DUSTIN BLEIZEFFER Star-Tribune energy reporter | Posted: Saturday, August 23, 2003 12:00 am
DOUGLAS - Several eastern Wyoming counties say the area's productive coal mines and aging oilfields make it the best site for FutureGen, the White House's $1 billion zero-emissions power generation and carbon dioxide sequestration initiative.
Although there is friendly competition among the counties themselves, county commissioners said they agree that FutureGen belongs in Wyoming.
"If FutureGen is going to come online, there is a good fit for it right here," said Joe Coyne of the Converse Area New Development Organization (CANDO).
Members of the seven-county Wyoming Counties For Responsible Energy Development (WyCFRED) met here on Thursday and discussed how they could convince federal officials to place the FutureGen plant in northeast Wyoming.
FutureGen is a partnership of private industry and the Department of Energy. The idea is to build a 275-megawatt, coal-fired power plant to serve as a prototype for coal gasification and other emerging technologies to make cleaner energy.
The plant would turn coal into a hydroden-rich gas, then fire the hydrogen to generate electricity. Air pollutants, such as nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide, would be captured and converted to usable by-products. Nitrogen could be used for fertilizers, and ammonia is a key ingredient in the explosives widely used at mines in the Powder River Basin.
Carbon dioxide (CO2), a major greenhouse gas, would be injected into the ground. Coyne said other states competing for FutureGen can offer to sequester CO2 in the ground, but only Wyoming can use the sequestration process to also enhance oil recovery from large, aging fields - an action that would create more jobs and provide more domestic oil.
One requirement of FutureGen is that private industry pay for 20 percent, or $200 million, of the project. A dozen energy companies have already formed a consortium to meet the requirement, and at least four of the companies are either located in Wyoming or have a strong presence here.
They are Peabody Energy, Rio Tinto, RAG American Coal and PacifiCorp.
In June, Gov. Dave Freudenthal wrote a letter urging DOE officials to allow the consortium to decide where to site the project.
"It seems reasonable to defer all decisions with regard to site location and acquisition of goods and services needed by FutureGen to the private consortium, with appropriate input from the DOE, and direct the consortium to make these decisions on comparative economics," Freudenthal wrote.
On Thursday, Freudenthal met with DOE Assistant Secretary David Garman in Douglas to reiterate his support of FutureGen and locating it in Wyoming.
CANDO's Coyne told WyCFRED officials that he believes Converse County provides the best fit for FutureGen. The Dave Johnston power plant can be used as a testing facility for the coal gasification process as FutureGen is being built. Converse County also has oilfields for carbon sequestration, and it is close to Powder River Basin coals.
Coyne also noted that "non-attainment" air quality limitations will prevent Campbell County from hosting any more large-scale, coal-fired generation plants after two plants currently permitted are built. Converse County does not face the same air quality issue.
Campbell County Commissioner Alan Weakly agreed the two planned power plants will likely push Campbell County to air quality thresholds.
"I do agree with Joe," Weakly said. "Campbell County is filled up fairly well and there's no more room for power plants."