells will be drilled over a mile below ground where CO2 can be stored safely based on the robust regulations and strict requirements put in place by the Environmental Protection Agency. 

Summit Carbon Solutions is a Midwest-based company rooted in agriculture and committed to forming meaningful partnership with landowners. As part of that commitment, the company will utilize a comprehensive plan to ensure land is restored to its original condition following the construction of the system.

When it comes to drain tile, Summit Carbon Solutions, and Ellingson as our primary drain tile vendor, will be responsible for any and all drain tile repairs resulting from the construction throughout the entire life of the project. That means the company will pay the entirety of these repairs after construction and at any point while the system is operating. The key point is that the costs associated with this work will not be the responsibility of the landowner. Ellingson has longstanding experience in this area and has successfully worked across the Midwest on farms where the tiling system ranges from fairly straightforward to incredibly complex.

Summit Carbon Solutions will compensate landowners for any impact to crop production, including 100% the first year after construction, 80% the second year, and 60% the third year.

The Summit Carbon Solutions project will not be used for enhanced oil recovery. The permits we have filed, which specifies exactly what we are requesting from regulators, note clearly that our project is about the permanent sequestration of CO2.

  • Iowa Permit: “The Summit Carbon Solutions Pipeline System (“Pipeline”) will transport carbon dioxide (“CO2”) from participating ethanol plants in Iowa and other midwestern states to North Dakota for permanent sequestration.”
  • South Dakota Permit: “The Applicant proposes to build a carbon capture and sequestration Project that will initially move up to 12 million metric tons per annum (MMTPA) of carbon dioxide (CO2), with the potential for further expansion, from participating industrial facilities in South Dakota, as well as CO2 from facilities in Minnesota, North Dakota, Iowa, and Nebraska to a sequestration site in North Dakota, where the CO2 will be safely and permanently stored.”

Additionally, Summit Carbon Solutions’ sequestration site outside of Bismarck, North Dakota is entirely separate and apart from the Bakken or other areas where enhanced oil recovery is possible. The company is investing $100 million in its permanent storage locations in North Dakota.

Per studies performed by the Energy and Environmental Research Center (EERC) and the Department of Energy (DOE), the state of North Dakota has ~250 billion tons of storage capacity below ground.   This is enough capacity to store all CO2 emissions in the U.S. for the next 50-years.

Summit Carbon Solutions project will be good for our environment. This carbon capture and storage project will have the capacity to prevent the release of 12 million metric tons of CO2 to the atmosphere every year, or the equivalent of removing the annual CO2 emissions of 2.6 million vehicles from our roads. 

Crops, trees, and other plants will still have plenty of CO2 to grow and thrive as they have for centuries. Summit Carbon Solutions’ carbon capture and storage project will have the capacity to capture and permanently store up to 12 million metric tons of carbon dioxide that is being emitted by the manufacturing process. That will lead to significant economic and environmental benefits, while also opening new economic opportunities for ethanol producers and farmers across the Midwest.

Summit will indemnify and hold landowners harmless for any loss, damage, claim or action resulting from the project, with the sole exception of cases where there is gross negligence or willful misconduct.

Summit Carbon Solutions is a multi-billion-dollar private investment with support from a wide-range of investors including John Deere, Continental Resources, and our ethanol plant partners. The company will not use any government funding to construct the project and will pay tens of millions of dollars in local property taxes along the entire route.

According to the federal government, nearly 90% of light-duty vehicle sales in the fourth quarter of 2021 were for vehicles with internal combustion engines. In other words, the overwhelming number of consumers today continue to choose traditional vehicles as opposed to electric, hybrid, or plug in hybrid options. Also, almost all gasoline-fueled vehicles on the road today can use ethanol blends (E10, E15, or E85). Furthermore, unlike EVs, the infrastructure for ethanol fuels already exists throughout the country.

