Aligning Stakeholders: Carbon Capture & Social License Wyoming - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

“Aligning Stakeholders: Carbon Capture & Social License”

Wyoming Energy Summit: Powering Future Generations Kipp Coddington May 8, 2019

Presentation Overview

✓ Wyoming CarbonSAFE Feasibility Study ✓ Why the University of Wyoming (UW) is Engaged in CCS/CCUS & Related Research ✓ Musings Regarding the “Energy Transition” ✓ What UW is Doing to Help the State on These Topics ✓ Possible Defense/Offense Policy Strategies for Wyoming

Wyoming CarbonSAFE Project

Image Credit: Scott Quillinan

Community engagement is a key aspect of the endeavor.

Why the University of Wyoming is Engaged in CCS/CCUS & Related Applied Research

✓ Wyoming exports most of its energy ✓ Carbon reductions are the law & otherwise deeply engrained in policy/society ✓ CCS/CCUS are specifically recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and key states such as California as low-carbon compliance pathways for all fossil fuels, with robust regulatory regimes in place ✓ The State of Wyoming’s leadership on CCS/CCUS is remarkable and beneficial

Musings Regarding the “Energy Transition”

✓ No universally accepted definition ✓ “Energy transitions” generally require a specific sequence of events --

❑ Key conceptual breakthroughs ❑ Technical innovations ❑ Organizational actions in specific economic, political and/or strategic circumstances

✓ Transitions can be lengthy if –

❑ One or more of the events above is missing ❑ The incumbent fuel(s) is entrenched deeply in society ❑ The society is complex

Sources: Smil, V. “Energy Transitions: Global and National Perspectives” (2d ed. 2016); “Illinois Weighs Novel Approach to Quitting Coal” (E&E News, May 7, 2019)

“I think it is wrong to presuppose that every fossil fired plant is on its last leg” – Judith Lagano, SVP, Asset Management, NRG Energy

What UW Is Doing to Help the State on These Topics

✓ “Energy transitions” generally require a specific sequence of events --

❑ Key conceptual breakthroughs ❑ Technical innovations ❑ Organizational actions in specific economic, political and/or strategic circumstances

• Low-carbon fossil (CCS, CCUS,

BECCS)

• Advanced combustion (e.g.,

flameless oxy-combustion)

• Non-Btu products (Carbon

Engineering)

• Many others + renewables

(REE’s, grid-scale storage)

• New interdisciplinary energy

policy initiative that leverages expertise in economics, business, law, technology & policy

• Regulatory tracker & more
• Read: “Social License”
• Community engagement key

part of our grants

Possible Policy Strategies for Wyoming

✓ Inside Our Borders, Inward Facing:

• Don’t give up the fight for coal, but take a hard-look at what is happening around us
• Take a look at the challenges facing oil and natural gas, too
• Expand sustained support for ongoing low-carbon projects (e.g., CarbonSAFE, Carbon Engineering, flameless oxy-

combustion, other) & infrastructure (e.g., ITC)

• Pursue potential new opportunities (e.g., grid-scale storage) that could have commercial relevance and economic

benefit for Wyoming: diversification is imperative

✓ Inside Our Borders, Outward Facing:

• Convene & take stock of all energy resources, both fossil & renewable; and look over the horizon to consider what

might also be possible (e.g., grid-scale storage; REE’s for renewable energy systems; uranium for a revived nuclear industry)

• Assess energy resources by common metrics (e.g., capacity, export markets, economics) then, where feasible and

helpful, benchmark them based on carbon intensity or other low-carbon attributes (current and possible)

• Analyze what other States are doing (e.g., Illinois, South Carolina) vis-à-vis low-carbon policies
• Develop specific low-carbon policy strategies that work for Wyoming

❑ New regulatory models (WPSC, WOGCC, WDEQ, other) ❑ Definitions of “clean” that include CCS/CCUS, high-efficiency ❑ Resource pricing metrics that take into account other attributes (e.g., reliability) ❑ Model State statutes & regulations ❑ Social License

Possible Policy Strategies for Wyoming

✓ Regionally (Pacific NW + Rocky Mountains) + States/Markets Utilizing Wyoming Energy:

• Examine the “Colorado” Approach”: decarbonizing domestically but signaling it still needs fossil energy
• Building off of CarbonSAFE and other initiatives, develop – and thereafter export – business, finance & regulatory

models for CCS/CCUS and other low-carbon projects and technologies

✓ Nationally:

• Engage on the low-carbon energy & related energy bills to ensure Wyoming’s interests are protected

✓ Internationally:

• The Paris Agreement’s “Rulebook” is set to be completed at COP25 in Chile in December 2019
• A key remaining unknown is the fate of the Article 6 Market Mechanisms; Article 6 has the potential to help

CCS/CCUS

• Wyoming should consider engaging on these topics

The Existing Coal Fleet: An Initial Opportunity for a Wyoming Policy Approach?

Source: “The Coal Cost Crossover: Existing Economic Viability of Existing Coal Compared to New Local Wind and Solar Resources” (Energy Innovation, March 2019) (available at https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Coal- Cost-Crossover_Energy-Innovation_VCE_FINAL.pdf)

Q&A

For More Information: Kipp Coddington Director, Energy Policy & Economics School of Energy Resources University of Wyoming Laramie, WY kcodding@uwyo.edu Ph: (307) 766-6731 Cell: (703) 628-3950