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Coal-Heavy Wyoming Aims to Lead on Carbon Capture

Steve Baragona

   Barely a wisp of water vapor streams from the smokestack into the clear
   morning sky at the Dry Fork Station power plant outside Gillette,
   Wyoming.

   Built in 2011, Dry Fork is "a great example of what a new, modern coal
   plant can do," said Jason Begger, executive director of the Wyoming
   Infrastructure Authority.

   Pollution controls scrub out the acidic sulfur dioxide, absorb the
   neurotoxic mercury and reduce the smog-forming nitrogen oxides.

   But nothing restrains the 3 million tons of planet-warming carbon
   dioxide the plant releases each year.

   Coal-fired power plants are a leading contributor to climate change
   around the world. Though the United States has retired more than half
   its coal-fired power plants in favor of cheaper, cleaner alternatives,
   the carbon-heavy fuel is on the rise globally. China alone has tripled
   its coal-fired capacity since 2006, for example, according to [1]Global
   Energy Monitor.

   To ward off worsening impacts of climate change, scientists say, it's
   no longer enough to simply reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon
   dioxide [2]must be removed from the atmosphere.

   Coal state

   Wyoming has a particular stake in the issue. The state is the nation's
   leading coal producer. Fossil fuel industries provide thousands of jobs
   and about $1 billion in tax revenue to fund schools and government
   operations, Begger said.

   The coal industry's future in particular is in doubt. Two companies
   with major operations in Wyoming went bankrupt this year. [3]Coal
   production is down by one-third from its 2007 peak, and experts say the
   trend will continue as natural gas and renewable energy sources rise.

   The entire fossil fuel industry faces an existential threat as climate
   change concerns grow.

   "Our customers now care about carbon emissions," said Scott Quillinan,
   director of research at the University of Wyoming School of Energy
   Resources. "If Wyoming is going to continue in this business of fossil
   fuels, we have to also be a leader in carbon management."

   That's why the state put up $15 million of the $21 million needed to
   build the Integrated Test Center at Dry Fork Station. It's the only
   facility in the country where researchers can tap directly into a
   full-size power plant's emissions. Engineers will plug in and run
   experiments to remove carbon dioxide from the exhaust stream.

   There's not much to see at the moment. A thick silver pipe runs about
   the length of two football fields behind the plant's chain-link fence.
   Poking through the fence are six widely spaced 20-cm (8-inch) pipes
   wrapped in gray jackets and topped with blue valve wheels.

References

   1. https://globalenergymonitor.org/
   2. https://www.ipcc.ch/2018/10/08/summary-for-policymakers-of-ipcc-special-report-on-global-warming-of-1-5c-approved-by-governments/
   3. https://www.eia.gov/coal/data/browser/#/topic/33?agg=0,2,1&rank=g&geo=vvvvvvvvvvvvo&mntp=g&linechart=COAL.PRODUCTION.TOT-US-TOT.A~COAL.PRODUCTION.TOT-WY-TOT.A&columnchart=COAL.PRODUCTION.TOT-US-TOT.A~COAL.PRODUCTION.TOT-WY-TOT.A&map=COAL.PRODUCTION.TOT-US-TOT.A&freq=A&start=2008&end=2018&chartindexed=1&ctype=linechart&ltype=pin&rtype=s&maptype=0&rse=0&pin=

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