The School of Energy Resources (SER) plans to use a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to help move Wyoming’s energy economy into the future.
At the end of 2021 SER received a grant of up to $644,000 from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management. SER plans to use the grant to develop new energy resources in Wyoming.
“We submitted a proposal to them,” said Scott Quillian, SER Senior Director of Research, “This grant, in particular, is focused on setting up a strategy for hydrogen energy production in the state of Wyoming.”
Wyoming exports a large amount of its produced energy, and SER does not want to lose this part of our economy as the industry transitions to renewable sources.
“About 90% of all of Wyoming’s energy leaves the state.” Quillian says, “As we go forward into the energy transition, Wyoming is really looking for opportunities to continue that way of life, to continue to be an energy producer, but to find ways to decarbonize it.”
The School of Energy Resource has been in the process of creating The Hydrogen Energy Research Center (H2ERC) with the directive of performing research into the best way to move Wyoming’s energy industry into the future.
“This grant will be their first task, and the main deliverable of this grant is a full strategy for the center and for the state,” Quillian said.
Quillian said this includes “What could it look like, where could it come from, where’s the market drivers, is there a workforce, is there enough water available, and is there a way to transport it out of the state.”
The new center will look at using Wyoming’s abundant natural resources, including wind, natural gas, low-cost coal, uranium and solar, as ‘feedstock’ for potential clean hydrogen.
H2ERC will be part of the broader Hydrogen Energy Initiative laid out by the Wyoming Energy Authority, to help with the energy transition.
Along with the recent grant from the DOE the University has received private funding from two companies.
Announced on January 31, Williams Companies committed $500,000 to H2ERC. This builds off of a donation from The Anschutz Company in the fall of 2021.
“You got the DOE funding and now we’ve got private funding,” Quillian says, “So this thing is off and running.”
Students shouldn’t expect to see any new building under construction, as the name ‘center’ is a bit of a misnomer according to SER Executive Director Holly Krutka.
“The center is virtual and is all over campus. So anyone who can collaborate with us on hydrogen could be part of the center”
However, even though there will be no new physical buildings, the center will start operations with two full-time employees.
The University has recently selected its first employee, the director of H2ERC. They are set to start on March 1st, the date the center will begin operations.
“We are hoping to bring in folks over time.” Kurtka says, “If not this grant then other grants across campus.”
While the new center will be part of SER, a hydrogen future for Wyoming is also expected to provide opportunities for all students.
“I think the most important thing to realize is that developing a hydrogen economy for Wyoming is going to be completely interdisciplinary,” says Quillian, “so it’s going to pull from across departments, we will be looking for geologists and engineers, economists and lawyers,”
For more information about SER or H2ERC click here.
