AMES, Iowa ( IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH ) - A study by Iowa State University researchers shows the viability of using bio-oils to plug abandoned oil wells, an application that could drive economic growth for Iowans with farm and forest waste.

ISU mechanical engineering professor Mark Mba-Wright led a “techno-economic assessment” of technology that uses oil created from plant waste to fill orphan oil wells, or abandoned wells that need to be filled in, and sequester carbon dioxide.

Mba-Wright, who has studied bio-oils and its applications for more than a decade, said he was surprised to learn about this use of the materials when the carbon removal company Charm Industrial reached out about conducting the study. The fossil fuel and biofuel industries aren’t usually mentioned in connection

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