Episode 36: Producing Renewable Gas with Cowboy Clean Fuels

Like most energy states, Wyoming has stranded infrastructure due to the boom and busts associated with energy production, including in the Powder River Basin where a coal bed methane industry has been decimated by a decade of low natural gas prices. An original UW School of Energy Resources center of excellence, the Center for Biogenic Natural Gas Research, was created to find ways to leverage that stranded infrastructure. Led by Dr. Michael Urynowicz, the Center invented a way to use the microorganisms in deep coal seams to create new, renewable gas using agricultural waste. That technology is being commercialized by a spin-off company called Cowboy Clean Fuels, led by CEO Ryan Waddington. Cowboy Clean Fuels has big aspirations and could change the fate of stranded infrastructure while creating new Wyoming energy products. In this episode, Dr. Krutka sits down with Dr. Urynowicz and Mr. Waddington to talk about science, technology, and commercialization.