Anna Littlefield
On the surface, the transition to a zero-carbon economy may look like a case of “out with the old, in with the new.” Dig deeper and the reality is much different, however.
Many of the skills, technologies and scientific research that support the energy sources we use today are also essential for developing the new energy sources of tomorrow.
During a recent bill signing at the Colorado School of Mines, Gov. Jared Polis noted this connection — and explained how it has informed the state’s approach to the energy transition.
One of the bills the governor signed into law was SB23-285, which broadens the role of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission to include the regulation of deep geothermal wells and other energy sources.
Morgan Bazilian
The bill also changed the name of the agency to the Energy and Carbon Management Commission.
A second bill, HB23-1281, creates a state-level tax credit for the production of clean hydrogen from water, using a process called electrolysis, or from natural gas, which would require the additional step of capturing and storing any carbon dioxide that’s released as a byproduct.
Simon Lomax
A third bill — HB23-1210 — calls for a “carbon management roadmap” to be developed for Colorado by 2025. The roadmap would spell out how carbon capture technologies, carbon dioxide pipelines and underground rock formations could be used to meet the state’s newly updated emissions target of net-zero carbon by 2050.
More specifically, the roadmap must also identify the carbon management opportunities that “best draw on Colorado’s natural resources, industry, talent, labor force, and economic development capabilities.”
The approach taken across all three bills “is really symbolic of where Colorado is, and where we will be,” Polis said at the signing ceremony. “We still produce fossil fuels, but we’re also a state that has an eye towards the future. … This will help position Colorado to win the future.”
The decision to revamp the mission of the state’s existing oil and gas regulatory agency just made good sense, the governor said, because “a lot of the actual activity underground is similar [and] the issues they deal with around surface conflicts are similar.”
“They will be very well positioned, just as they have been with oil and gas, to be the state entity that manages any conflicts in this area and make sure we can effectively do carbon sequestration, geothermal, storage — all the kinds of things that … feel like and look like oil and gas but of course are not oil and gas.”
“I wish it was just as simple as saying there’s going to be more solar and wind,” Polis continued. “That gets us to a big part of [net-zero carbon emissions], but for the final piece, if we truly seek to be net zero … we need to look at carbon dioxide removal and carbon capture and sequestration and direct air capture … and other technologies that can help get us there.”
The governor’s approach to public policy aligns with emerging trends in the private sector, where Colorado’s expertise with current energy technologies is providing a launch pad for new energy technologies.
Northeast of Denver, for example, a firm called Global Thermostat is already operating a large direct-air capture plant. The decision to locate the plant there was no accident: Depleted oil and gas wells in the nearby DJ Basin provide potential underground storage options and, more importantly, Colorado’s energy industry has the engineers and chemists needed to work on direct-air capture technology.
“There are very few states, very few areas, with that level of talent available within a couple zip codes,” Global Thermostat CEO Paul Nahi told CBS News.
Meanwhile, in Pueblo, a $32.7 million project is laying the foundation for a large-scale carbon capture and storage hub for industrial activities like electricity generation, cement making, and hydrogen production.
The project, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, will bring together experts from the Colorado School of Mines, the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, and Carbon America, a private firm that develops projects that capture, transport and store greenhouse gas emissions from industrial sources. Together, they will conduct critical planning activities, such as surface and underground site characterization, community engagement, workforce training and permitting.
And in Colorado’s southwest corner, the Southern Ute Indian Tribe — a major producer of natural gas — is currently reviewing a proposed gas-fired power plant with carbon capture and sequestration technology.
The Coyote Clean Power Project would burn natural gas in a high-oxygen environment, producing a highly concentrated stream of carbon dioxide that is easier and cheaper to capture and store. The result would be zero emissions from a power plant that would otherwise emit 865,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year.
As a major oil and gas producing state, Colorado isn’t behind the curve when it comes to the energy transition. In fact, it’s ahead of the curve, because the tools and talents that built today’s energy economy will also be needed to build the energy economy of tomorrow.
Anna Littlefield is a program manager with the Payne Institute for Public Policy at the Colorado School of Mines and leads the think tank’s work on carbon capture, utilization and storage. Morgan Bazilian is the director of the Payne Institute. Simon Lomax is the program manager of the Payne Institute’s Responsible Gas Initiative.