Sometimes when the infrastructure needed for a lower-carbon future already is in place, it just needs a reimagined purpose.
That's the innovative thinking behind Tallgrass' “Trailblazer” project, an ambitious transformation of an underutilized 390-mile natural gas pipeline into a vital link in the carbon capture value chain. As one of the industry's most significant examples of repurposing existing energy infrastructure, Trailblazer moves captured carbon dioxide (CO₂) from Midwest ethanol sites to permanent underground storage in Wyoming.
For Tallgrass, a midstream energy infrastructure company that operates pipelines and related assets across the United States, the scope and promise of it all is profound.
Trailblazer has the potential to capture, transport and sequester more than 10 million tons of CO2 annually, creating one of the nation's largest carbon transportation systems while helping to decarbonize Midwest ethanol.
Because capturing carbon dioxide emissions is only half the battle, companies need a reliable way to move the CO₂ to where it can be injected and stored deep underground instead of being released into the atmosphere.
Tallgrass is showing the way, playing an important role in dealing with carbon dioxide, among the primary greenhouse gases associated with climate change. And Black & Veatch played a big role by working with Tallgrass and its lenders to perform technical evaluation and diligence to enable critical project financing for this innovative project."
Big infrastructure projects don't move forward on vision alone. Before financing could be secured, lenders needed confidence that each piece of the project would perform as planned. Not just the pipeline but the entire carbon capture and sequestration system.
That's where Black & Veatch came in. Working as an independent technical due diligence adviser for the lending community, the global human critical infrastructure solutions leader was asked to take a comprehensive look at the project and perform the complex evaluation of risks associated with investment in the project.
Put simply, Black & Veatch assessed the entire system, including capture, transportation and sequestration for technical, commercial and regulatory risks to help lenders understand how all the pieces fit and whether the system as conceived could deliver on its potential. The review also included discussions on mitigation plans to manage complex risks across the project to help lenders understand where challenges may arise and how they can be addressed.
To get there, Black & Veatch evaluated far more than a pipeline. The team reviewed the full carbon management chain, including ethanol capture sites, transportation infrastructure, compression systems, sequestration facilities and the geology supporting long-term below-ground storage.
Carbon capture projects are complex by nature. Every piece depends on another, with capture facilities, pipelines, compressor stations, storage wells, geologic formations, permits and commercial agreements all having to align. If one part doesn't work, the entire system can be impacted.
It’s why Black & Veatch approached Trailblazer as an integrated carbon management network rather than a collection of individual assets, making use of the breadth of its in-house experts across the company’s broad solutions portfolio."
The company assembled specialists from multiple disciplines, from carbon capture and pipeline engineering to geology, petroleum engineering, environmental permitting and project risk analysis. Together, they evaluated the technical details of each component but also how those components would function in harmony.
That perspective was especially important given the project's scale. Converting a 390-mile, 36-inch natural gas pipeline into dedicated CO₂ service isn't something that happens every day. The project's uniqueness naturally invited extensive scrutiny from lenders and investors, making a thorough technical assessment critical throughout the financing process.
Trailblazer matters because it is a first-of-a-kind project that brings carbon capture, transportation and sequestration together, with each critical step working in concert to help the project succeed where many others have not in recent years. While many industrial enterprises can capture carbon emissions, fewer have an economical way to transport them to a permanent storage site.
Trailblazer helps bridge that gap. By creating a shared transportation corridor, the project gives multiple facilities access to sequestration infrastructure through a common network. That approach can reduce costs, simplify development and make future carbon capture projects easier to advance.
Just as important, it demonstrates what's possible when developers look at existing infrastructure through a different lens.
Rather than starting from scratch, Tallgrass found a way to adapt an existing asset to meet a new challenge. It's an approach that could help accelerate carbon management projects across the country, particularly as industries look for practical pathways to reduce emissions and take advantage of incentives such as Section 45Q, a federal tax credit that helps make carbon capture projects financially viable by rewarding companies for pursuing such alternatives to releasing emissions into the atmosphere.
Trailblazer may offer a template for future carbon management efforts. By demonstrating how existing pipeline infrastructure can be repurposed for CO₂ rather than requiring entirely new corridors, the project illustrates a potentially faster, more cost-effective path for expanding carbon capture networks across the country. Industry observers expect continued interest in similar projects as long as policy incentives such as Section 45Q remain in place.
For Black & Veatch, Trailblazer highlights something the company does particularly well: bringing together expertise from across multiple disciplines to help solve complex infrastructure challenges.
Black & Veatch’s assignment required specialists in carbon capture, pipelines, geology, permitting, sequestration, commercial agreements, risk management and financial due diligence. But just as important as having that expertise was the ability to connect it.
By helping identify risks, assess mitigation strategies and validate technical assumptions, Black & Veatch provided lenders with the independent perspective they needed to make informed decisions.
In short, it was about evaluating an entire carbon management ecosystem, ultimately helping create confidence in the technology, infrastructure and the project.
What began as an aging natural gas pipeline now stands as testament to how existing infrastructure can be reimagined for a different future.
