When it comes to carbon pipelines, there have been a lot of controversies. People worry about the economic impact these projects may have and also have expressed concerns over the implications using eminent domain will have.

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Monty Shaw, the Executive Director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association says that there are a lot of emotions that get stirred up in projects such as carbon capture and storage.

I understand the emotions. I'm a farmer, I do help out on our family farm. But the farm I grew up on has a pipeline that runs underneath it and an airport runway that runs over it. So, I know about eminent domain. I know the emotion that comes when that issue comes up. And I respect that.

Shaw adds that wants people to look at the “economic reality” of these projects.

Monte Shaw speaking to the Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit about Carbon Capture and Storage Projects.
Monte Shaw speaking to the Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit about Carbon Capture and Storage Projects.
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Ethanol plants are faced with a demand for low-carbon ethanol. Those plants that can’t align with this demand, Shaw says, won’t be around for long.

The impact of these carbon capture and sequestration projects could be somewhere around 60 cents per gallon of ethanol. Well, you can't just be you can't leave 60 cents on the table in a market that usually you're into by a penny or two, right? Or you're out of the market.

The ethanol industry in Iowa helps producers in Iowa get higher corn prices than Chicago prices when it's taken to local plants. However, if Iowa were to lose its ethanol industry;

That change in corn prices at the local level that happened because of the ethanol industry is not going to stay here if we lose the ethanol industry.

And in a world that is demanding low-carbon transportation options, Shaw says carbon capture is the best tool to ensure renewable fuels remain competitive with electric vehicles.

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