Growth Energy Welcomes SCALE Act to Strengthen Network of CO2 Pipelines

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor thanked Reps. Marc Veasey (D-Tex.), David McKinley (R-W.Va.), Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.) and Pete Stauber (R-Minn.) for introducing the Storing CO₂ and Lowering Emissions Act (SCALE Act), legislation designed to establish a carbon emissions infrastructure program and strengthen pipeline networks to transport carbon dioxide (CO₂) from ethanol plants to where it is needed, including for beverage, food, and dry ice use.

“As we have seen throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, CO₂ captured from ethanol plants has critically important commercial, agriculture, and municipal water uses,” said Skor. “Whether it’s CO₂ used to produce dry ice for vaccine storage or used to treat municipal water, CO₂ captured from ethanol plants is a critical component to many key supply chains and we cannot afford another shortage threat. We support the SCALE Act and encourage greater CO₂ reduction across the board.”

Background: 
Currently, about 50 of the 210 ethanol plants capture a portion of CO₂ created during the fermentation process. CO₂ from ethanol plants can be pumped into underground storage sites or used for commercial beverage, food, and some agriculture uses.  But these sources of demand must be local for CO₂ capture to remain economically feasible. An average-sized ethanol plant captures 99,000 to 153,000 tons of CO₂ a year, and there is strong potential to expand on these carbon emission savings.

Ethanol plants are also providing significant amounts of CO₂ for dry ice production, a necessary product which keeps COVID-19 vaccinations at freezing temperatures needed for storage. As the vaccine supply begins to ramp up for public distribution, an adequate CO₂ supply will be needed to transport and store tens of millions of life-saving vaccinations.

Pipelines are the dominant form of CO₂ transport. The U.S. has 5,000 miles of existing CO₂ pipelines (compared to 300,000 miles of natural gas pipelines) and overall CO₂ infrastructure is limited due to cost. The bill aims to build out CO₂ transport and storage infrastructure so industrial sources, like ethanol plants, can connect to a larger network of pipelines to get CO₂ where it is needed.

The Storing CO₂ and Lowering Emissions Act (SCALE Act) has four main components:

• Establishes a CO₂ infrastructure program which allows low-interest federal loans to finance CO₂ transport infrastructure projects.
• Creates CO₂ large-scale saline geologic storage hubs to safely store large amounts of CO₂.
• Provides EPA with increased funding to permit Class VI CO₂ wells.

Funds new U.S. Department of Energy infrastructure-related CO₂ utilization programs which researches emerging technologies that convert CO₂ into materials and chemicals.