Idaho National Laboratory Study: Important opportunities exist for Wyoming’s energy future

A study of Wyoming’s energy resources spearheaded by the state last year found that opportunities exist to add value to and improve markets for Wyoming’s energy resources.

The Wyoming Business Council, the University of Wyoming School of Energy Resources, the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and the NGNP Industry Alliance Limited (Alliance) partnered in March of 2012 to evaluate the viability of transforming the state’s raw energy resources into higher value products such as synthetic transportation fuels and commodity chemicals.

"I appreciate the foresight of the Wyoming legislature and Governor Mead in funding this study," said Bob Jensen, Business Council CEO. "Our partners at UW and INL have done an excellent job in outlining the way forward for Wyoming to generate full value for the energy resources we have been blessed with."

The study:

· Concluded that a carbon conversion industry that produces synthetic transportation fuels and chemicals would add value to the state’s coal and natural gas resources and provide a long term and stable market for Wyoming’s energy resources

· Developed a conceptual strategy for diversifying the technologies used to generate electricity that would provide the state flexibility in adapting to changes in energy policy and regulation, and shifts in energy markets. This conceptual strategy combines a broader use of clean coal and natural gas technologies, wind power and nuclear energy technologies including small modular reactors such as the next generation high temperature gas-cooled reactor.

· Analyzed hybrid energy systems and concluded that combining electric power generation with synthetic fuels and chemical production could increase the extent of variable power generation methods, such as wind power, compared to that achievable with conventional transmission grid controls. Hybrid Energy Systems (HES) combine two or more energy conversion technologies to produce a variety of products that have much higher value than the raw energy resources alone, for example, transportation fuels, chemical feedstock and electricity derived from coal and natural gas.

"In working with the state of Wyoming and the University of Wyoming, our study determined that there are significant resources that offer opportunities to create additional value from available energy resources, especially if developed using hybrid energy concepts," said Richard Boardman, department manager for energy systems integration at INL.

Fred Moore, executive director emeritus of the Alliance, stated, "The cogeneration and hybrid energy system concepts described in this report provide the opportunity for complementary use of Wyoming’s indigenous energy resources and nuclear energy with important increased value directly benefiting the revenues to the state and the return on investment for private industry."

The Business Council, under direction from the Wyoming State Legislature, commissioned INL and UW-SER to evaluate selected energy futures for Wyoming. INL and the Alliance performed a complementary cost-shared evaluation focused on the benefits of nuclear energy, cogeneration and hybrid energy systems that would take advantage of all the state’s indigenous energy resources.

Print and electronic copies of the study, "Overview of Energy Development Opportunities for Wyoming," INL/EXT-12-27626, are available through the Wyoming Business Council at http://www.wyomingbusiness.org/program/hybrid-energy-systems-reports/7054 or the Idaho National Laboratory at http://go.usa.gov/4Vs4.

INL http://www.inl.gov is one of the U.S. Department of Energy’s 10 multiprogram national laboratories. The laboratory performs work in each of DOE’s strategic goal areas: energy, national security, science and environment. INL is the nation’s leading center for nuclear energy research and development. Day-to-day management and operation of the laboratory is the responsibility of Battelle Energy Alliance.

The NGNP Industry Alliance, an industry consortium of large industrial energy end-users and nuclear energy systems suppliers, promotes the use of high temperature gas-cooled reactor technology to supply process heat and for electric power generation.

The mission of the Business Council is to facilitate the economic growth of Wyoming. The Business Council, a state government agency, concentrates its efforts on providing assistance for existing Wyoming companies and start-ups, helping communities meet their development and diversification needs, and recruiting new firms and industries targeted to complement the state’s assets. For more information, please visit http://www.wyomingbusiness.org.