(16 Feb 2023)
++HFRHFR 16 FEBURARY 2023 TIME TBD++
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Berthoud, Colorado - 13 February 2023
1. Various of machinery processing shredded wood at biochar facility
2. SOUNDBITE (English) James Gaspard, CEO of Biochar Now:
“Biochar is where we take non-merchable waste wood, either dead trees or forest fire debris. We put it through a chemical reaction and we convert it into pure carbon.”
3. Various of kilns and workers dumping biochar into a bin
4. SOUNDBITE (English) James Gaspard, CEO of Biochar Now:
“And we’re the only carbon that has both positive and negative charges. So we can bind salts as well as chemicals and nasty stuff out of water. So we can clean up frack water spills from salty, flowback water to drinking water. You know, so there’s a lot of different uses.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Denver - 14 February 2023
5. Various of Colorado State Capitol building
6. SOUNDBITE (English) State Rep. Karen McCormick, (D) Colorado:
“In Colorado, there are upwards of 500 orphan wells that the state is in charge of plugging. And this bill will look at the potential use of biochar in those plugging and abandonment operations. So there’s a large space down the hole that needs to be filled to a certain pressure, and biochar is potentially a substance that can be used down that hole to permanently sink carbon into these holes.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Northern Colorado - 13 February 2023
7. Various of oil and gas wells
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Denver - 14 February 2023
8. SOUNDBITE (English) State Rep. Karen McCormick, (D) Colorado:
“Because of its structure _ it does look like a very organized sponge when you look at it under the microscope _ and its ability, potential ability, to filter some of the emissions _ methane, carbon dioxide and benzene _ we want to study if indeed it would be beneficial to use."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Berthoud, Colorado - 13 February 2023
9. Various close-up shots of biochar as a finished product
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Denver - 14 February 2023
10. SOUNDBITE (English) State Rep. Karen McCormick, (D) Colorado::
“Permanently removing carbon is also critically important because over the past century and a half or more we have been putting more carbon into the atmosphere than the cycle can handle. And that’s where we need to focus, is how do we not only stop putting excess carbon into the cycle, but can we make take measures to move carbon out of the cycle permanently."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Berthoud, Colorado - 13 February 2023
11. Worker walking in front of logs at biochar facility
STORYLINE:
Across the United States, millions of deserted oil wells plunge thousands of feet into the earth where ancient stores of oil and gas have been pumped out, combusted and released as carbon dioxide.
While these pits were once symbols of pollution, Colorado lawmakers may give them a new, redemptive purpose: as deep receptacles to trap carbon for millennia.
Lawmakers have proposed a bill to study the use of biochar, a type of carbon-rich charcoal, in plugging the roughly 500 orphaned oil and gas wells scattered across the state. The hope is that biochar stuffed down the shafts will not only filter gaseous leaks, but that the carbon will be trapped in the ground instead of forming CO2 and entering the atmosphere.
The bill would direct researchers at Colorado State University to measure the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposal.
Colorado State Rep. Karen McCormick said she hopes biochar can act as a sponge to filter and trap pollution from abandoned wells.
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