Wyo. official addresses political realities of energy industry

GREELEY — Ed Buchanan, Wyoming secretary of state, acknowledged the political realities for elected officials in dealing with issues facing the energy industry.

In order to help energy industries maintain economic viability, the environmental issues also need to be addressed, he said.

Buchanan delivered the keynote address at the 2018 Energy Summit, a BizWest event, held Tuesday at the DoubleTree by Hilton Greeley at Lincoln Park hotel and conference center.

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Buchanan noted that Wyoming and Colorado face similar issues and also differences in how energy companies operate and are regulated.

“These are years of radical change for us in the energy industry. Shifts in the industry in the entire west and the U.S. in general have affected both states,” he said.

“We all face the same market and regulatory hurdles, and we’re better off facing them together,” he said.

He said educational institutions have a role to play in the industry. In Wyoming’s case, the state invested “10s of millions of dollars” in creating the energy research and educational center at the University of Wyoming. The result of that investment has been new innovation in energy production, specifically ways to capture carbon from the coal industry and ways to use that carbon to create other products.

Coal, not oil, is the primary energy resource in Wyoming. The state produces more coal than any other state — about 40 percent of all coal produced in the nation. And as an extension of that resource, about 25 percent of all electricity produced in the nation results from burning Wyoming coal.
“We rely on innovation to make the most of this resource,” he said. “The fact of matter is that OPEC countries rest on their laurels and produce energy in the most inefficient manner, with no regard for environment.

These innovations will keep us competitive,” he said.

Wyoming relies more heavily than does Colorado on its energy industries, even though Colorado produces more oil than Wyoming. The minerals economy accounts for 70 percent of assessed valuation in Wyoming, he said. Colorado’s economy is more diverse.

Because of the massive role played by energy in the state, Wyoming has placed an emphasis on finding solutions to the issues raised by regulators, he said, which includes making coal burning power plants more environmentally friendly.

Buchanan said the state has created an Innovative Test Center at the Dry Fork Station in Gillette. It set up an “X prize” activity in search of technologies that would add value to carbon-based resources like coal. Five companies from around the world will conduct their research at the test center to find ways to capture carbon and use it for other products.

Captured CO2, for example, can be used to enhance recovery of oil from what were previously thought to be depleted fields. Fertilizer,  toothpaste, concrete, carbon fibers, building materials and more products are resulting from this research, he said.

Buchanan said he applauds the innovation in the industry and said it is evidence that markets themselves, not regulation, are what is most effective at making the adjustments needed in the industry.