By Julie Johansen
Brock Johansen, Emery Telcom CEO and Chairman of the Carbon Emery Economic Development Committee, welcomed everyone to their meeting on Tuesday, March 19 at the Southeastern Regional Development Agency (SERDA) Building in Price. He reminded everyone that it was a grass roots meeting with no legal authority, just concern for the economic growth of the area.
Johansen then requested that the attendees both in person and on Zoom introduce themselves. There were county commissioners from both counties, city council members, USU Staff members, state government officials, business owners and consultants from various agencies in attendance.
The transition of the San Rafael Energy Research Center from Emery County to the state of Utah was reviewed by Greg Todd, director of the Utah Office of Energy Development. Todd reported meeting with Jeremy Pearson and Dr. Andrew Fry from the center and later announced that once the transition occurs, they will become employees of the State of Utah. The money for Emery County should be coming around July 1 of this year. Todd continued that this is a big opportunity and the Research Center will grow and develop.
A million dollar grant for the development of the center is pending and will be used in many different ways. The county and the state will work together in many different ways. Todd was then questioned about a board for the center and asked that local people be considered for representation there.
Gina Gagon and Brock Johansen then gave an update about the addition of more vocational programs and an Energy Engineering program on the Price campus of USU. It was noted that support from the community would be important. The campuses at Price, Logan, Uintah Basin and Blanding are all being researched in order for Land Grants to be used to bring new faculty to all campuses, including training to add PhD programs. Rep. Christine Watkins added that this can’t happen overnight and will take time.
Richard Powell, Utah Department of Oil, Gas and Mining (DOGM), then reported on the process of obtaining a Class VI well permit which would be needed to permit carbon sequestration. There are six different classifications for mining wells, I through VI, with the DOGM working on Class II and Class VI. Class II injects water, while Class VI permits injecting carbon deep into rock formations, which would reduce CO2 in the atmosphere. Primacy permits have to be granted by the EPA and Department of Environmental Quality which have federal and state regulations. Three states have these primacy permits; North Dakota, Wyoming, Louisiana, though they took years to obtain.
Rob Simmons, Director from the Energy and Geoscience Institute at the University of Utah, then reported on Carbon Capture and Sequestration. He stated that there are projects and studies all over the world in about 150 countries, including one in Milford Utah-FORGE, which does geothermal work.
At the University of Utah, they add all this information to their studies about fracking, etc. There has been carbon storage for over 20 years and there is commercial interest in these projects. Simmons then related businesses in Utah that are already practicing carbon storage.
Scott Wolford of the Utah Inland Port Authority then gave a project overview, stating their process is to resolve, draft, adopt, build and measure projects slated for any area. He said that an Inland Port project area is a hub for collaboration, innovation and growth designed to facilitate global connectivity and streamline economic growth.