New institute will drive engagement across communities impacted by energy transition

POSTED ON Mar 28, 2022

The University of Houston (UH) has announced that a $10 million gift from Shell USA, Inc. and Shell Global Solutions (US) Inc. has enabled UH to establish the Energy Transition Institute. After the institute is launched, UH said it is expected that Shell scientists will work side by side with faculty and students on hydrogen, carbon management, and circular plastics.

According to UH, the institute’s hydrogen focus will be on the industrial use, storage, and transportation of liquid hydrogen, driven by a commercialization effort to accelerate its decarbonization at scale. Policy, research, and development for carbon management is also a focus, with the goal of progressing emissions reduction through the capture, utilization, and storage of carbon dioxide and methane.

Circular plastics will be another focus area of the Energy Transition Institute, with significant research proximity to Houston, which has the largest concentration of petrochemical manufacturing facilities in the world. Ramanan Krishnamoorti, UH’s chief energy officer, believes the institute will advance knowledge-based technologies such as lifecycle analysis, policy, carbon intensity, and validation for cross-border trade and commerce.

“Houston is poised, like no other city, to lead the energy transition, and the Energy Transition Institute will be essential in pursuit of that goal,” said University of Houston President Renu Khator in the statement. “Along with advancing energy equity and social impacts in our communities, Shell’s generous gift will help UH maintain its leadership role in the energy transition.”

In addition to conducting innovative research, the Energy Transition Institute will be responsible for:

Recruiting new faculty with expertise in energy transition research and technology

Driving new collaborations with researchers across the UH campus whose work is relevant to the institute’s mission

Developing new public-private partnerships and educating external stakeholders

Creating a UH Energy Transition Index to capture the energy transition progress for industry practitioners and leaders

Recruiting new faculty in policy and regulation

Driving stakeholder engagement across communities impacted by the energy transition, especially Hispanic-and Latino-serving populations

Developing partnerships with other minority-serving institutions universities

Engaging with non-government and grassroots organizations to identify and develop strategies for addressing environmental justice

Creating research programs across disciplines focused on energy equity and environmental justice

Upskilling the existing workforce on topics related to sustainable energy development and facilitate collaborative opportunities between Shell and other partners from different industries including technology and automotive and UH faculty and researchers

Creating arranged sabbaticals for research faculty to work on the Shell campus; Integrate Shell subject matter experts into UH experiential learning programs.