Wyoming continues to eye carbon capture as a way to meet climate goals and preserve its fossil fuel industry, and a new research project dealing with that is underway.
Carbon emissions are a main contributor to climate change, and a large source is the fossil fuel industry. For several years now, Wyoming has focused on trying to capture that carbon and stop it from entering the atmosphere.
This new research project, called the Wyoming Trails Carbon Hub, will put together a design for a pipeline network that would be a crucial part of carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS). It is being led by the University of Wyoming’s Enhanced Oil Recovery Institute and Carbon Solutions, a low-carbon energy research group based in Michigan.
“So we need this pipeline in order to capture CO2 from multiple sources and deliver it to multiple different points for either CO2 enhanced oil recovery or for pure storage in saline aquifers,” said Eric Robertson, senior petroleum engineer for the Recovery Institute.
Meaning, the carbon would be transferred via pipeline to either be re-used in oil production or stored underground. Notably, Wyoming already has one pipeline that carries carbon from the southwest part of the state to southeast Montana, but Robertson said it does not connect with all of the carbon emitters and potential storage hub sites.
“There are better bypasses and that doesn't reach a lot of CO2 sources that could potentially be captured,” he said.
The research is largely being funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) with a $3 million grant, along with about $2 million in non-DOE funding.
Robertson emphasized that this initial research is just about putting together a design for a pipeline network in Wyoming. It will start this fall and go for 18 months.
“It's anticipated that companies will take this design and then further develop it and actually put it in the ground in the coming years,” he said.
Wyoming’s Governor Mark Gordon has pledged the state will emit zero carbon pollutants into the atmosphere by mid-century. And while renewable energy is a part of the plan to get there, so is pairing CCUS technology with the fossil fuel industry.
“CO2 pipelines will need to be constructed and installed in order to deliver on the Governor's goal of being a net zero CO2 state,” Robertson said.
While CCUS is accepted as one approach to addressing climate change by the International Energy Authority (IEA), which helps shape energy policy for 31 countries including the U.S., the agency considers the technology ‘not on track.’ They say the technology has lagged and even with a boost in recent years, it will not get the world to net-zero emissions by 2050.
Some environmental groups fear the focus on CCUS could leave the world dependent on fossil fuels and detract from exploring renewable energy options.
