Andrew Black, president and CEO of the Liquide Energy Pipeline Association, recently wrote an op-ed for AgriPulse that breaks down the case for why carbon pipelines are not only safe, but critical for the future. U.S. energy landscape. You can read the full article here, and below are some highlights:
On carbon pipeline oversight:
“Congress in the Pipeline Safety Reauthorization Act of 1988 required the U.S. Department of Transportation to regulate CO2 pipelines under federal pipeline safety regulations. The U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) in 1989 expanded its federal pipeline safety regulations to cover CO2 pipelines. Current PHMSA regulations at 49 CFR Part 195 prescribe hundreds of requirements on the construction, inspection, maintenance, monitoring and incident response for CO2 pipelines. PHMSA inspects and enforces compliance on pipeline operators violating federal CO2 pipeline safety requirements.”
On the role of pipeline operators:
“CO2 pipeline operators perform preventative maintenance on their pipes to address potential issues before they become a problem and monitor their pipelines from a central control center 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Specially trained controllers keep a watchful eye over systems monitoring pipeline pressure, flow and volume. Operator personnel patrol along the pipeline route and personnel in airplanes or helicopters travel overhead the length of the pipeline on a regular schedule looking for signs of leaks.”
On carbon pipeline safety statistics:
“According to federal government safety data of 5,000 miles of CO2 pipelines currently in operation, CO2 pipeline incidents are down 56% over the last 5 years. Compared to other liquids pipelines, CO2 pipelines are the safest. Since 2017, CO2 pipelines have experienced 55% fewer incidents per mile than crude oil pipelines and 37% fewer incidents per mile than refined products pipelines.”
You can read more about the safety and regulatory oversight of carbon pipelines here.