Growing up, I enjoyed listening to Paul Harvey’s radio program, “The Rest of the Story.” To see the whole picture, this is my take on the rest of the story on carbon capture.

Did you know that CO2 makes up only .04 percent of the earth’s atmosphere? Most of the world’s carbon dioxide occurs naturally. It is debatable what percent of the world’s CO2 is contributed by the human race. CO2 levels have increased ever since the Industrial Revolution. The world’s population has increased from 1.5 billion in the 1900s to 8.5 billion people today. This would be an increase of 550 percent over 124 years.

Did you know China leads the global CO2 emissions by country with 27 percent, followed by USA at 15 percent.

Did you know in the process of CO2 capture from ethanol plants the CO2 emitted into the air from energy used in the process is not accounted for. If it was accounted for, little to no CO2 reduction would be realized.

Did you know the average ethanol plant used 8 to 10 megawatts continuously just to run? It is projected that will increase by 40 to 45 percent in the process of carbon capture. This would mean the average continuous use of 12 to 14 megawatts. Fourteen megawatts would power over 10,000 homes continuously just from one ethanol plant.

Did you know Iowa has 42 ethanol plants that have a capacity to produce 4.5 billion gallons of ethanol? It takes 3.5 gallons of water to produce 1 gallon of ethanol, so 15.75 billion gallons of water will be used for ethanol production.

Did you know in a public health study it found that amines in their scrubbers to capture CO2 can omit cancer causing emissions into the air and water. Can these cancer-causing chemicals be found in the CO2 captured?

Did you know that the ethanol plants are hoping to get into the sustainable aviation fuel market? They expected it to be a 35-billion-gallon market. The problem is the highest blend for any sustainable aviation fuel is 50 percent. Most commercially available blends will only be 30 to 38 percent blend. The lowest blend to qualify is 10 percent. The problem is it costs two to three times the cost of regular jet fuel. To date, sustainable aviation fuel is only 15.8 million gallons a year. The Biden administration was hoping to get at least 3 billion gallons by 2030 — a steep jump from the current gallons.

Did you know sustainable aviation fuel gets federal tax credits? Credits started at $1.25 per gallon for qualifying biomass jet fuel and cap out at $1.75 per gallon.

Did you know that under the current CORSIA methodology, corn-based ethanol does not even qualify to make sustainable aviation fuel. This is because if it was biomass like a tree, it would be considered carbon neutral, because the carbon it collected during its life cycle is released, making it carbon neutral. Unlike corn, most all the carbon scores go to the grain.

Did you know a common misconception is that sustainable aviation fuel reduces tail pipe emissions? While some emissions of sulfur oxide and nitrogen oxide may be reduced, the CO2 emissions are the same between sustainable aviation fuel and fossil jet fuel.

Did you know the Department of Treasury estimates Section 45 tax credits for carbon sequestration will be $30.3 billion dollars from 2022-2032?

Did you know an acre of corn yielding 180 bushels removes 8 tons of CO2 from the air during the average growing season and produces enough oxygen to supply 131 people with their years’ needs of essentials for life. As a farmer why can’t I get paid to capture CO2? And I’ll give you the oxygen for free!

I hope this stirs up your interest on the Rest of the Story on carbon capture. Please if you can search for the youtube video (Carbon Pipelines, CCS and Water) to see what is really happening, and talk to your legislators and tell them to say no to carbon pipelines.

Paul Hamilton

Bancroft