Carbon Dioxide Pipeline Battle: Seize Land for Green Energy?
A battle is underway in five Midwest states over construction of carbon dioxide (CO2) pipelines as part of the green energy transition. Opposition to wide-area pipeline networks is rising from farms and communities. But utilities and state governments intend to seize land over landowner protests.
On June 25, the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) granted the petition of Summit Carbon Solutions (Summit) for a permit to build a CO2 pipeline across Iowa. The IUB determined that the pipeline was for “public use,” and granted Summit the right to seize land from Iowa landowners using eminent domain. Eminent domain has typically been used to take private land for government projects that serve a public good, but not for private industry.
Summit plans to build pipelines across Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota to transport captured CO2 to deep underground storage sites in North Dakota. The cost of the 2,500-mile project is about $5.5 billion.
Summit seeks billions of dollars from the federal government. If the pipeline network becomes operational, the company will receive up to $85 per metric ton in tax credits under Section 45Q of the Internal Revenue Code. The firm intends to sequester up to 18 million tons of CO2 each year, to annually receive tax credits of over $1.5 billion. Summit claims to have signed agreements with over 2,700 landowners to build the pipeline.
Ethanol producers in the five states are interested in participating in the project. Captured CO2 from 57 ethanol plants would be sold to Summit, providing a revenue stream for producers. Billions in federal funds may also be available to ethanol plants that capture CO2. In addition, reducing CO2 emissions may allow ethanol producers to qualify their product as Sustainable Aviation Fuel for commercial airlines.
Supporters claim the project will deliver environmental benefits in the fight against climate change. Summit says the annual CO2 emissions savings will be equal to removing 3.9 million vehicles from our roads. But the project is fraught with feasibility and cost, environmental, and safety problems.
The feasibility and cost track record of CO2 capture is poor. There are 47 major carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) plants operating in the world today, and most are money losers even with heavy subsidies. Ethanol plants that pursue CCS will likely lose money, along with the taxpayers who provide the subsidies.
For example, the Quest CCS project operated by Shell in Alberta, Canada captures only 35% of the CO2 emitted from a chemical process to upgrade bitumen from oil sands. The capital cost of the project is $811 million, entirely paid for with C$865 million in grants from the Canadian and Alberta governments. The Quest CCS operation will cost $41 million a year to run with only $27 million per year offset in payments from carbon credit subsidies.
The environmental benefits from the Summit project will be tiny. CO2 captured from Midwest ethanol plants will do little to affect global temperatures. Today, all of the world’s operating CCS facilities capture only 0.1% of industrial emissions. Even the Sierra Club opposes the Summit pipeline and calls CCS efforts “false climate solutions.”
CO2 pipelines come with huge safety issues. Only about 5,000 miles of CO2 pipelines exist in the U.S., compared to 84,000 miles of crude oil pipelines and three million miles for natural gas. Most CO2 pipelines transport liquified CO2 short distances to oil fields where it is pumped underground to force oil and gas to the surface.
CO2 in pipelines is a liquid under high pressure. If it leaks, it turns to gas as it rushes out. Since it is heavier than air, it stays close to the ground and can cover wide areas. CO2 is harmless in small quantities, but in large amounts, it is an asphyxiate, can force oxygen out of people’s lungs, and can cause headaches, dizziness, serious injuries, and death.
On February 22, 2020, a CO2 pipeline ruptured in Sartaria, Mississippi. The rupture occurred on a Saturday and spewed CO2 for about four hours. An invisible cloud of CO2 moved through the rural community forcing more than 200 people to evacuate and at least 45 to be hospitalized. Victims were unable to breathe and suffered unconsciousness and fits of shaking. No one died during the incident, but some victims continue to suffer ongoing physical problems.
As a result of feasibility and safety concerns, opposition to the pipeline is growing. Proponents and opponents battle in state legislatures and at public utility meetings. Counties in all five states have recently passed bans or restrictions on CO2 pipelines.
North Dakota regulators denied Summit’s application last August but have agreed to reconsider. Last month, Illinois passed a bill putting CO2 pipeline construction on hold until 2026. South Dakota regulators denied Summit’s application last September, but the legislature passed a package of regulations earlier this year that may aid approval of the pipeline network. South Dakota voters will have an opportunity to reject that package of regulations on this year’s November 5 ballot.
