LINCOLN — While the controversy over the Keystone XL pipeline has finally ended, another pipeline punching match is looming on the horizon in Nebraska.

Two environmental groups say they will fight proposals to build two high-pressure pipelines to capture carbon dioxide generated by Nebraska ethanol plants and transport it in liquid form for permanent storage deep underground in North Dakota and Illinois.

At least one of those projects, by Summit Carbon Solutions, has already begun contacting landowners in northeast Nebraska.

That Alden, Iowa-based company is planning to build 314 miles of pipeline to six ethanol plants as part of a $4.5 billion carbon-capture project covering five Midwestern states.

Dallas-based Navigator CO2 Ventures is also planning a five-state carbon dioxide pipeline that would extend from near Sioux City, Iowa, to an ethanol plant in Albion, Nebraska, as part of its 1,200-mile carbon-capture project. Some fertilizer plants may be added as customers as well.

Officials with the Nebraska Ethanol Board and the two pipeline companies said these projects are vital to the future of ethanol, by lowering the carbon impact of the corn-based fuel and opening up new markets in states like California and Oregon that have adopted goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions to combat global warming.

"This is a critical step to ensure the long-term viability of ethanol," said Jesse Harris, a spokesperson for Summit Carbon Solutions.

Ethanol is a huge economic driver in Nebraska, consuming about 38% of the corn grown in the state and providing 1,400 jobs at 25 ethanol plants. Gov. Pete Ricketts, an avid supporter of ethanol, has already expressed support for the Summit Carbon Solutions project, which is being spearheaded by Bruce Rastetter, the former head of the Iowa Board of Regents and a major GOP donor in Iowa, whose company is a major ethanol producer.

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