Demonstrating its ongoing commitment to partner with landowners across the Midwest, Summit Carbon Solutions has reached another major milestone as it continues to advance its transformative carbon capture, transportation, and storage project. By signing approximately 3,400 easement agreements totaling 1,030 miles across Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota and North Dakota, the company has now secured agreements for more than half of the proposed pipeline route project wide.

“Summit Carbon Solutions was formed to open new economic opportunities for ethanol producers and strengthen the ag economy that is so critical to families and communities across the Midwest,” Summit Carbon Solutions CEO Lee Blank said. “Securing easement agreements for more than 50% of the proposed route across our entire project footprint demonstrates the significant momentum behind our project and the growing recognition that carbon capture, transportation and storage projects will create jobs, improve environmental outcomes, and generate new sources of revenue for local communities.”

Summit Carbon Solutions is partnering with dozens of ethanol plants across the Midwest to develop the largest carbon capture and storage project in the world. Through a multi-billion-dollar private investment, these partners will be able to sell their product in the growing number of markets that pay more for low carbon fuels. California, the largest ethanol consuming state, and Canada, the largest U.S. ethanol importer, have both adopted policies that incentivize the use of low carbon fuels. Access to these markets is essential to the long-term viability of the ethanol industry that today purchases approximately 40% of all the corn grown in the United States and remains a key driver of commodity prices and land values.

In addition to driving growth in the ethanol and agricultural industries, Summit Carbon Solutions will support local economies across the Midwest by investing an average of $45 million in each of the 82 counties where the project is located during construction, which are dollars that will flow back to hotels, restaurants, hardware stores and other local businesses to generate ongoing economic growth. After construction, according to a study by global accounting leader Ernst & Young, Summit Carbon Solutions will pay an average of $930,000 in new property taxes annually to every county where the project is located, helping communities support key local priorities such as schools, road construction, public safety, and more.

“As a company rooted in agriculture, Summit Carbon Solutions is committed to partnering with farmers to drive long-term economic growth in our rural communities and we are incredibly encouraged by the number of landowners across the Midwest who have signed easement agreements to help achieve that goal,” Blank said. “We look forward to continuing to meet directly with landowners in the five states where our project is proposed to be located to discuss this critical investment, answer their questions, and work together to advance the ethanol and agricultural industries that remain so vital to our state and region.”

To date, Summit Carbon Solutions has distributed more than $200 million in easement payments to landowners.

To learn more about Summit Carbon Solutions, please visit www.SummitCarbonSolutions.com.