JARED MILLER Star-Tribune capital bureau | Posted: Wednesday, March 12, 2008 12:00 am
CHEYENNE - The federal government is dragging its feet on regulations that would promote advanced coal technologies and carbon dioxide storage, Gov. Dave Freudenthal wrote in a recent legal publication.
In the meantime, the state continues to forge ahead with its own efforts to promote carbon sequestration, Freudenthal said in the February issue of 'Wyoming Lawyer,' the journal of the Wyoming State Bar.
'Since Wyoming is a leader in the production of coal, gas and oil, I believe our state should also lead in the development of technologies that help us manage the carbon dioxide produced by burning or gasifying these fossil fuels,' said Freudenthal, an attorney.
Earlier this month, state lawmakers passed and Freudenthal signed two bills regulating underground carbon sequestration, clarifying that surface owners have rights to the geological formations where the gas is to be stored.
Supporters say the laws put Wyoming on the vanguard of carbon sequestration efforts in this country. Meanwhile, other efforts to thrust Wyoming into the forefront of the carbon storage race have been moving forward simultaneously, Freudenthal said in his article.
For example, the State Geological Survey has been working for more than six months to identify and inventory potential underground sequestration sites.
State Geologist Ron Surdam said his agency started with a study of the Rock Springs Uplift, a massive isometric dome in southwest Wyoming that is considered one of the largest potential sequestration sites in the county.
The agency has also identified some aging oil and gas fields in the Powder River Basin that might be appropriate for sequestration.
'There will be a whole series of these studies on different sites' around the state, Surdam said. 'That will be the first leg of the work, and then we will be able to prioritize all of these geological sites.'
Based on the work so far, Surdam said Wyoming has as much capacity for underground carbon dioxide sequestration as any state in the country.
'What we're trying to do with our inventory is get Wyoming out in front so that we can convince people who are accepting our exported energy that we will be leaders in clean-coal technology and electrical generation using (integrated gasification combine cycle) and coal gasification and sequestration of CO2,' Surdam said.
In his article, Freudenthal mentioned the need to conduct 'real-world sequestration demonstrations.'
He said the state can do that by coordinating with two regional groups created by the U.S. Department of Energy to respond to global climate change.
This spring, Wyoming officials will meet with officials from one of the groups, the Southwest Regional Partnership on Carbon Sequestration, in hopes of persuading them to locate a sequestration test site in Wyoming, Surdam said.
'We're going to try to convince them that the best place to do that in Wyoming is the Rock Springs Uplift,' Surdam said.
Another key to Wyoming's carbon sequestration goals, according to Freudenthal's article, is the National Center for Atmospheric Research supercomputer slated for construction near Cheyenne.
Freudenthal said the collaboration of NCAR and the University of Wyoming will help lay the groundwork for mapping of the underground formations where CO2 will be stored.
'It's not enough to know that these pore spaces exist; we must know how vast they are, what volume of gas they will hold and the likelihood that the CO2 will remain in place,' Freudenthal said.
Mark Northam, director of the UW School of Energy and Resources, said the supercomputer is a critical resource for the highly complex tasks associated with carbon dioxide storage.
He said the university is building a team of scientists who will apply supercomputing technology to energy problems like the mapping of underground sequestration sites.
'The supercomputer is the key,' Northam said. 'If we didn't have that facility in the state, we would have to collaborate with someone else who had access to it.'
Construction on the NCAR facility just outside Cheyenne near the Wal-Mart distribution center is slated to begin in 2009, after the National Science Foundation approves the funding.
Wyoming has another advantage over other states in the race to develop carbon sequestration technology, Freudenthal said in his article.
One is the intimate knowledge of the state's geological structures, since geologists of every stripe have been 'crawling all over this state for decades' in search of energy resources.
Another is the understanding of roads and other infrastructure needed to develop large-scale projects ' a product of the state's energy heritage, he said.
'Many of the processes and knowledge required in sequestration are similar to those of the extractive industries, so we have a bit of a running start,' Freudenthal said.
But the state can only do so much. The federal government must also do its part, Freudenthal said.
'The absence of a federal policy to monetize and regulate carbon dioxide has paralyzed energy producers and their financiers,' Freudenthal added. 'Without clear direction set by the federal government, energy producers are unable to plan their futures.'
Carbon dioxide is recognized by most scientists as a major culprit of human-caused global warming. Energy- exporting states like Wyoming are focused on ways to provide 'clean' energy to states that want to reduce their carbon footprints.
Carbon storage technology is seen by many as a critical step to ensure the viability of the state's coal industry.
Reach Star-Tribune capital bureau reporter Jared Miller at (307) 632-1244 or at {M7jared.miller@trib.com.
Last we knew: Gov. Dave Freudenthal signed two bills regulating underground carbon sequestration.
The latest: Freudenthal said the federal government isn't doing enough to encourage advanced coal plants and carbon dioxide storage.
What's next: The state plans to pursue its own efforts to promote carbon sequestration.]]>