Midlands Voices: Carbon Capture Storage will provide economic boost to rural America
t is no secret that farming communities across the Midwest have faced a variety of challenging circumstances over the past several years. From derechos in August 2020 and December 2021, to uncertain markets, to even undermining the Renewable Fuel Standard, we have had to persevere .
As one might suspect, these challenges created economic uncertainty for the agriculture community. Thankfully the Heartland Greenway, a Carbon Capture Storage (CCS) project, is coming to the five Midwest states, including Nebraska and Iowa. I am eager to see the economic impact this project will not only bring to the biofuels industry, but agricultural communities.
Almost every business sector has green initiatives being put forward by industry leaders to tackle the changing environment. Lowering carbon emissions is a noble cause and one that would have a tremendous impact on leaving a better Earth to live for the next generation. Ethanol plays a large role in clean air initiatives and CCS will only grow liquid fuels’ impact on this effort. By participating in this project, ethanol plants can then lower their carbon intensity score and market their product in states such as California and Oregon. These lower carbon intensity scores will make U.S. ethanol more competitive in export markets around the globe.
By being able to take advantage of these markets, ethanol plants can expand the reach of their clean, homegrown fuel. Projects such as the Heartland Greenway will have the ability to drastically reduce the nation’s carbon footprint by connecting to participating ethanol and fertilizer facilities across the Midwest. The connected facilities will produce lower emissions and can achieve a premium in the Low Carbon Fuel Standards market.
When fully operational, the Heartland Greenway will have the capacity to capture and store approximately 15 million metric tons of CO2 per year, which is the equivalent of eliminating the entire carbon footprint of the Des Moines metro area three times over, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
From an economic standpoint, agricultural communities across Iowa and the footprint of this project will see an economic infusion that will be critical after years of Renewable Fuel Standard abuse, two derechos in two years, and market uncertainty. All of these factors have impacted the bottom lines of farm families across the state. That’s why ethanol facilities connected to the Heartland Greenway will see a 20 to 40 cents increase in value per gallon of ethanol and annual revenue gains of up to $40 million per plants. New markets for ethanol will produce new opportunities for rural communities across the Midwest to see economic growth.
Even better, the project will work with union and trades labor organizations to hire skilled workers to create thousands of well-paying jobs that will have an economic ripple effect that will touch nearly every avenue of business throughout their home communities.
It will be critical to Midwestern economies to keep ethanol competitive. While electric vehicles are growing more popular with certain policymakers, ethanol will maintain a substantial share of the marketplace for decades to come. A 2021 study from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) which outlined their anticipation that even by 2050 they anticipate new vehicle sales to still be 79% liquid fuels. If nearly four out of five new vehicle sale uses liquid fuels, that means ethanol will need to play a substantial role.
I look forward to our nation’s farmers continuing to lead the way in protecting the environment. By embracing CCS technology, not only will it provide a needed economic boost to rural communities, but the Heartland Greenway project will play a leading role in reducing carbon emissions and adding to Ethanol’s competitive advantage in low carbon transportation fuel.
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