Navigator CO2, POET sign letter of intent for carbon capture, utilization, and storage services

In Tuesday morning's Aberdeen American News, Alexandra Hardle reports in Gubernatorial candidates Jamie Smith and Steven Haugaard attend pipeline rally:

Gubernatorial hopefuls Jamie Smith and Steven Haugaard were both present at a rally [in Mellette] in opposition to Summit Carbon Solutions' carbon sequestration pipeline.

The proposed carbon dioxide pipeline would pump liquefied carbon dioxide from ethanol plants in five Midwestern states a mile underground in North Dakota. The $4.5 billion pipeline would reduce carbon dioxidemissions from 31 ethanol plants in those five states, with seven of those plants in South Dakota. . . .

A reader forwarded a press release this morning about another ethanol capture sequestration project, Navigator CO2, that looks to want to cross the Summit area and the historical boundaries of the Lake Traverse Reservation, home of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, a federally recognized tribe. At least in Phase II.

Here's the press release:

DALLAS, June 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Navigator CO₂ Ventures LLC ("Navigator") announced today that they have signed a Letter of Intent to provide carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) services to POET, the world's largest producer of biofuel and a global leader in sustainable bioproducts, on Navigator's Heartland Greenway system.

The agreement outlines Navigator's integrated CCUS services for approximately five (5) million metric tons of POET's biogenic CO₂ annually and establishes a collaborative path for the development of a central carbon offset marketplace and carbon use logistics platform. The system will phase in 18 of POET's bioprocessing facilities across Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota, and is on schedule for operational in-service in 2025.

"We recognize that now is the time to take bold action to preserve our planet for future generations," said Jeff Broin, POET Founder and CEO. "POET has been a leader in low-carbon biofuels and CO₂ capture for commercial use for decades, and this project is another significant step in utilizing bioprocessing to accelerate our path to net-zero. We choose our partners carefully, and we believe Navigator has the expertise to deliver long-term value to rural America by further positioning agricultural commodities as a viable source of low-carbon liquid fuels to power our future." 

Both parties will leverage their respective expertise – relying on the unique breadth and scale of Navigator's infrastructure development, construction, and operations and POET's market-leading position in CO₂ distribution, marketing, and logistics management. The joint efforts will create the largest combined distribution network for high-quality, biogenic CO₂.

"This agreement is a testament to two industries coming together and using their resources to pave innovative pathways toward carbon neutrality and a more sustainable future. The breadth, scale, and technical acumen of each party's platform is unmatched," said Matt Vining, Chief Executive Officer of Navigator. "POET is an industry pioneer that has built a company on the pillars of safety, integrity, innovation, and being a good neighbor in the communities they call home, all of which align entirely with the culture and track record of Navigator. We look forward to this partnership with POET as we continue to fulfill our mission to provide sustainable carbon solutions to our communities, consumers, and customers."

With the addition of POET to the platform, Navigator's Heartland Greenway system will provide CCUS services for more than 30 industrial processors across the agriculture and food production value chains, representing over ten (10) million tons of annual CO₂ emissions, including the two (2) largest bioethanol producers in the United States, in addition to highly efficient single-site production facilities. Navigator's unique platform will now mobilize efforts to deliver up to 15 million tons annually of CCUS services through new pipeline laterals and parallel development of multiple storage sites.

About Navigator CO₂ Ventures

Navigator CO₂ Ventures is a company developed and managed by the Navigator Energy Services management team with over 180 years of collective industry experience. The company specializes in CCUS, and the management team has safely constructed and operated over 1,300 miles of new infrastructure since being founded in 2012. We are committed to building and operating our projects to meet and exceed safety requirements while minimizing the collective impact on the environment, landowners, and the public during construction and ongoing operations. For more information about Navigator CO₂ and the Heartland Greenway, visit our websites at: navigatorco2.com and heartlandgreenway.com.