The Summit pipeline project would not exist without vast federal subsidies for CCS. We have plenty of CO2 for soft drinks and other uses. Huge subsidies, driven by the fear of human-caused global warming, are the only reason to try to seize land from farmers in Midwest states.
Even if this huge pipeline system is built and CO2 is captured at 57 ethanol plants, the effect on global emissions will be insignificant and the effect on global temperatures will not be measurable.
Land for pipelines is not the only case where land is being seized to promote green energy. The US Department of Energy recently announced plans to use eminent domain to seize land across wide areas to build transmission towers for new wind and solar systems. Illinois and Michigan passed laws blocking restrictions and outright bans by local communities on deployment of wind and solar systems. Governments consider the fight against human-caused climate change more important than the property rights of citizens.
https://heartland.org/opinion/carbon-dioxide-pipeline-battle-seize-land-for-green-energy/
********************************************British Labour go-ahead for march of the pylons promises to spark conflict
Amazing waste of resources
Within weeks, work is expected to begin on a 121-mile (195-kilometre) clean energy “superhighway” designed to channel green electricity from Scotland’s rich renewable resources to the north of England.
The industry regulator Ofgem is expected to give the green light for work to begin on the first section of the multibillion-pound high-voltage cable project, Eastern Green Link (EGL), in the coming days. Ofgem’s approval for a second section is expected to follow within weeks.
By the autumn, construction is expected to begin on what will be one of Britain’s biggest power grid projects, carrying enough green electricity along the east coast of Britain, mostly under the sea, to power 4m homes by 2029.
The first section to gain approval – officially phase 2 of EGL – will be built by National Grid in partnership with the energy company SSE and run from Peterhead in Aberdeenshire, to Wilsthorpe on the Yorkshire coast near Bridlington. The second project expected to be greenlit – EGL phase 1 – will link the Torness area in East Lothian to the Hawthorn Pit in County Durham, constructed by National Grid and Scottish Power.
The scale of the project is expected to double in the years to come as EGL’s third and fourth phases form the electrical backbone of Britain’s future green electricity system.
“The scale of these projects is absolutely massive,” said one industry source.
The size of EGL matches the scale of the challenge ahead in creating an electricity system fit for a net-zero future. It is one of 26 critical energy infrastructure schemes, worth an estimated £20bn, being fast-tracked by the regulator to meet Britain’s ambitious green energy targets.
Under the new Labour government these targets are even more pressing: to create a net-zero electricity system by 2030, ministers plan to double the UK’s onshore wind, triple its solar power and quadruple its offshore wind capacity. This clean energy boom will require a big change in the UK’s approach to energy infrastructure, both in the speed and scale of the work and how it affects local communities. National Grid estimates that the UK will need to build five times more electricity infrastructure by 2030 than it has in the past three decades. But not everyone welcomes the change.
The EGL undersea cables will require substations, converter stations and miles of overhead lines on land to connect the projects to Britain’s existing electricity grid. The energy companies have undertaken some of the most in-depth public consultation exercises ever seen in the sector to address concerns over the sharp increase in energy infrastructure across rural areas.
People don’t seem prepared for the fact that this infrastructure is both very necessary and very visible
Industry source
“As a country we are trying to put as much of this new transmission as possible out at sea,” said an industry source. “But these cables do need to come ashore somewhere, and there needs to be the infrastructure in place to carry the power from the coast into people’s homes. This means substations, pylons and cables. It means more power lines and poles. And people don’t seem prepared for the fact that this infrastructure is both very necessary and very visible.”
For SSE the green link project is one of four new critical national transmission schemes across the north of Scotland that will enable the supply of clean energy to homes and businesses around Great Britain. It believes that its public consultation on the projects amounts to “one of the biggest listening exercises in Scotland’s history”. The company has directly contacted nearly 300,000 people within six miles of the proposed projects to have their say in more than 220 consultation events and public meetings. It estimates that more than 10,000 people attended and it has received more than 12,000 written responses.
Lesley Dow, SSE’s head of community engagement, said the company was working to balance “the clear need for these projects to deliver energy security and net zero” with community concerns and technical and environmental constraints.
