A research lab dedicated to finding new ways to collect and use carbon dioxide is a step closer to becoming a reality.
The Legislature’s Joint Appropriations Committee has recommended that $15 million be set aside for the project, which would be located at one of Wyoming’s coal-fired power plants. The project would be a collaboration between the state, the University of Wyoming, and a power company.
UW School of Energy Resources Deputy Director Rob Hurless says it would be a boon for the university. “That’s the University’s intent is to make research facilities available to UW as well,” he says. “Depending on where this is located, it’s probably not far from a community college and there may be some synergies there as well.”
Hurless says that since the largest coal mines in the country are in Wyoming, it’s in the state’s interest to solve environmental problems related to coal.