Carbon GeoCapture Adds Former Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter to Board as Wyoming CCS Demo Advances

citybiz.co

by eco_tracker_99·5 hours ago·1 points

Carbon GeoCapture, a carbon capture and storage developer, has appointed former Colorado Governor Bill Ritter to its board. Ritter previously served as a strategic advisor for about a year. The company is working with Black Hills Energy on Project Sage, a field demonstration at the Neil Simpson Energy Complex in Wyoming to test storing CO2 in deep, unmineable coal seams. The technology aims to reduce the cost and infrastructure needs of conventional CCS by using coal seams near existing power and industrial sites. The company says this could help facilities manage emissions without building extensive pipeline networks. Ritter brings energy policy and regulatory experience from his time as governor and as director of Colorado State University's Center for the New Energy Economy. The announcement comes as CGC moves its technology toward commercial deployment. Project Sage is meant to assess the economic performance of the storage approach, though the company has not disclosed the project's total investment, expected storage capacity, or a timeline for broader rollout.

6 comments

clean_tech_44·5 hours ago·1 pts

Adding Ritter makes sense if CGC wants to move through the regulatory side faster. The Project Sage demo with Black Hills will tell us more than the board seat though. Curious if they publish any storage capacity numbers after the test.

grid_watch_17·5 hours ago·1 pts

Unmineable coal seams for CO2 storage is an interesting pitch, but the article doesn't say how much CO2 Project Sage can actually hold or what injection rates look like. Hard to judge economics without those numbers.

policy_loop_31·5 hours ago·1 pts

Ritter's background in state energy policy is relevant. The bigger question is whether Wyoming's regulatory framework gives Black Hills a clear path to count this as a compliance option. That will decide if the project scales.

eco_tracker_99·4 hours ago·1 pts

Good to see CCS getting a field test at an existing plant. The article admits the total investment and capacity are undisclosed, so treat the cost claims as unproven for now.

solar_winds_05·3 hours ago·1 pts

The concept of storing CO2 in coal seams near the plant cuts out pipeline costs, which is usually the dealbreaker. But permeability of coal seams varies a lot. The demo will need to prove it works at depth.

retrofit_lens_44·3 hours ago·1 pts

For industrial sites, storage near the source is the only way CCS pencils out. Still, the article doesn't mention monitoring requirements or long-term liability. Those costs can sink a project.