UW scientists seek ways to store excess carbon

Researchers at the University of Wyoming are working with scientists in other Northern Plains and northwestern states to find uses for carbon dioxide gas given off when fossil fuels are burned for energy.

The Big Sky Carbon Sequestration Partnership - made up of universities, government agencies and businesses from Idaho, Montana, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington and Wyoming - is looking into ways either to pump excess greenhouse gases deep underground or to make those gases available for plants to use.

The U.S. Energy Department has awarded $17.9 million in grants to find ways to sock away carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Different regional consortia are taking different approaches.

The Big Sky team is looking at rangeland sequestration - a process that would allow grasses and other range foliage to absorb excess carbon dioxide.

But the focus of the research is on pumping carbon dioxide deep underground, where it could be trapped in the rock.

"(We want) to see how well carbon dioxide stayed put, and (whether) anything happened over the long term that would give us clues as to how well carbon dioxide could be sequestered over time," said Jim Steidtmann, director of the Enhanced Oil Recovery Institute and head of the geological portion of the project.

"Once you put the carbon dioxide down there, no one knows what's going to be happening a hundred years from now, and that's important for keeping carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere," Steidtmann said.

Wyoming already has a head start because of ongoing research into enhanced oil recovery - essentially, pumping carbon dioxide into the ground near oil wells and using the gas to push more oil to the surface, where it can be extracted. Wyoming oil developers have used the process for decades to extend the lives of aging oil wells.

Bill Gern, UW's vice president for research, said the projects eventually could reduce the environmental impact of burning fossil fuels, including coal, which Wyoming has in abundance.

"Coal is a cheap source of energy. It has a major economic impact in this state and region," Gern said in a prepared statement. "This work will go a long way toward keeping it a viable energy option for decades."

In Montana, the Zero Emissions Research and Technology program at Montana State University received $4 million to determine how much carbon dioxide could be injected into the ground and to find a way to monitor for leaks.

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