Second act for CBM

BUFFALO — If its methanogenesis technology is successful, a new company could bring a second life to some of the Powder River Basin’s tens of thousands of coalbed methane wells. 

The Denver-based clean energy and climate tech company Cowboy Clean Fuels was recently awarded $7.8 million in state funding to pursue commercial scale development of a technology that will produce so-called renewable natural gas and capture carbon emissions using existing coalbed methane infrastructure, though not everyone is as optimistic as the company and its funding source.

Cowboy Clean Fuels has at least $15.6 million in energy matching funds from the Wyoming Energy Authority and private investments to kick off its operations in the triangle unit project area just east of Johnson County. 

Its technology, which involves injecting feed-grade sugar beet byproducts into deep coal formations using CBM wells, was developed at the University of Wyoming’s Center for Biogenic Natural Gas Research.

Michael Urynowicz, the company’s chief technology officer and the center’s director, said that the Powder River Basin’s coal play, as well as its abundant coal bed methane infrastructure – numbering approximately 30,000 wells, by his count – make the area a good candidate for development.

Starting with 139 CBM wells, for which the company has taken over existing leases, it will inject its biomass into the coal formations where wells once produced coalbed methane. 

The difference between traditional coalbed methane and renewable natural gas that this company aims to produce lies in what’s being fed to microorganisms within the coal seam.

During the methanogenesis process, microbes consuming the molasses will in turn produce both methane and carbon dioxide, though carbon dioxide is absorbed into the coal seam, providing “one of the most durable forms of carbon sequestration known,” the company’s proposal says. 

At the end of the process, while carbon dioxide is supposed to remain within the coal seam, biogenic methane is released to be burned as natural gas. Coal seams, due to their ability and tendency to absorb carbon dioxide, are being considered as a potential long-term disposal site for carbon dioxide, according to the National Energy Technology Lab.

The project also aligns with Gov. Mark Gordon’s stated goal of advancing carbon capture and sequestration technology in hopes of the state eventually being “net negative.” Gordon has committed to continued fossil fuel extraction and energy production while embracing renewable energy and new technologies.

“Wyoming is bullish on energy, all energy,” Gordon said during his state of the state speech on Feb. 12. “Despite the misguided federal government, there is just so much energy opportunity here in Wyoming. We need to capitalize on it. Wyoming embraces an all-of-the-above energy policy because America is best powered by American energy.”

Cowboy Clean Fuels, in a news release, touts its novel carbon sequestration and renewable natural gas production technology and its potential to restore jobs and support both Johnson and Campbell counties through tax revenues and surface rent.

Urynowicz highlights the company’s use of the infrastructure left behind by a now-declining coalbed methane industry.

“We’re taking depleted natural gas infrastructure and decarbonizing it through our technology,” Urynowicz said. “I think Wyoming is in a really enviable position with respect to future markets as carbon management becomes more and more important from the standpoint of mitigating the effects of climate change.”

While the state of Wyoming has expressed excitement about the project and others it awarded with energy matching funds, not everyone is on board. 

The Powder River Basin Resource Council has expressed concerns related to potential environmental impacts and responsible spending of public dollars. The conservation group said as much in a letter to the Wyoming Energy Authority during a public comment period.

The Wyoming Energy Authority said it received the organization’s letter and other public comments and reviews those in the final decision for awarding funds.

The council’s concerns on the resource protection side are tied to potential groundwater contamination and the company’s claims that it will capture and store carbon. 

The group also says its advocating on behalf of taxpayers, given the state’s ample funding toward the project and past failures of similar projects that led to orphan wells and other infrastructure, despite Wyoming’s “favorable regulatory framework,” said Shannon Anderson, organizing director and staff attorney. 

“With the spectacular crash and burn of two previous companies, we were surprised this was being tried again to start with,” Anderson said in an interview. “If the technology has been perfected in some way or it’s different, we’re glad they’re starting with a test project, but this grant has made it sound like they’ll scale up really fast.” 

The company’s proposal on the WEA website says it expects the project will reach full scale by 2026.

Urynowicz, in response to the group’s comments, said that the now-defunct companies the letter mentions – Luca Technologies and Ciris Energy, Inc. – produced fossil-based coalbed methane in Campbell County, “not the low carbon Renewable Natural Gas that Cowboy Clean Fuels produces.” 

The resource council maintains that these were “microbial conversion companies.” 

“Unfortunately, the PRBRC has never reached out to us to understand how our technology is different,” he wrote in an email. 

Urynowicz noted that the company obtained its Class V Underground Injection Permit from the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, and it is fully bonded with the state.

Anderson said bonding is critical to ensure that if the company walks away from its operations there is funding to decommission, clean up and reclaim the landscape.

“When you have a field that was just about ready to be reclaimed and probably should have been years ago, we’ve seen this where a new company comes and does something with those wells and gets more production out,” she said. “That’s great, but it kicks the can down the road of how we’re actually making sure reclamation happens on the landscape.”