Ag secretary candidates split on carbon pipelines, future of ethanol – Iowa Capital Dispatch

The 2 candidates for Iowa secretary of agriculture break up Friday on whether or not authorities ought to require unwilling landowners to permit carbon pipelines to cross their land.

Democrat John Norwood stated eminent area shouldn’t be used to construct pipelines that transport captured carbon dioxide away from ethanol vegetation in Iowa as a result of they don’t serve a public objective.

His opponent, incumbent secretary Mike Naig, a Republican, stated eminent area is permissible if the businesses which have proposed three such pipelines get “vital voluntary agreements” with landowners for his or her routes. He declined to specify what counts as “vital.” There isn’t any threshold mandated by state legislation.

Their feedback had been a part of a Friday dialogue on Iowa Press, which invited the 2 candidates to share their views on pipelines, ethanol, photo voltaic and wind energy, and the state’s efforts to cut back farm air pollution.

Ethanol vegetation that seize their carbon emissions can reap vital federal tax incentives that goal to chop greenhouse gases. Additionally they can probably promote their product at a better worth in markets that pay a premium for fuels which might be produced with decrease emissions.

“There’s a compelling upside for the ethanol trade if these tasks do go ahead,” Naig stated.

Ethanol is a vital marketplace for Iowa farmers as a result of greater than half of their corn crops are used to provide it. Latest legislative and administrative actions have sought to broaden using ethanol in passenger automobiles, primarily by making a better mix — 15% ethanol blended with gasoline in contrast with the usual 10% — extra extensively accessible.

Given the higher gasoline mileage of newer automobiles and the anticipated transition to electrical automobiles, Norwood known as the present automotive makes use of for ethanol “a declining market.” He stated state and federal governments ought to shift ethanol’s focus to powering automobiles which might be harder to energy with electrical energy, similar to airplanes, trains, boats and long-haul vans.

Norwood additionally stated some ethanol vegetation could possibly be retooled to provide biogas as a salve for skyrocketing pure fuel costs.

Naig stated ethanol for passenger automobiles will proceed to be a viable market if the trade can seize its emissions as a result of it’s a home product that advantages farmers.

Photo voltaic panel places

Requested about whether or not the state ought to dictate the place photo voltaic panels could be positioned in Iowa, each candidates stated it’s preferable for the panels to be put in on soils that don’t produce excessive crop yields, however every stated the difficulty needs to be determined by county supervisors and landowners slightly than state lawmakers. A invoice proposed throughout this 12 months’s legislative session would have precluded the set up of photo voltaic panels on high-yield land, but it surely was not adopted.

Farm runoff

Each candidates stated extra must be accomplished to cease soil and fertilizer runoff from the state’s farms. Naig stated the state Nutrient Discount Technique’s efforts to put in wetlands, buffers and bioreactors is accelerating as extra authorities funding is made accessible to assist pay for the tasks.

Norwood — citing an estimated 30% improve in nitrate within the state’s waterways previously 9 years — stated Naig’s actions have been too gradual to repair the issue. He stated tasks which were profitable in stemming runoff needs to be blueprinted and deployed to many extra farms concurrently.

“The present strategy will not be an strategy, it’s not a technique, it doesn’t have the suitable sources,” Norwood stated.

The episode of Iowa Press that includes the candidates airs at 7:30 p.m. Friday and midday on Sunday on Iowa PBS.