WYOMING — Is combating climate change at odds with keeping Wyoming’s traditional energy industry alive?
Maybe not, according to an announcement by Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon and CarbonTech Labs at the Spring Energy Conference last week.
Gordon presented the next step in Wyoming’s partnership with Carbon180: a $250,000 grant to support “carbon capture” research. CarbonTech Labs, an initiative of Carbon180, captures carbon waste “in all its forms” and recycles it into “valued products and services,” said CarbonTech Labs Associate Director Matt Lucas.
“We’re not only combating, but ultimately reversing climate change,” Lucas said.
In a state whose economy is still largely dependent on mineral extraction and fossil fuels, Lucas and Gordon agreed this partnership is as economic as it is good for the environment.
“It is important that we move forward on all energy fronts,” Gordon said.
“A piece of that that we have been missing in the public discussion is opportunities that present themselves in Wyoming to do things that are truly carbon negative … It’s our responsibility to do the best job we can advancing technologies across both conventional and alternative fronts.”
Because the two are not mutually exclusive, Gordon said. In a “headlong rush to push renewables as the ultimate solution,” it’s “short-sided of us to overlook the opportunities where we can take an existing footprint, refurbish it … in a way that keeps people employed, keeps towns vital, keeps the same footprint.”
Some question whether carbon capture is worth the cost and time when we could just focus on lowering emissions. But others argue that simply reducing the amount of carbon we put into the atmosphere isn’t enough.
“There’s no amount of wind and solar that gets you carbon removal,” Lucas said.
This kind of technology takes a long time, Lucas said. But it’s already in practice in things we use every day. “You can go and buy CarbonTech products today,” Lucas said. You can buy CO2-infused concrete, for example, that is “stronger and cures faster than incumbent concrete.” Prenatal vitamins, too, are supplemented with unsaturated fatty acids that come from algae fed with carbon dioxide.
“This isn’t something that’s off in the future. This is in our homes, and some of the most personal aspects of our lives,” Lucas said.
