Colorado ponders storing carbon in defunct oil and gas wells

By JESSE BEDAYN
Associated Press/Report for America

DENVER (AP) — Colorado lawmakers have proposed a bill to study whether a type of charcoal could be used to plug deserted oil and gas wells. The substance is called biochar, and it’s made from burning organic matter such as plants at high heat and little-to-no oxygen. The hope is that putting carbon-rich biochar into defunct oil shafts will trap that carbon underground and keep it from forming carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The biochar could also filter dangerous gasses that still leak from the wells. The proposed legislation would direct Colorado State University to review research into biochar and determine if it’s a viable form of carbon sequestration.