Valero links ethanol output to summit's CO2 reduction pipeline

Mar 05, 2024

By Farms.com

Valero Energy's recent collaboration with Summit Carbon Solutions heralds a new era in ethanol production sustainability. By connecting eight of its ethanol facilities to Summit's carbon capture pipeline, Valero sets a precedent for environmental responsibility within the biofuel industry.

The initiative promises to annually sequester 3.1 million metric tons of CO2, significantly reducing the carbon intensity of ethanol and bolstering the industry's credentials in the burgeoning low-carbon fuel market.

Spanning locations in Nebraska, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Iowa, these plants collectively contribute 1.1 billion gallons of ethanol to the market. Their inclusion in the Summit project elevates the total to 57 ethanol plants across the Midwest, targeting an impressive annual CO2 capture and storage of over 16 million metric tons.

This strategic move is not just about compliance or meeting market demand for greener fuels; it's a significant leap towards integrating agricultural innovation with energy market expansion. The Summit pipeline, extending 1,250 miles, could dramatically transform the corn-ethanol sector, positioning it as a key supplier for sustainable aviation fuel and beyond.

Despite facing regulatory challenges, the project's progression is a testament to the resilience and forward-thinking of its stakeholders. The delay until 2026 reflects the complexities involved in pioneering such large-scale environmental initiatives but also underscores a collective commitment to sustainable development.

The partnership between Valero and Summit Carbon Solutions exemplifies how the agriculture and energy sectors can collaborate to address climate change. It signals a meaningful shift towards lowering the carbon intensity of biofuels, enhancing farm profitability, and supporting rural communities. This venture is a beacon for the future, showcasing how practical, innovative solutions can lead to substantial environmental and economic benefits.

Video: The 15-Year Bet Behind Every New Variety!

Canada is trying to decide how much agricultural research capacity it can afford to lose. Brian Rossnagel believes the better question is whether the country can afford to rebuild it.

The longtime barley and oat breeder makes the case with a simple fact about his profession: the consequences of today’s decisions may not become visible for 10 or 15 years.

“Pick the right parents. That’s the biggest thing,” Rossnagel says. “If you pick the wrong parents, you’re not going to get anywhere—and you don’t know that until 10 years, 15 years later.”

That warning carries particular weight as Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada moves to reduce spending and streamline parts of its science operations. The department’s 2026–27 plan anticipates the loss of approximately 665 positions by 2028–29 and says some research will be reduced where capacity exists in academia or industry. AAFC says the changes will make its science operations more cost-effective over the long term.

For Canada’s seed industry, Rossnagel’s career illustrates what is at stake.

This fall, the retired University of Saskatchewan breeder will be inducted into the Canadian Agricultural Hall of Fame. During his 35-year career at the Crop Development Centre, he helped develop more than 100 barley and oat varieties, including CDC Austenson—one of Western Canada’s most widely grown feed barleys. His induction recognizes not only those varieties, but the collaboration and research system that made them possible.

Rossnagel is quick to emphasize that none of it was the work of one person.

“The first thing I thought about was all the other people who contributed to whatever success I and my program had over the years,” he says. “We know that it’s not an individual who does this. It’s a group—a team.”

That team extends well beyond the breeder whose name appears beside a variety. It includes technicians, pathologists, quality specialists, statisticians, regional testing sites, seed growers and industry partners. It also includes the breeders who came before and those who will carry the germplasm forward.

CDC Fraser barley, for example, moved through three breeding careers. Its parents came from Brian Harvey’s program. Rossnagel advanced the material after Harvey retired, and Aaron Beattie later guided it through registration and release.

That kind of handoff is normal in plant breeding. The person who makes the original cross may never see the resulting variety reach farmers.

It also explains why lost research capacity cannot simply be switched back on when budgets improve.

“If you shut it off, it’s very, very difficult—and particularly costly—to start it up again,” Rossnagel says. “If you have to start from scratch, it’s going to be at least 10 years before anybody notices whether you’re getting anything done or not.”

The concern is not simply how many experimental lines Canada can process. Modern equipment, statistical tools and genetic technologies allow today’s breeding programs to evaluate tens of thousands of lines—far more than Rossnagel could handle when he entered the field in the early 1970s.

But efficiency and automation do not generate every idea.

“If you pare back down, and instead of having six or seven individual scientists concentrating on wheat breeding, you go down and say three people could handle all this, well, that’s half the ideas gone,” he says. “Particularly if you happen to lose the three people who had the really neat and innovative ideas, boy, that’s a problem.”

It is a timely distinction for Canadian agriculture. Consolidating programs may preserve the volume of material moving through a system, at least initially. It may not preserve the diversity of thinking, regional knowledge or willingness to pursue unconventional crosses.

That regional knowledge matters because Canadian agriculture is not one uniform production environment. A variety suited to southern Alberta may face different disease, moisture and maturity pressures than one grown in Manitoba, Ontario or Atlantic Canada.

“Agriculture is applied biology,” Rossnagel says. “Biology, all around the Earth, moves from the poles to the equator. It does not move from Newfoundland to B.C. like politics do.”