Carbon Pipelines MN

Carbon pipelines are not the answer to rural prosperity, vibrant communities, thriving ecosystems, or a livable climate. Rural Minnesotans need a say in the future of our land, water, energy, infrastructure, and the economic opportunities that will impact our lives, livelihoods, and communities.

2000+ miles of Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS) pipelines are proposed across the midwest, including in Minnesota. The pipelines would carry carbon dioxide (CO₂) “captured” from dozens of Midwest ethanol plants and other industrial facilities. CCUS can include several different complex technologies and processes, but each method has largely proven unsuccessful at capturing, transporting, and storing CO₂ for a climate-relevant period of time (1,000 years or more). And in some applications, like at coal-fired power plants, CCUS keeps outdated technology operating (and polluting) for decades longer than originally intended without actually reducing climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions. The projects facing the Midwest propose to remove CO₂ at an industrial source—primarily ethanol plants—transport it via high-pressure pipeline, and then store the CO₂ underground or reuse it for other purposes. It is claimed that CO₂ will be transported to underground storage sites. But in reality, the majority of the carbon captured today is used for more fossil fuel extraction in a process called Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR). In EOR, carbon is injected into depleted oil wells to help unearth oil that would otherwise be unobtainable. North Dakota regulators keep expressing their desire for more CO₂ to go to their state to expand EOR for oil production.

Summit Carbon Solutions | Midwest Carbon Express Pipeline

Proposed by Summit Carbon Solutions (a subsidiary of Summit Agricultural Group), the Midwest Carbon Express Pipeline connects ethanol plants and other industrial agriculture facilities in five states with a pipeline that leads to North Dakota. In Minnesota, Summit has contracts with ethanol plants in Atwater, Fairmont, Fergus Falls, Granite Falls, Heron Lake, Lamberton and Welcome. The northern branch of the pipeline will run through Otter Tail and Wilkin Counties. The southern branch will run through Chippewa, Cottonwood, Jackson, Kandiyohi, Martin, Redwood, Renville, and Yellow Medicine Counties.

In public statements, the company maintains that the CO₂ will all be permanently sequestered in ND but Executive Chairman of Summit Agricultural Group, Bruce Rastetter, is on record as saying the project would not be possible without the prospect for EOR.

Summit has been moving quickly to have landowners sign permanent easements that only compensate landowners for crop losses for three years after the pipeline is installed. Farmers and landowners are taking the risk of lower crop yields and living and working next to a hazardous liquid pipeline while Summit will reap the benefits of billions of dollars per year coming from taxpayer dollars via the 45Q tax credit.

Navigator CO₂ Ventures | Heartland Greenway Pipeline – CANCELLED thanks to pressure from the 5-state resistance campaign

A second CO₂ pipeline planned for the region (including in Minnesota), was cancelled in October 2023.

Navigator CO₂ Ventures’ pipeline would have connected ethanol refineries and other undefined “industrial sources” in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, and South Dakota to a pipeline that was be routed to Illinois.

Safety Concerns

• • CO₂ + H₂O = Carbonic acid. The release of CO₂ into a water source—including wells, aquifers, lakes and rivers—can acidify that water resource.
• • CO₂ is an asphyxiant and can cause harm to humans and animals.
• • CO₂ is denser that air, meaning it tends to settle in low-lying areas.
• • CO₂ pipelines are highly pressurized, typically between 1,100 and 2,200 pounds per square inch (psi). Natural gas pipelines are typically between 500 and 1,400 psi.
• • CO₂ is colorless and odorless.
• • Local EMS units are rarely equipped to manage a leak or rupture of this nature and under this type of pressure. This is particularly true in rural places.
• • Geologic sequestration requires detailed, site-specific knowledge of the target reservoir and sustained monitoring. Recent well breaches in Illinois raise questions about the safety of geologic sequestration.

What does a carbon pipeline rupture look like?

Learn more about a carbon pipeline rupture in February 2020 in Satartia, MS.

Minnesota Process & Regulations on CO₂ Pipelines

Minnesota Statutes section 216G assigns the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) as the agency in charge of the permitting process for pipeline routing in the state. Under this statute, no entity may construct a pipeline without first obtaining a routing permit from the PUC.

Depending on the pipeline’s proposed location, it may be subject to additional regulation, including water crossing permits under Minnesota Statutes section 84.415, subdivision 1, public waters permits under Minnesota Statutes sections 103G.245 and 103G.301, and local ordinances.

Carbon Pipelines MN and CURE are not affiliated with Summit Carbon Solutions or any other pipeline company.

Carbon Pipelines MN is a project of CURE, a 30-year-old rural grassroots non-profit organization based in Montevideo, MN. CURE organizes Minnesotans around democracy, clean energy, and rural development.

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