A RUSH to build CO₂ Pipelines
Navigator CO₂ Ventures, a Texas-based company with experience in the development of oil pipelines, wants to transport high-pressure, liquified CO₂ from industrial clients across South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Iowa to a predetermined location in Christian County, Illinois. The proposed pipeline will pass through 13 Illinois counties, including Hancock, Adams, McDonough, Henry, Knox, Fulton, Schuyler, Brown, Pike, Scott, Morgan, Sangamon, and Christian. The 1,300-mile-long CO₂ pipeline will serve 20 or more ethanol and fertilizer plants, and transport 15 million tons of CO₂ annually.

This is one of two such pipelines proposed. The second is a partnership between Wolf Carbon Solutions and ADM. That pipeline will offer dedicated capacity to transport 12 million tons CO_2, annually, from ADM’s ethanol and cogeneration facilities in Clinton and Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The CO₂ will be injected underground at ADM’s fully permitted and already-operational sequestration site in Decatur, Illinois.

So What’s the Problem? 
These pipelines are among the first of many expected to be proposed across the Midwest as part of a developing technology called carbon capture and storage.

#1. CO₂ pipelines are not safe.
Carbon Dioxide pipelines differ from oil and gas.They transport high-pressure, liquified CO₂ in pipelines that are not well-regulated by the Pipelines Safety Hazards Management Administration or the State of Illinois. If they leak or rupture, the CO₂ will displace oxygen. When this happens, the odorless and tasteless gas can spread to surrounding areas, and within minutes, asphyxiate humans and livestock.

• At concentrations between 2%-10%, CO₂ can cause nausea; dizziness; headache; mental confusion; and increased blood pressure and respiratory rates.
• Above 8%, nausea and vomiting appear, and concentrations of 10% or more lead to suffocation and death.

In elevated concentrations, CO₂ can prevent internal combustion engines from operating, making it difficult for rescue vehicles to respond to emergencies and for residents to flee the affected area.

Read: The Gassing of Satartia.

#2. Few Regulations Exist.
Because it is a relatively new technology, federal oversight of CO₂ pipelines is limited. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has declined to take jurisdiction over them. State regulations are not designed for CO₂ pipelines like these.

#3. These projects are heavily funded by the taxpayer.
Section 45Q of the Internal Revenue Code provides tax credits on a per-ton basis to companies that successfully trap, sequester and store carbon emissions. The $50 per ton of carbon captured and stored is often shared among the industrial (or power generation) sources, pipeline developers, and carbon sequestration facilities. Bi-partisan proposals are under consideration to increase this credit from $50 a ton to $85 a ton, further accelerating this “mad dash” to build pipelines for corporate profit, but at the expense of the taxpayer, who also bears the brunt of the risk (health, unsuccessful projects, damaged farmland, etc.).

#4 Pipelines Extend the Life of Fossil Fuels.
Instead of spending money to more rapidly deploy renewable energy technologies, billions of federal dollars are being spent to keep the fossil fuel industry in business. This is particularly true for projects that involve enhanced oil recovery (EOR). At recent meetings in Illinois, Navigator indicated that they are not planning to use the CO₂ captured from industrial sources for EOR, but that they are open to customers who may request it. This process perpetuates the use of fossil fuels, at a time when scientists are clearly saying we need to keep them in the ground.

#5 Landowners: All Risk, and No Reward
Corporations profit from carbon capture and sequestration via federal tax credits and low-interest loans. Landowners take all the risk, with little to no reward. While they are compensated for the use of their land, payments from pipeline companies do not begin to approach those that are received from wind or solar located on their farmland. Such renewable energy technologies either power a farm, residence, or commercial / industrial property; or if the land is leased by a solar or wind developer, landowners are paid annually in long-term, revenue-sharing agreements. 

#6. CCS hasn't worked. 
Despite extensive support, 80% of the projects that have attempted to to commercialize carbon capture and sequestration technology, have ended in failure. Between 2005 and 2012, the Department of Energy spent $6.9 billion attempting to demonstrate the feasibility of CCS for coal, BUT less than 4% of the planned CCS capacity was deployed. 

Due to the large amount of energy required to power carbon capture and the life cycle of fossil fuels, carbon capture in the U.S. has actually put more CO2 into the atmosphere than it has removed. (Sekera, J., Lichtenberger, A. Assessing Carbon Capture: Public Policy, Science, and Societal Need. Biophys Econ Sust 5, 14 .2020).