LOUISVILLE - ConocoPhillips Co.'s plans to open a Global Technology and Corporate Learning Center in Louisville likely will make Colorado and the Boulder Valley a leader in energy reform, local economic developers and officials say.

The Houston-based energy giant was the mystery buyer of the Storage Technology Corp. property along U.S. 36, which Sun Microsystems Inc. sold for $58.5 million on Jan. 28. ConocoPhillips hopes to have the center operational by 2012 to focus on renewable energy and high-tech carbon fuels recovery.

U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar lauded ConocoPhillips' decision to locate its new center in Louisville.

"This reinforces Colorado's reputation as a trailblazer in our nation's quest for renewable energy and recognizes the abundant intellectual resources and potential that exist in Colorado, such as NREL and the Colorado Collaboratory who do important work to expand renewable energy opportunities every day.

"The location of this center in Colorado will bring great minds from across the country and the world to our state and will continue to make us a hub for renewable energy research and development."

The new ConocoPhillips center could specifically make the Boulder Valley a central hub for alternative energy, said Frances Draper, executive director of the Boulder Economic Council.

"I think it will be a real shot in the arm with the potential growth of alternative energy companies wanting to locate to the area," Draper said.  "All the resources - from ConocoPhillips to the alternative energy collaborative with CU, CSU and the School of Mines and NREL - will all be in one area."

Draper said it's hard to predict whether the new center will increase traffic and congestion to an already busy area along U.S. 36.

"This probably won't be your traditional employee base because of all the visitors and training," she said. "I'm guessing that if you're building a renewable energy center, then it will integrate public transportation."

It's not clear if ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) will raze the buildings and start from the ground up or renovate the existing buildings. Company spokesman Bill Tanner said ConocoPhillips is forming internal teams to assess the buildings at the 432-acre site to determine how much renovation or construction must be done to build the research and development center "We will be moving quickly on this over then next few months."

Tanner said the area appeals to ConocoPhillips because the campus is within 50 miles of four universities - University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado School of Mines in Golden and the University of Denver - and other amenities. "The National Renewable Energy Lab is nearby, Denver International Airport is a world-class airport, and the community is one of those top 100 places to live," Tanner said.

ConocoPhillips currently has two research and development operations in Bartlesville and Ponca City, Okla. Tanner said they are operating at capacity.

Tanner said the number of jobs the center will generate hasn't been determined.

"We will have a permanent cadre of employees to run the center, and we will be regularly bringing in employees from our 40 locations worldwide to use the center."

The revolving door of employees will bode well for hotels, restaurants and tourism in the area, said Broomfield Economic Development Corp. President Don Dunshee.

Before the property sale, five new hotels already had been proposed along the U.S. 36 Corridor in Broomfield - two at Parkway Circle, directly southeast of the campus, two in the Interlocken Advanced Technology Environment business park and one at Arista next to the Broomfield Event Center.

Gov. Bill Ritter announced the energy company's plans for the StorageTek site Feb. 20 in a speech to the Rocky Mountain Asphalt Association at the Holiday Inn at Denver International Airport. The governor had learned of the buyer that morning, said spokesman Jim Carpenter.

Ritter said this helps establish the state as a leader in what he calls the "New Energy Economy."

"ConocoPhillips clearly recognizes the need to marry the traditional oil-and-gas industry with renewable energy," he said, in a statement. "Fossil fuels will be part of our energy future for decades, but we must build a bridge to the future through new, cleaner technologies and renewable energy."

NREL in Golden has been working with ConocoPhillips since 2003, said NREL spokesman Gary Schmitz.

"The primary focus is biofuels ... one being how to create commercial ethanol from cellulose," Schmitz said. "Today most all ethanol in the country is from corn. But we don't want fuel to compete with food sources."

Schmitz said that cellulose can be derived from many other sources, such as the nonfood leftovers of corn, switchgrass, or fast-growing trees.

"Once perfected, it would provide a boom for the ethanol industry," he said.

ConocoPhillips has yet to ask the state for economic incentives pertaining to the property deal, but it could still do so before building out the campus.

"I think they're here for other reasons," said Don Elliman, director of Colorado's Office of Economic Development. "The quality of life, the quality of employees, and number one, the strong research base of alternative energy already here."

Jon Bargas, communications director with the Independent Petroleum Association of Mountain States, said ConocoPhillips' local presence will be good for the state and the pursuit of sustainable fuels.

"We think it's a great thing for Colorado and our region as a whole. We have always been a big supporter of renewable energy production," Bargas said. "This is an exciting thing for our state, to have a facility that is going to be researching and making these renewable energy sources viable."

The nonprofit trade association represents more than 400 independent oil and natural gas producers, service and supply companies, banking and financial institutions and industry consultants committed to "environmentally responsible oil and natural gas development in the Intermountain West," according to its Web site. ConocoPhillips is not a member of the association.

ConocoPhillips is the fifth-largest refiner in the world. It reported revenues of $194.5 billion and a net income of $11.9 billion in 2007.  The company employs 32,600 people worldwide.