Lance Lillibridge, a rural Vinton, Iowa farmer and chairman of the Iowa Corn Growers Association, wrote a powerful guest column for the N’West Iowa Review regarding the transformative nature of carbon capture projects for Iowa’s agricultural future.

“Renewable energy from corn is loaded with benefits. Over 4,000 products come from corn. Now with the production of ethanol comes greenhouse gas (GHGs).The fermentation process creates this. The same thing happens naturally when plant material breaks down. As the world decides to decarbonize, one very efficient way to do that is through carbon-capture technology at ethanol plants. As purchasers around the globe and here domestically look at buying energy that has a low carbon index score, ethanol has the potential to be unbeatable with this technology and the farming practices that provide the feed stock for its production,” Lillibridge wrote.

“By capturing the GHGs and compressing them it becomes pure carbon that can be transported through pipelines to underground geological storage. Another excellent advantage to this infrastructure is that it can be tapped into as new technologies arrive for using this carbon. I truly believe that a realistic decarbonized world comes in this model that is constantly renewable and sustainable for decades to come. It would be the safest product moved in pipelines next to water because of its pure form. It is not explosive and not flammable. Unless this infrastructure is built, we will be disadvantaged as an energy supplier and plants will most likely begin closing and the markets for our products will fade,” he added.

Click here to read the entire column.