The Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) last week approved Summit Carbon Solutions’ application to construct and operate a pipeline to transport liquefied carbon dioxide through 29 counties in Iowa. 

The board approved the application with modifications and will require Summit to submit additional filings for review before a permit is officially issued.

The IUB unanimously found that the pipeline “will provide a service that is in the public convenience and necessity” and granted Summit the right of eminent domain over specific parcels. The board applied a balancing test in reaching its decision, finding that the public benefits of the project outweigh the private and public costs.

The proposed 688-mile pipeline would capture carbon dioxide from 12 ethanol plants in Iowa for permanent sequestration underground in North Dakota, which will lower the...