About POET

POET's vision is to create a world in sync with nature. As the world's largest producer of biofuel and a global leader in sustainable bioproducts, POET creates plant-based alternatives to fossil fuels that unleash the regenerative power of agriculture and cultivate opportunities for America's farm families. Founded in 1987 and headquartered in Sioux Falls, POET operates 33 bioprocessing facilities across eight states and employs more than 2,200 team members. With a suite of bioproducts that includes Dakota Gold and NexPro feed, Voilà corn oil, purified alcohol, renewable CO₂ and JIVE asphalt rejuvenator, POET nurtures an unceasing commitment to innovation and advances powerful, practical solutions to some of the world's most pressing challenges. Today, POET holds more than 80 patents worldwide and continues to break new ground in biotechnology, yielding ever-cleaner and more efficient renewable energy. In 2021, POET released its inaugural Sustainability Report pledging carbon neutrality by 2050.

As the map from the press release at the top of this post demonstrates, POET facilities in northeastern South Dakota include Groton and Big Stone City are in Phase II. Here's a road map of Highway 12 between the two rural South Dakota towns:

Summit is located at the junction of U.S. 12  and Interstate 29; the historical Lake Traverse Reservation boundaries begin on the west at Waubay and end just east of Summit. Here's one screengrab of a simple map of the reservation:

We're skeptics about ethanol sequestration, as readers know from posts like SD News Watch: Proposed CO2 pipelines thrust SD into billion-dollar climate change debate and CO2 pipelines could affect the land, lives and livelihoods of South Dakota property owners.

Will the extension of the Navigator's Heartland Greenway create concern in the South Dakota communities and SWO's tribal government to match the concerns the Summit Carbon Solutions' carbon sequestration pipeline has wrought?

As Cory Allen Heidelberger noted on Monday at Dakota Free Press, Smith, Haugaard Share Landowner Concerns About Eminent Domain for Pipeline; Noem Uninterested.

Will political leaders--other than Noem--care about this new development in CO2 pipelines in South Dakota?

Maps: Top of page from Navigator CO₂ Ventures LLC. Other screengrabs by author.

Related posts:

• Iowa Capital Dispatch: Group seeks end of ethanol carbon pipeline ‘harassment’
• Carbon capture pipeline blues: SD landowners call for dismissal of pipeline permit application
• Ethanol carbon capture pipeline digest: farmers, students, greenwashing, safety, law enforcement
• Public Utility Commission claims regulatory authority for carbon pipelines
• CO2 pipelines could affect the land, lives and livelihoods of South Dakota property owners
• SD News Watch: Proposed CO2 pipelines thrust SD into billion-dollar climate change debate
• About that permanent carbon storage by the Summit ethanol pipeline & Project Tundra
• Ethanol carbon capture pipeline news digest: political power and big money edition
• Ethanol carbon pipeline digest: trust & protest
• South Dakotans, Iowans don't hug CO2 pipeline
• Keloland: mostly negative public comments to SD Public Utilities Commission on CO2 pipeline
• Strib: Ethanol's per-gallon carbon output shrinks, but greenhouse gas from plants remains high
• We agree: It's time to move on from ethanol
• Another IA newspaper editorial board questions ethanol industry, carbon capture pipelines
• Ethanol CCS pipeline update: Reuters & Agweek
• Not a lot of easements for Midwest carbon pipeline, but plenty of political connections
• 2 ethanol CO2 headlines that make us go hmmm
• CO2 pipelines: who wins & who loses?
•  Coming soon from a cornfield near you: mammoth carbon capture pipeline system
• Mother Jones: USDA Secretary Vilsack’s son works for a controversial ethanol pipeline project
• Iowa county boards scorn construction of CO2 pipelines, use of eminent domain to build them
• Digest of news about carbon dioxide pipelines

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If you appreciate Bluestem Prairie, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen, 600 Maple Street, Summit SD 57266) or use the paypal button in the upper right hand corner of this post. 

Or you can contribute via this link to paypal; use email [email protected] as recipient.

I'm on Venmo for those who prefer to use this service: @Sally-Sorensen-6