2020 In the News

December

County 10 reported that UW received a nearly $600,000 Department of Energy grant to develop coal-derived carbon building materials from Powder River Basin coal pyrolysis products.

UW economics Professor Tim Considine presented a preliminary report illustrating possible limits to public land extraction and its impacts to Wyoming’s economy to a Wyoming legislative committee, reported Wyoming Public Radio. The committee is discussing approval for a major oil and gas project in Converse County.

Jessica Western, a research associate with UW’s Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, discussed with Wyoming Public Radio a new survey that indicates Wyoming residents’ support of all forms of energy in the state. UW’s Haub School and School of Energy Resources conducted the survey.

A new survey from UW’s School of Energy Resources and the Ruckelshaus Institute of Environment and Natural Resources explores Wyoming residents’ perspectives of energy development in the state, according to a CS-T article. Sheridan Media published UW’s release on the survey results.

November

UW’s School of Energy Resources Center for Economic Geology Research officially launched Phase 3 of the CarbonSAFE project last month. UW’s release, published by Carbon Capture Journal, noted that the project’s goal is to ensure carbon storage complexes will be ready for integrated carbon capture, utilization and storage system deployment. The Gillette News Record published a similar article.

UW’s School of Energy Resources is collaborating with Black Hills Energy to test new technology -- flameless, pressurized oxy-fuel -- to help lower emissions when processing coal, The CS-T reported.

The Casper Star-Tribune (CS-T) noted UW’s School of Energy Resources Center for Economic Geology Research officially launched Phase 3 of the CarbonSAFE project last month. The project’s ultimate goal is to ensure carbon storage complexes will be ready for integrated carbon capture, utilization and storage system deployment.

October

Coal Age noted that the UW School of Energy Resources’ Center for Economic Geology Research and the Enhanced Oil Recovery Institute are among partners in a study to show the potential of carbon capture at Wyoming coal-fired power plants.

September

Holly Krutka, executive director of UW’s School of Energy Resources, was quoted in a CS-T article, titled “Wyoming wants to keep coal burning. But is carbon capture the answer?”

Executive Director of the UW School of Energy Resources, Holly Krutka, was quoted in an aticle, titled "Wyoming Ratchets Up Carbon Capture Efforts As Some Look Back Decades," published by Wyoming Public Media

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will allow Wyoming regulators to take the lead in regulating underground injection wells used to store carbon dioxide. UW’s School of Energy Resources is already forging ahead with a related program in an upcoming phase at a Gillette facility, The CS-T reported.

August

Energy Central News published UW’s release announcing that a pilot-scale demonstration project focusing on reducing emissions and the cost of electricity will proceed at Black Hills Energy’s Wyodak coal mine near Gillette. The CS-T published a similar article.

In coal country, PacifiCorp’s plans to spend nearly $4 billion in Wyoming on wind development in the state are welcome news, according to WyoFile. UW’s Godby says the plan is a chance to diversify the economy and move to a fuel-secure outcome where the state could produce electricity for several more decades. Energy News Network published the article.

July

Jeff Brown, UW’s Enhanced Oil Recovery Institute energy economics director, spoke with Wyoming Public Radio about a new analysis on carbon capture and storage. UW and the Great Plains institute published the report that involves trapping carbon dioxide created during energy production rather than releasing it into the atmosphere.

U.S. Sen. John Barrasso is urging the U.S. Department of Energy to set up a satellite office in Wyoming, reported The Casper Star-Tribune (CS-T). The article noted the UW School of Energy Resources, along with Campbell County, has secured a $1.62 million grant that will support a three-year project to create a pilot-scale facility to commercialize the transformation of coal-related feedstocks, such as coal ash, into rare earth elements.

May

The UW School of Energy Resources’ research at the Dry Fork facility near Gillette was cited in a Proactive Investors article that focused on Clean Coal Technologies Inc. developing the world’s first commercially viable and scalable coal dehydration technology that creates stable, dust-free coal.

UW’s School of Energy Resources and partners received a $15.2 million grant to help bring a geologic carbon dioxide storage facility -- the Dry Fork site near Gillette -- to commercial viability in the next five to 10 years, reported Wyoming Public Media.

April

Oil City News also published UW’s release noting that UW and Basin Electric Power Cooperative received a $15.2 million award from the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory. The project is the next step in a project aimed at storing more than 50 million metric tons of carbon dioxide underground.

UW’s Enhanced Oil Recovery Institute reported that conventional oil and gas reservoirs are key for survival of the state’s oil and gas industry during the current economic downturn. Wind River News Network published UW’s release.

Kipp Coddington, the director of energy policy and economics in UW’s School of Energy Resources, was among authors of a column, titled “Carbon capture, utilization, and storage under the Paris Agreement,” published in the international publication Portal Macauba and also The Hill.

New UW School of Energy Resources (SER) Executive Director Holly Krutka penned a column for The CS-T on how the SER is researching new ways to help the state stem the decline in Wyoming coal production.

March

New UW School of Energy Resources Executive Director Holly Krutka was interviewed by The CS-TCoal Zoom republished the article on its website. 

February

In a roundup of energy news, Invest Advocate and Oil Price.com published a brief about declining coal production in Wyoming. The brief mentioned that Godby predicts this year Wyoming will more than likely see another decline of some 30 million tons of coal produced.

Cowboy State Daily interviewed Godby for an article on declining natural gas production in Wyoming. Godby said prices have fallen dramatically because of too much natural gas on the market.

The Wall Street Journal noted that Gov. Mark Gordon recognizes climate change but thinks research can make coal cleaner and keep it in demand. Gordon wants the state and UW to develop new ways to use carbon capture technology to preserve the coal industry.

Bloomberg Tax interviewed Steven Carpenter, UW’s Enhanced Oil Recovery Institute director, for an article focusing on carbon capture projects that are on hold due to a lack of IRS guidance that would give investors much-needed clarity.

The Los Angeles Times interviewed UW economist Rob Godby for a story focusing on mines that are still operating despite the downturn in the coal industry. Godby says Wyoming facilities, built relatively recently, have access to the Powder River Basin’s cheaper coal, meaning companies can continue to operate them for relatively less expense.

Led by solar and wind, renewable generation could produce as much as 21.6 percent of the nation’s electricity by 2021, beating out coal at 20.8 percent, according to new projections published by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The Casper Star-Tribune (CS-T) interviewed Godby, who said he is not surprised by the latest forecast.

The CS-T also interviewed Godby for an article that focused on the Powder River Basin’s coal production, which fell nearly 14 percent last quarter compared to the same period the year before. Those were the lowest production totals for the region in more than two decades. U.S. News & World Report published a similar article.

January

The Wyoming Tribune Eagle reported that Gov. Mark Gordon discussed the efforts of UW’s Energy Resources Council’s research in removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. In the article, Gordon discussed Wyoming’s cleaner-burning coal as the state seeks to ship the product overseas.

Western Energy News mentioned two UW research projects on a coal-burning power plant and a reclamation study in a roundup of news from Western states.

The CS-T interviewed UW economist Rob Godby for an article that focused on a Western utility that is transitioning away from coal, but the move will not include closing any coal operations in Wyoming.

It’s unlikely that coal export capacity on the West Coast will increase anytime soon, UW economist Rob Godby says in an S&P Global article.

Godby also is quoted in articles on the state of the coal industry in S&P Global and the Casper Star-Tribune (CS-T). He’s also a source in a CS-T story about the potential development of wind energy in Wyoming.

The biggest market for carbon dioxide captured by carbon capture technology in coal-burning power plants is for enhanced oil recovery, Godby says in another CS-T article.

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