MADISON COUNTY, Neb. -- Summit Carbon Solution returned to Madison County, to provide an update on their progress in creating a carbon dioxide pipeline.

Rob Latimer who was representing Summit, met with commissioners Tuesday to further discuss the pipeline.

Summit wants to create a pipeline that will capture Co2 emissions from 32 ethanol plants and transport them to North Dakota to be permanently stored.

The project spans five states in the Midwest including Iowa, Minnesota, North and South Dakota, and Nebraska. Since their last meeting, Latimer said about 57% of the 24.67 miles needed in Madison County has been acquired through voluntary land easements with owners.

Summit has stated multiple times in these meetings acquiring the land through easements is their preferred method of acquiring land. 

"I would say the progress is okay," Latimer said. "There's still a lot of hard work to do and that will continue going forward into 2023. We have increased our compensation offers to landowners to bring them along. You have to play a long game to work with people and get their feedback."

Besides easements, Summit has also said they will provide compensation for crop loss. The pipeline has not been approved by any governing entity for construction through Madison County.

Despite not all of the needed land has been acquired yet, Latimer said construction would begin in the summer of 2023 in Nebraska.

Another update will be provided at the beginning of next year.