With the fleet of existing internal combustion engines on the road, consumers continuing to choose internal combustion engines today and the coming years, it is important that we embrace ways to provide these tens of millions of Americans with access to cleaner fuel options. Summit Carbon Solutions’ carbon capture, transportation, and storage project will put the ethanol produced at its partner facilities on track to be a net zero fuel source by the end of the decade. That shift will provide these ethanol producers access to the growing low carbon fuel markets here in the U.S. and internationally, while meeting that critical need for delivering more low carbon fuel to consumers.

Landowners who currently own property where existing pipelines are in operation have always been able to get insurance and that will continue to be the case in the future, including while the Summit Carbon Solutions project is being constructed and once it is operational.

There are 5,000 miles of carbon dioxide pipelines already in service in the United States that have been operating safely for years. Summit Carbon Solutions will utilize high-strength American steel that is that is externally coated and designed to more than accommodate the anticipated pressure of the material moving through the pipeline

The Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline will utilize an Impressed Current Cathodic Protection system designed to protect the pipe from potentially corrosive elements in the soil.

As required by PHMSA, Summit will utilize existing technology to internally inspect the entire pipeline to ensure no corrosion or other anomalies exist.   Inspection will occur every five years.

Surveys are a critical to determining a route for our project that maximizes safety to the public and environment. There are three types of surveys our team is conducting, each with specific objectives:

  • Environmental/Biological – Study and minimize environmental impacts, including sensitive habitat and threatened and endangered species.
  • Cultural – Study and minimize impacts on historic and cultural sites, including those important to tribes and Native American nations.
  • Civil/Construction Review – Verify land boundaries. Obtain critical information to ensure the safe construction and operation of the system.

In the unlikely event the survey work impacts or damages a landowner’s property, Summit Carbon Solutions is bonded to pay for any and all repairs.

Summit Carbon Solutions carbon capture and storage project will provide significant benefits to the ethanol industry, farmers, local communities and more.

  • Ethanol Industry: The ethanol industry contributes $50 billion to the gross domestic product of the United States every year, supports 400,000 jobs, and purchases approximately half of all the corn grown in the country. Summit Carbon Solutions and other carbon capture and storage projects will allow ethanol plant partners to sell their product at a premium in the growing number of markets that pay more for low carbon fuels.
  • Farmers: Farmers currently sell half of all their corn crops to ethanol plants. Ensuring ethanol remains strong also helps ensure a strong end market for corn, which will also help maintain strong land values and commodity prices.
  • Local Communities: Every year, the Summit Carbon Solutions project will pay nearly $100 million in new state and local taxes to help fund critical priorities such as education, road construction, public safety, and more.
  • The SCS project will create ~11,000 temporary jobs during construction and ~1,100 permanent jobs after the project is completed and becomes operational.   During construction, local businesses across the project footprint will experience a significant increase in demand for products and services (hotels, fuel, food, miscellaneous materials,etc.).

Ethanol is critical to the Midwest. The industry contributes $50 billion to the gross domestic product of the United States every year, supports 400,000 jobs, and purchases approximately half of all the corn grown in the country. 

Agriculture remains at the heart of our U.S. economy. According to the USDA, corn production in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota alone provides a total value of nearly $38 billion. (Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota)

By purchasing half of the corn grown in U.S., the ethanol industry helps maintain strong commodity prices and strong land values. 

Opponents of carbon capture and storage projects have gone on the record advocating for the elimination of the ethanol industry. 

  • Sierra Club: “Sierra Club believes that the use of ethanol serves to extend our reliance on fossil fuels, thus contributing to climate change.” (Source: See here)“[Carbon capture and storage] will extend the life of the polluting ethanol industry and industrial agriculture practices that have contributed to our climate crisis, water pollution and more.” (Source: See here)
  • Food and Water Watch: “Summit also asserts that its project will enhance the long-term viability of the ethanol industry, despite the ethanol industry’s tremendous harms to biodiversity due to intensive monocultural (corn only) production” (Source: See here) 

Summit Carbon Solutions’ carbon capture, transportation, and storage project is different from the CO2 line in Mississippi in many respects. For example, our proposed project will compress, transport, and store CO2, which is of high purity, nonexplosive, and nonflammable. The system in Mississippi carried Hydrogen Sulfide, which is flammable and highly toxic.