Ethanol Industry Wants to Bury Its Carbon, but Some Farmers Stand in the Way

GOLDFIELD, Iowa—As climate-change concerns grow, ethanol plants like the one in this town of 630 surrounded by 10-foot-tall corn stalks are eager to join new pipeline networks that aim to carry carbon dioxide to places where it can be buried underground.

But these CO2 pipeline projects are running into fierce resistance from landowners and environmentalists, similar to that faced by fossil-fuel conduits. Opponents say the CO2 pipelines threaten to trample property rights and delicate agricultural drainage systems, and are ill-conceived boondoggles aimed at harvesting government tax credits, not reducing heat-trapping gases.