Research Library

This paper lays out one potential step-by-step path toward decarbonizing Saudi Arabia, imagining a sweeping restructuring of a fossil fuel-driven society and economy.

Texas is the source of about one-quarter of all energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the US industrial sector and about one-eighth of all CO2 emissions from the US power generation sector, with a significant proportion of emissions in both sectors located near the gulf coast. As such, Texas has the opportunity to capture significant economies of scale in carbon capture.

A working group led by the Baker Institute has developed an innovative measurement-based standard — “BCarbon” — for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it in the soil as organic carbon. BCarbon is a scalable soil carbon storage standard designed to work for landowners and soil carbon storage buyers. The proposed standard allows landowners to monetize soil carbon storage as a property right.

The authors identify bottlenecks in the oil the oil and gas value chain that physically cause upstream flaring at the well; analyze the economic reasons for flaring, market distortions that could exacerbate it, and the cost to society of flaring, then lay out an agenda for researchers and policymakers.

Despite its massive geological endowment and receiving what could be considered the largest windfall in its economic history, Venezuela entered 2020 in the middle of an unprecedented economic crisis. The Covid-19 pandemic and turbulence in oil markets represent the latest in a string of problems that expose the country’s vulnerability.

The authors explore the history of the resource curse and provide summarize the working paper series titled “The Role of Foreign Direct Investment in Resource-Rich Regions.”

The unfettered development of Houston's flood-prone areas undoubtedly magnified the tremendous damage caused by Hurricane Harvey, but zoning or other land use controls are unpopular on the Texas coast and are unlikely to be adopted as a result. With this in mind, the SSPEED Center at Rice University looked to innovation and the market system to find a creative solution to protect important natural, flood-prone areas from further development. 

In this working paper, energy fellow Jim Krane examines the risks the fossil fuel industry faces as a result of climate mitigation strategies.

This working paper analyzes the roots of Iran’s “dissonant” political system and revolutionary ideology, the fractious contest over defining and applying this ideology, and the implications of these struggles for Iranian foreign and security policy.

Using Texas as a case study, this paper addresses which policies are desirable to best manage and regulate the supply of brackish groundwater.