CHICAGO: When executives in 2021 announced plans to build the largest carbon capture-and-storage (CCS) project in the world beneath the heart of the US grain belt, they thought the pitch was a compelling one.

The venture, which soon gained the backing of energy billionaire Harold Hamm, would catch, transport and trap emissions from ethanol plants in the upper Midwest, allowing the corn industry to compete in lucrative new markets like low-carbon jet fuel.

It hasn’t gone as planned. After regulator pushback and vocal opposition from farmers who don’t want to be anywhere near a project they claim tramples on landowner rights, Summit Carbon Solutions has gone back to the drawing board to revise the pipeline’s path 6,300 times.

The project’s expected start has been delayed until early 2026, two years later than initial projections, with the estimated cost nearly doubling to about US$8bil.

Part of the challenge in getting the project off the ground is its massive footprint. The proposed path would traverse five states - Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota and ultimately North Dakota, where the carbon would be stored underground.

If needed, it could move ahead without Nebraska and Minnesota, Summit said, but approvals from North Dakota, South Dakota and Iowa are all necessary to keep the project alive.

Regulators in Iowa and North Dakota are deliberating the project’s fate now, with Iowa - the country’s top corn state - expected to release its permit decision any day now.

Even if they all give the green light, the company must then raise billions of dollars and add an additional 500 miles to the pipeline’s proposed route to accommodate new customers - an expensive undertaking since the company said costs have gone up about 30% in the years that it has been trying to get the project off the ground.

And that’s only if it can fend off opposition from the very group the project pledges to benefit: the US corn farmer.

The debate comes as America’s corn industry nears a crucial pivot point. Although it is by far the world’s biggest grower of the staple grain, two of its key markets are at risk of shrinking.

Long the top exporter of corn, the United States has been losing ground against agricultural powerhouse, Brazil. At the same time, the rise of electric vehicles is poised to slash demand for ethanol-blended gasoline used to power cars. About 40% of US corn goes to supply domestic mills making ethanol for use as a transportation fuel.

That has the US corn industry looking for new buyers, including producers of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), a market still in its infancy but expected to rapidly grow this decade.

But jet-fuel makers won’t use ethanol, just one of the possible ways to make SAF, unless the fuel’s so-called carbon intensity scores (CI) go down. Low scores are key for securing potentially lucrative federal tax credits. CCS like the project Summit has proposed, is seen as crucial to slashing the ethanol industry’s rating.

Many US plants aren’t able to do CCS on-site due to geological constraints, making such pipelines important, according to supporters.

Lowering CI will also be key to using ethanol for marine vessels, trucking, construction equipment and green chemicals, Renewable Fuels Association president Geoff Cooper told an industry gathering in California in February.

“We are going to have a decreasing market with the combustion engine; that’s clear,” said Bruce Rastetter, founder of Summit Agricultural Group, the parent company of the entity behind the project.

“The pipeline is the most transformative thing I’ve ever worked on in my life because it so directly impacts agriculture and everything about it.”

But some corn farmers who are usually quite supportive of the ethanol industry aren’t convinced the company’s solution is the right one, especially after its initial approach toward landowners was viewed by some as too adversarial, or even bullying.

Tensions have been especially high in South Dakota, which rejected Summit’s plan last year on the grounds it didn’t comply with county distance rules. Once Summit submits its new permit application, the state has up to a year to make a decision.

Summit Carbon’s top rival, the now defunct Navigator pipeline, failed last year after grappling with similar opposition.

 - Bloomberg