The article on May 17 regarding a carbon dioxide pipeline, proposed by Summit Carbon Solutions, is very troubling (“Carbon dioxide pipeline avoids Minnesota, for now”). This is where government “climate change” policy is somehow supported by the complete misinterpretation of science. The goal of the multibillion CO2 pipeline project proposed by Summit Carbon Solutions is to capture and sequester carbon dioxide from dozens of corn ethanol plants in Iowa, Minnesota, the Dakotas and other Midwestern states.
Let’s follow the carbon dioxide path in this proposal. Corn is grown on thousands of acres of agricultural fields. Via photosynthesis, the corn absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere and converts it to corn biomass, including corn starch. The corn starch is converted to glucose sugar in the ethanol plant, which is then fermented by yeast to generate ethanol and CO2. Chemically, for every ton (2,000 pounds) of corn glucose, the yeast will generate 1,022.2 pounds of ethanol and 977.8 pounds of CO2. This “fermented” CO2 is simply vented back to the atmosphere from whence it came. When 1,022.2 pounds of ethanol are burned for fuel, it will generate 1,955.6 pounds of more CO2, which is also returned to the atmosphere, from whence it came. There is no net increase of atmospheric CO2, from either the fermented or combusted CO2.
If Summit Carbon Solutions is serious about climate change, it should invest these billions into electric vehicle charging stations, so that we can stop burning petroleum — which is the actual source of the climate-changing CO2.
Kirk Cobb, White Bear Lake
The writer is a retired biofuels engineer.
