Summit Carbon Solutions continues to make progress on the pipeline project that has a footprint in five states.
Summit Carbon CEO Lee Blank told attendees at the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) annual meeting this week that he believes the project will get to completion. “I know what this pipeline means to the ethanol industry today, and I know what the infrastructure means to agriculture today, which is why we have to get it completed,” he said.
Blank says they are currently preparing for a series of public meetings around Iowa approved by the Iowa Public Utilities Commission. Approval by the Iowa Utilities Board in June was a significant milestone for the project.
“It’s a wonderful project to reduce carbon. It’s the next step change project for US agriculture, just like the ethanol industry was in 2004, 2005,” said Blank. “And so I try and communicate that to the to the landowner about what would be if we didn’t have the railroad. That’s physically a taking. Our eminent domain that we may or may not have to use is not a taking. We’re actually just trying to put a piece of property under your property and give it right back to you. So ultimately it’s different.”
The pipeline was originally expected to be operational by the end of this year is now looking to be more like late 2026 or 2027, according to a recent report citing remarks from Summit Agricultural Group CEO Justin Kirchhoff.
Listen to Blank’s remarks here:
ACE 24 Lee Blank, Summit Carbon 23:13