SIOUX CENTER, Iowa. (KELO) — A proposed pipeline that would transport CO2 would run through parts of KELOLAND.

Summit Carbon Solutions’ planned pipeline would capture carbon dioxide emissions from facilities in the Midwest such as ethanol plants, compress it, and transport it to North Dakota where it would be permanently stored underground.

“By doing that, that lowers the carbon intensity of ethanol by reducing the emission of the plant, it enhances the value of the products they make when they go into low-carbon fuel markets,” Summit Carbon Solutions chief commercial officer Jim Pirolli said.

Siouxland Energy Cooperative in Sioux Center is one of more than 30 partner facilities already signed on to the project.

“We can get our carbon score down significantly. Right now, Siouxland is about a 63.4 and we think Summit can get us down about another 25 points,” Siouxland Energy Cooperative operations director Jeff Altna said.

Altna says the cooperative is taking other steps to reduce emissions with the ultimate goal of becoming a zero carbon intensity producer.

Reducing carbon intensity will help ethanol plants access markets with low carbon fuel standards.

Kelly Niewenhuis is a Siouxland board member and a longtime Iowa farmer.

“My main thoughts about this project, it’s going to be for the next generation of farmers to have a market through ethanol and biofuels,” Farmer and board member Kelly Nieuwenhuis said.

The Iowa Chapter of the Sierra Club opposes CO2 pipelines, saying these projects don’t address other forms of pollution from fossil fuel extraction and industrial agriculture.

Summit Carbon Solutions has applied for permits in Iowa and South Dakota.

It plans to apply for permits in North Dakota, Minnesota, and Nebraska in the coming month.

The Sierra Club also says a pipeline leak could poison surrounding communities.

Summit Carbon says if there is a leak, its alert system could notify crews immediately.

The company says the CO2 would become a gas and dissipate into the atmosphere.