MADISON COUNTY, Neb. -- While land acquisitions continue to be made in the state, nothing has changed in Madison County.

Summit Carbon Solutions met with Madison County Commissioners Tuesday morning.

There Robert Latimer gave an update on the project, which aims to create a pipeline to transport CO2 emissions from ethanol plants.

Latimer said progress had been made in Nebraska with 69% of land easements being acquired, a 13% increase from their last update. However, Madison County saw no new acquisitions and remained at 59%.

“We haven’t really moved any higher up on that number,” Latimer said. “What maybe leads to that is landowners taking their time making decisions.”

Latimer said they will continue to provide information to the landowners and work towards a voluntary solution.

Summit also took the opportunity to address what they called “misconceptions” about the project. These misconceptions, according to Summit, included water usage, easements being sold, liability insurance, and more.

Summit said their CO2 pipeline would be regulated and increase water usage by 10% in ethanol plants.

As for easements, Summit states CO2 is the only product that can be transported in their pipelines.

They also said if they did sell the pipeline and someone wished to transport a separate material, new easements would have to be made between the company and the landowner.

Summit said landowners don’t need to purchase liability insurance as all liability falls on Summit in relation to the pipeline. However, landowners can purchase liability insurance on the land, if they choose to do so.

Latimer said Summit is projected to start construction on the pipeline in 2024. Last year Summit had projected construction to begin in the summer of 2023.