GILLETTE, Wyo. (AP) - The term “Carbon Valley” has been used for the last year or two in discussions about the potential future of the Powder River Basin.
But what does it actually mean?
Jim Ford, an energy consultant for Campbell County, is developing a strategic Carbon Valley plan, and that is one of the questions he’s set out to answer.
“We should get to the point where we can explain that clearly and simply when people ask us about that,” he said.
The goal of Carbon Valley is to establish Campbell County as the premier place for the research, development and commercial deployment of advanced carbon technologies, Ford said.
It’s going to take a lot of work to get there.
“Saying things about our hopes and dreams is good, but it’s not as good as doing things,” Ford told the Gillette News Record.
Projects such as the Advanced Carbon Products Innovation Center and a potential rare earth element research facility are promising, and they have support from the University of Wyoming and the U.S. Department of Energy.
But it’s just as important to get support from the community, Ford said.
“We don’t want to be sitting around in a dark, smoky room making plans and not engaging the voters or the community,” he said.
Community engagement and education should be one of the top priorities once the strategic plan is finalized, Ford said.
Campbell County has to do more than just be open for business. It must demonstrate that commitment as well. It takes time, money and people, he said.
“When we’re ready to dedicate those to these ideas, then those on the outside will start taking it seriously,” he said.
Two of the top people at the University of Wyoming School of Energy Resources are leaving in the next eight months, so the county will have to work to get “rock solid commitment” from the school in the future, Ford said.
The SER would be “the perfect keystone tenant” for ACPIC, he added.
The county also have to figure out how to fund the whole thing.
“There’s a whole lot of things we can do, but without the ability to support those ideas financially, it just doesn’t matter,” he said.
When it comes to capital, the county should facilitate the discussion, said Commissioner Mark Christensen. The money should come from the private sector.
Carbon Valley’s legitimacy will come from state and federal researchers doing their work here, he said. When that happens, the money will come.
When it comes to fossil fuels, federal regulations and the market are moving the needle. It’s out of the county’s control, Ford said.
“The reality around the coal and fossil fuels is our customers of the last decade aren’t buying what we have to sell,” he said. “If we can’t recognize that and recognize they’ve decided that CO2 matters, then shame on us for not opening our eyes.”
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