“This balance is by no means easily reached, but by listening closely to communities we have already made significant changes to project plans, including moving substation locations and altering overhead line routes,” she said.
This level of public engagement will need to be replicated across the major infrastructure projects needed across the country as the UK moves towards becoming a net-zero economy by 2050. “Most people in the UK are not used to seeing where their electricity comes from,” the source added. “In the past it was possible to keep a few giant power plants from view by basing them far from the most populated areas. But in a low-carbon world we’ll need a lot more electricity, and we’ll rely on a lot more energy projects to get it. This won’t be inconspicuous.”
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British Local authority to challenge solar farm approval
A council has criticised the government’s decision to approve a £600m energy farm and said it is beginning judicial review proceedings against it.
Suffolk County Council said it has written a pre-action protocol letter to the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Ed Miliband, after he approved the Sunnica solar farm on the Suffolk-Cambridgeshire border last month.
The council believes Mr Miliband ignored its funding arguments and said this will amount to "considerable" additional work and costs for the Conservative-led authority.
The department for energy security and net zero said it would not comment on a live planning case.
A decision on the plans for the 2,500-acre solar farm has been delayed several times, most recently due to the UK general election.
Mr Miliband had previously said solar power was "crucial to achieving net zero".
Councillor Richard Rout, deputy cabinet member for nationally significant infrastructure projects, said that Mr Miliband had "waved through the Sunnica application with reckless abandon".
He added: “In doing so, he has shown scant regard for the communities affected, and for the local authorities who must pick up considerable amounts of additional work as a result of the project going ahead."
Nick Timothy, the Conservative MP for West Suffolk, called Mr Miliband’s decision “inappropriate” and said he is backing the council’s decision to legally challenge the approval.
"Mr Miliband made clear in his answer to my question in Parliament that he did not properly consider all the evidence in his rush to approve the application," he added.
"There are likely to be other legal challenges, and we must hope that the courts see there has been a clear failure of process."
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c74j8zdzy1eo
************************************************Austria’s Last Generation to dissolve over ‘fossil ignorance’
The Austrian climate activists organisation Last Generation has announced it will disband over a lack of success.
The organisation has been responsible for many disruptive protests — including blocking roadways and paint attacks on objects of interest –with its activities resulting in it being put under investigation by the Austrian judiciary.
On August 6, Last Generation issued a statement announcing its members would end their protests and dissolve as an organisation, saying they “no longer see a perspective for success” as Austria’s population had opted for “fossil ignorance”.
Their remaining financial assets would be used to finance the costs of “criminalisation and investigations”, likely alluding to the group’s mounting legal issues.
Since 2021, Last Generation has launched several protests against climate change. Usually, that centres on blocking rush-hour traffic in Vienna and other Austrian cities and throwing paint at artworks.
In April 2024, the group disrupted the Vienna Marathon by throwing paint onto the track. In May, the group marched through a residential area of Vienna at 4:30 am, waking residents with bells and bullhorns.
Last Generation’s actions have generally resonated poorly with Austrians. In a 2023 poll, 75 per cent of respondents said they had no sympathy for the climate activists’ protests.
In June, three activists were jailed for about two weeks for throwing paint at a painting by Gustav Klimt. In July, Last Generation said the Ministry of Justice (led by Green Party politician Alma Zadic) had instructed the Attorney General of Vienna to prosecute it as a criminal organisation.
The Ministry denied these allegations but confirmed that investigations for some potential violations were ongoing.
Last Generation receives support from the US non-profit organisation Climate Emergency Fund, which has been bankrolled by several US millionaires including Aileen Getty, heiress to the Getty family’s wealth.
The announcement of Last Generation’s dissolution has been welcomed by many. Christian Hafenecker, Secretary General of the right-wing Freedom Party, said hundreds of thousands of commuters could now breathe a sigh of relief.
It remains unclear as to whether the group’s decision to dissolve will end protests in Austria. A group spokesperson said there would be “new projects for resistance”.
Last Generation’s German sister organisation of the same name said it will continue its efforts — which have included shutting down Frankfurt airport at the end of July.
https://brusselssignal.eu/2024/08/austrias-last-generation-to-dissolve-over-fossil-ignorance/
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Jim Hansen and his twin
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