Both the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recognize CCS as an essential climate change mitigation strategy for meeting global greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.1 Yet, according to the IEA, additional eff orts are still needed to bring CCS to a broad scale.2 Wyoming, with its extensive deep subsurface saline storage reservoirs and an existing network of CO2 pipelines, is suited to embrace this opportunity. However, despite Wyoming’s eff orts to proactively establish a favorable regulatory and statutory framework for the development of its pore space, the challenge of widespread CCS deployment is ultimately a regional one, requiring coordination with Wyoming’s neighboring states and numerous federal land agencies to mobilize the high volume of shared pore space resources that transcend state boundaries.
This paper begins in Part I by providing an overview of existing and developing applications for hydrogen in a net-zero economy, a description of existing hydrogen production methods (aka the “Hydrogen Rainbow”), and the increasing demands and incentives for clean hydrogen deployment. Specifically, the paper analyzes funding provisions in the IIJA and IRA that aim to accelerate development of the clean hydrogen industry. In Part II, the paper turns to an analysis of the geographic, economic, legal, and regulatory features that render Wyoming a particularly well-suited location for a blue hydrogen economy. As discussed in Part III, numerous projects to advance blue hydrogen development are already underway in Wyoming, including, but not limited to, Tallgrass MLP’s Blue Bison Project located near Douglas and Williams’ Southwest Wyoming Hydrogen Hub located near Opal and Wamsutter. These projects intend to capitalize on synergies between Wyoming’s natural gas supply and associated infrastructure and the state’s potential for widespread CCS deployment. Part IV concludes with a brief summary of policy opportunities for the State of Wyoming to fulfill its potential as a global “hydrogen headwaters” through blue hydrogen deployment.
This study explores the perspectives, values, needs, and concerns of Wyoming residents in relation to energy in Wyoming. It is a replication of a 2020 study published as “Social License for Wyoming’s Energy Future: What Do Residents Want?”. Both studies were motivated by a desire to understand what Wyoming residents want in relation to energy and why. This replication provides an update and comparison to the 2020 study and allows us to track how Wyoming residents’ perspectives about energy have evolved over time.
An updated survey from the University of Wyoming’s School of Energy Resources (SER) explores Wyoming residents’ perspectives of energy development, including “social license” — the level in which Cowboy State residents support or oppose different forms and amounts of energy development. The survey covers energy development topics, including legacy fossil fuel industries; utility-scale renewable projects; hydrogen generation; carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS); and novel industries in Wyoming, such as rare earth element and critical mineral mining.
This prefeasibility study examines the potential use of carbon dioxide (CO2) in concrete for public works projects in Wyoming, focusing on coal-fired electric generating units (EGU) as the CO2 source(s). The use of CO2 in concrete is technically and commercially complicated. Historically, CO2 is not a constituent additive to concrete, and as such, there are limited options for requiring its direct incorporation. The cement/concrete industry in Wyoming is relatively small in comparison to the quantity of CO2 produced in the state, and public works projects are a fraction of the industry’s size. Thus, the volume of CO2 that could be used directly in concrete is relatively small (a conservative estimate is 0.15 million metric tons per year) compared to that produced by coal-fired EGUs in Wyoming (approximately 36 million metric tons per year). A large portion of this study assumes that CO2 from one or more coal-fired EGUs in the state is available to be utilized commercially. At the time this study was written, no coal-EGU was commercially equipped with such a technology in Wyoming, but work in this field continues to advance in the state.
Rare earth elements (REE) have increasingly become a topic of discussion among US policy makers and in the media due to their importance and increasing application in electronic manufactured products. China’s near monopoly over the global REE value chain and US’ reliance upon it for both finished goods containing REE and for REE used in US based industry is being recognized as a national security concern resulting in government funding being allocated towards US based REE supply chain projects.
In addition to addressing possibilities related to the proven Bear Lodge Deposit located in Crook County and owned by Rare Element Resources, Ltd., this paper also explores the economics of extracting REE and CM from other potential conventional deposits, as well as unconventional sources such as coal and coal byproducts, phosporia formations, and uranium roll-fronts.
This study was conducted at the behest of the Department of Energy (DOE), to explore the needs among Wyoming’s residents to transition to a net zero carbon energy economy. The information the DOE specifically asked for was 1) stakeholder expectations on overall carbon-neutrality goals within Wyoming; 2) stakeholder needs related to transitioning to carbon-neutrality within Wyoming; 3) stakeholder concerns related to transitioning to carbon-neutrality within Wyoming; 4) stakeholder expectations related to transitioning to carbon-neutrality within Wyoming; 5) which technologies/opportunities stakeholders feel will be more effective in meeting carbon-neutrality within Wyoming.
This paper is the first in a two-part series focusing on the rare earth element (REE) industry (when referred to in the papers, the term “REE” represents the plural or the singular, as implied by sentence context). Due to the unique characteristics of REE and complexities that characterize the REE market, this paper aims to provide a base understanding of REE, the REE production and extraction process, and an overview of the global REE market. Given that the US imports all the REE it consumes from foreign countries, government interest in locally sourced REE has grown. This paper provides a summary of US government interest, policies, and funding being directed to the study and development of a REE supply chain in the US.
This report summarizes results from a two-phase study by the University of Wyoming's School of Energy Resources and Ruckelshaus Institute that explores Wyoming residents' values, beliefs, and perceptions regarding the future of Wyoming's energy economy. The purpose of the study was to examine Wyoming citizens' acceptance and approval of different energy future scenarios to provide a better understanding of what Wyoming residents envision for the future of the state's energy economy.
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