The U.S. Department of Energy awarded the University of Wyoming nearly $10 million to test if 50 million tons of carbon dioxide can be stored underground at a utility-scale site near the Dry Fork Station in the northeastern part of the state.
"Finding ways to make traditional uses of coal cleaner and more efficient, along with exploring ways to create new markets for coal, are important objectives for Wyoming, the nation's no. 1 coal producer," the Casper (Wyo.) Star-Tribune quoted Mark Northam, director of the university's School of Energy Resources, as saying.
"Projects such as this will help determine viable alternatives for carbon storage that will help ensure the continued use of this nation's abundant coal resource by creating and expanding options for managing our carbon footprint," Matt Greek, senior vice president of research, development and technology of Basin Electric Power Cooperative, said in a statement.
Basin Electric, which owns and operates Dry Fork Station, is one of the key partners of the project and in the Wyoming Integrated Test Center, a facility that hosts carbon capture pilot projects.
The project will run for more than two years and cost $12.3 million, funded by $9.8 million of federal money and $2.5 million from partners, the report said.
