Navigator CO2 Ventures Pulls Plug on Carbon Pipeline

Developers of the Heartland Greenway carbon pipeline have canceled the project.

The Navigator CO2 Ventures pipeline was one of three projects proposed to ship carbon from ethanol plants to underground storage. Navigator would have sent its liquid carbon to storage in central Illinois. 

A section of the company’s proposed pipeline would have started with the Valero Renewables ethanol plant west of Charles City and go south into Butler County to connect with the Poet Bioprocessing ethanol plant near Shell Rock. Another branch would come in to Butler County from the east through Bremer, Buchanan, Fayette and Delaware counties.

Last month, South Dakota regulators denied the company’s pipeline route application for that state. Earlier this month, Navigator asked the Iowa Utilities Board to put its Iowa application on hold.

Monte Shaw of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association says Navigator’s cancellation was not a surprise, but it does mean decisions for its partner ethanol plants.

Shaw says the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association respects Navigator’s decision and continues to support other pipeline projects like Summit Carbon Solutions.