Dive Brief:
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Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead (R) has signed a cooperation agreement between the state and a consortium of Japanese companies to research clean-coal technology, the Associated Press reports.
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Mead told the AP that progress in reducing emissions from coal plants could help Wyoming export coal to meet Japanese demand. The research aims to cut CO2 emissions by capturing for use in making other products.
- Mead expects to host a conference in Wyoming within a year that would facilitate work between Japanese researchers and researchers from the University of Wyoming School of Energy Resources.
Dive Insight:
Wyoming, the largest coal producing state, is looking for ways to keep the state’s coal industry working even as the country moves further toward a low carbon economy.
In April, Gov. Mead broke ground on a $21 million carbon research center that will be built next to Basin Electric Power Cooperative’s Dry Fork Station to study capturing carbon emissions from coal facilities and turning them into commercial products.
Not only has domestic coal consumption declined, Wyoming has also been hampered in its ability to export coal to markets such as Asia. Neighboring Washington and Oregon are concerned about possible environmental damage from shipping coal across their states via train.
One of the goals of the new research center would be to find ways to make coal a cleaner burning fuel, reducing its environmental damage, which would help drive demand for exports.
“As we find solutions for Wyoming, the country and the world for coal, which is what we’re to do here, it certainly makes the lift for getting ports open in places like the State of Washington easier when we can point to it and say, ‘we’re not just making this ask, we actually are doing the heavy lifting in terms of trying to find solutions for coal,'” Mead told the AP.
The memorandum of understanding Mead signed with the Japenese companies represents about 120 manufacturing and energy companies, including Mitsubishi Materials and Kawasaki Heavy Industries.
Coal-fired plants in Japan now get the fuel from Australia and Indonesia but want to tap sources from other parts of the world, Osamu Tsukamoto, president of the Japan Coal Energy Center, told the AP.