CHEYENNE, Wyo. (KIFI/KIDK)-A U.S. Department of Energy-State of Wyoming study indicates carbon capture utilization and storage (CUUS) retrofits of existing coal-fired power plants could provide significant benefits. 

The study evaluated the potential opportunities of retrofitting existing plants with new technology to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.    

“We are in a critical time for energy policy and production. Wyoming can help lead in developing and supporting advances that boost our coal industry and reduce carbon emissions. The Department of Energy is also providing key leadership: this study is an example of a partnership everyone can support. It moves Wyoming and the nation ahead,” said Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon. 

“The Department of Energy has invested hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ dollars to advance CCUS technologies and to drive down the cost of deployment,” said Deputy Secretary of Energy Mark Menezes. “This study shows that through innovative technologies, like CCUS, we can develop affordable energy more cleanly, and clean energy more affordably, providing a vision for the future of fossil energy.”

The study compared the use of carbon capture retrofits against PacificCorp’s 2019 integrated resource plan (IRP), which centered on non-carbon based energy resources.

While outlining the potential improvement of Wyoming’s baseline employment and local and state revenue, the study claimed carbon capture could reduce existing plant CO2 emissions by 37% and produce avoided costs that are less expensive than the utility’s IRP.

You can see the study document here.

In a related development, Gas Technology Institute (GTI) has received $13 million in Department of Energy funding to test carbon capture technologies at the Integrated Test Center, near Gillette. According to the ITC, GTI will utilize the funds to design and build an engineering-scale CO₂ capture system using the Ohio State University transformational membrane process.

The goal is to capture CO2 from a fossil fuel power plant before it reaches the atmosphere and demonstrate an affordable CCUS system

DOE recently announced award of $72 million in federal funding to support the development and advancement of carbon capture technologies.