BEN NEARY Associated Press writer | Posted: Thursday, November 15, 2007 12:00 am
CHEYENNE - Wrapping up his attendance at the 20th World Energy Congress and Exhibition in Rome on Wednesday, Gov. Dave Freudenthal said he's impressed that companies around the world are striving to manage carbon emissions associated with global warming.
As governor of the nation's top coal-producing state, Freudenthal has been openly critical of the federal government. He says it has failed to give the domestic energy industry clear direction how it intends to address the climate change issue.
Freudenthal was in Rome this week to address the U.S. delegation to the 20th World Energy Congress and Exhibition. He said about 3,000 representatives of power companies and gas producers from around the world attended the conference.
Freudenthal said his first impression from the conference is the degree to which corporations around the world all have made "a substantial move toward carbon management, and questions of green energy."
Freudenthal said he heard presentations at the conference suggesting that parts of Europe are anti-coal, although utilization of coal has gone up worldwide. He said natural gas is clearly the alternative fuel of choice for Europe, with supplies coming from Russia.
"It's interesting. Part of the time coal is the boogey man, and part time it's the savior, depending on where you're sitting," Freudenthal said. "In general, though, I think the utilization of coal going forward, as part of the large market, is going to be dependent on a greater effort to develop some of these clean coal technologies and the carbon sequestration that goes along with it."
Freudenthal also said he was struck by the emphasis at the conference on the increasing worldwide demand for energy.
"It's interesting to hear people talk about the demand for energy and the doubling of the expected energy requirements over the next 30 to 35 years," Freudenthal said.
He said that has obvious implications on supply and demand, as well as demanding increased investment in infrastructure including pipelines and power lines and the means to generate electricity.
That increase in energy demand will support continued exports of uranium from Wyoming, Freudenthal said. He said he heard mixed messages about the global opinion of nuclear power.
"The French are clearly committed to it, as are some others, and then there are other countries that appear adamantly opposed to it," Freudenthal said. "But the general perception is that for people like Wyoming that produce uranium, that uranium will be, nuclear facilities will be one of the places where much of the base load comes from going forward."
Freudenthal said he doesn't expect to see much Wyoming coal go overseas, but said it could fill demand in Eastern states as coal produced there heads to Europe.
"I do think that you're going to see coal that might have competed with Wyoming coal in some of the Eastern markets will find its way to Europe, and that may free up space for us," Freudenthal said. "I think part of the issue for Wyoming is that our resource will reach other parts of the United States as other American resources are moved overseas."
Prospects for developing wind power received a lot of discussion at the conference, Freudenthal said. He said discussions centered on the same issues that confront development of wind power in Wyoming: the question of getting the power from the generation site to where it's needed.
Freudenthal said he heard a lot of cynicism from participants at the conference on the issue of whether the U.S. government is committed to managing carbon emissions. Yet he said there is recognition that American corporations are doing quite a bit on the issues.
He said he also heard resentment from developing countries about the United States calling for them to reduce their carbon emissions. He said the feeling is that the United States has achieved its industrial development and is now trying to close the door on other countries trying to do the same thing.