University of Wyoming School of Energy Resources & Wyoming Business Council Submits Letter of Intent for Regional Direct Air Capture Hub
Proposed project intends to follow a conservative timeline and will complement other regional proposals.
LARAMIE, WYO.(February 17, 2023) – The University of Wyoming School of Energy Resources (SER), together with the Wyoming Business Council (WBC), announced that it has submitted a Letter of Intent to submit a proposal for the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE)Four Regional Clean Direct Air Capture Hubs program, part of the Investment in Infrastructure and Jobs Act. The Letter of Intent outlines a deliberate and market-driven approach to understanding the feasibility of a Wyoming Direct Air Capture (DAC) Hub Pilot-Center; the application is intended to pursue the most conservative timeline made available by the DOE.
The direct air capture (DAC) industry represents an opportunity to help solve pressing economic challenges in Wyoming while utilizing the state’s all-of-the-above energy mix, including hydrocarbon and renewable resources and extensive energy infrastructure. Last November, SER and WBC released a Request for Expression of Interest to solicit input from key stakeholders on direct air capture activities and initiatives in Wyoming. This process informed the inter-agency collaborative to pursue a Topic Area-1 (TA-1) Feasibility track to address several challenges to enable DAC industry growth, including clean energy, early technology readiness, long-term market uncertainty, and community integration.
“All new industries come with big challenges in the beginning,” said Sarah Fitz-Gerald, WBC Chief Strategy Officer. “By helping us answer the most fundamental questions around DAC industry development, we believe a conservative TA-1 application will help enable us to have a broad and underpinning impact on overall industry growth and help us understand how the DAC industry could benefit Wyoming and the region.”
The proposed project aims to derisk commercial projects in Wyoming in the direct air capture market. By providing important regional information and investing in longer-term projects, SER and WBC’s proposal complements more accelerated projects and DAC activities in the area.
