Carbon Dioxide Pipelines: Dangerous and Under-Regulated

Pipeline companies have started proposing massive CO₂ pipeline mileage throughout the Midwest and Gulf Coast regions in the interest of Carbon Capture and Sequestration.
The buildout, incentivized by the 45Q tax credit expanded in the recent bipartisan infrastructure bill, has a major problem; CO₂ pipelines pose significant safety hazards and are terribly under-regulated.
CO₂ is an asphyxiant that’s heavier than air, and it can travel large distances at lethal concentrations from the pipeline after a rupture.
CO₂ pipelines are susceptible to ductile fractures, which can, like a zipper, open up and run down a significant length of the pipe, they can release immense amounts of CO₂, hurl large sections of pipe, expel pipe shrapnel, and generate enormous craters.
Water, notoriously difficult to eliminate from CO₂pipelines, allows the formation of carbonic acid in the pipeline which has a ferocious appetite for carbon steel.
The current CO₂ pipeline regulations do not sufficiently address any of the three above risks.
The U.S. Department’s pipeline safety agency PHMSA (Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration) regulations have terrifyingly large gaps on carbon dioxide pipelines including having no regulations if the CO₂ is transported as a liquid or a gas, only as a supercritical fluid.
PHMSA can and should impose stricter safety regulations in order to keep the public safe from future CO₂pipeline plans.