TORRINGTON – Energy industry veteran Terrence Manning told the Torrington Rotary Club on Monday that Wyoming’s coal resources can play a vital role in America’s energy future through modern technology and artificial intelligence-driven innovation.
Manning spoke at the club’s noon meeting at the Cottonwood Country Club after being introduced by Rotarian Wally Wolski. Club President Lisa Johnson called the meeting to order with a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance.
The Canadian-born engineer with 46 years of experience working in 78 countries challenged the notion coal is outdated. He said modern gasification technology can convert Wyoming’s coal into valuable products in environmentally responsible ways.
“We can gasify coal,” Manning said. “We can do it so efficiently that the synthetic gas we get from the gasification of that very energy-dense product that Wyoming’s sitting on hundreds of millions of tons worth can then be used to develop hydrogen. It can be used to develop CO2. It can be used to develop coal to ammonia products. It can all be done in one manufacturing facility.”
Manning, who moved to Wyoming in 2016 after purchasing the Muddy Glenrock oil fields in Converse County, said the push for data centers and AI server farms will create unprecedented demand for reliable, dispatchable power.
“Right now, in this country there’s a huge push to go back to where we had dispatchable, reliable energy sourcing and reversing the trend that says renewable energy is the only way we can power our country,” Manning said. “And one of the underpinnings of that is worldwide web data centers and AI server farms.”
He said power consumption projections are understated.
“50 to 70 terawatts is not unreasonable,” Manning said. “And a terawatt is a big number.”
Manning dismissed outdated imagery of coal pollution, citing advertisements from 1930s Pittsburgh.
“Who believes coal should have that image in 2026?” Manning asked. “It’s silly, right? It’s just completely silly.”
He emphasized America’s regulatory leadership.
“In America we have regulations and we have generally and in essence had regulations for over 70 years,” Manning said. “So, when the world compares America to the standards that are being set every day by folks that think they know best or better, I’m quick to tell them that most of the standards that they would like to set for themselves have already been adhered to for decades in America.”
Manning addressed carbon capture, explaining CO2 has been used successfully in Wyoming for enhanced oil recovery for 47 years.
“Carbon capture is what happens when you gasify coal or you burn hybrid carbon-based fuel,” Manning said. “So, you get carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and basically you usually concentrate that to a stream that then becomes usable.”
He said the federal government’s Section 45Q tax credit under President Obama made CO2 a value-added product rather than waste.
On the topic of all-of-the-above energy policy, Manning urged Rotarians to seek truth and educate their neighbors.
“Fear has been used as a tool against the under-informed,” Manning said. “But now that you have AI, none of you, if you have a computer or even a phone...in half an hour you could become incredibly informed on any specific element of the energy policies of Wyoming as it relates to an all of the above energy platform.”
Manning said he used AI that morning to create a 12-page report on Wyoming’s energy transition in 24 minutes.
“I just did a couple of searches and while my searches might be different because I’m 45 years in the business, in 24 minutes I built a 12-page treatise on the energy transition for Wyoming,” Manning said.
He emphasized America’s advantages.
“America is the most blessed country on this amazing globe we live on by any standard you want to look at,” Manning said. “I have worked in actually 78 countries. I actually have managed projects in 20. And I have been doing this for 46 years.”
Manning called for education reform to prepare youth for the technology revolution.
“We should be training at our community colleges and our universities all programs to include elements of how artificial intelligence will contact and touch us,” Manning said.
The meeting included announcements about upcoming events including a Nov. 6 Shelter Box Initiative virtual benefit and a Nov. 10 visit from Rising Star students. President Johnson read a thank-you letter from Torrington Police Chief Matt Johnson for the club’s donation to the Goshen County DARE Program.
Next week’s meeting will feature Lauren Schofield with the Wyoming Innovation Partnership.
