Wyoming Tribune Eagle

CHEYENNE -- Two grants will help the University of Wyoming boost educational and research opportunities for students interested in pioneering technologies for the energy industry.

Two university professors received nearly $2 million in competitive federal funding to support carbon sequestration research and technology.

The proposals were approved as part of the U.S. Department of Energy's attempts to stimulate cleaner-coal research and technology, according to a UW news release.

James D. Myers, a professor in the Department of Geology and Geophysics, received $994,910 over three years to develop the Wyoming Carbon Capture and Storage Technology Center in Laramie.

His award will be matched by $990,000 in federal Abandoned Mine Land funds allocated by the Wyoming Legislature for carbon sequestration research.

The center will work to train a professional workforce, provide opportunities for graduates and current professionals and supply carbon capture and storage knowledge and technology.

Professors Subhashis Mallick of the Department of Geology and Geophysics and Vladimir Alvarado of the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering won the second grant.

The grant is for more than $1 million over three years to investigate technologies that would show the potential movement of carbon dioxide sequestered underground.

With a market concerned about the effects of greenhouse gases, Wyoming's carbon sequestration initiatives are critical to ensuring the continued strength of the state's fossil fuel industry, said Carol Frost, associate vice president for research and economic development at UW.