Texas is in a very advantageous position to play a leading role in driving hydrogen market growth, but the evolution of policy and market structure will dictate whether or not this comes to pass.
Kenneth B. Medlock III, Shih Yu (Elsie) HungFebruary 16, 2023
In the next year, the EPA could make a final decision on whether to classify PVC as hazardous waste. What would this entail? Fellow Rachel Meidl explores why a hazardous designation for PVC would have costly implications — moving the U.S. further from its goal of achieving a sustainable, circular economy.
China’s dominance over the supply of rare earths — which are critical for energy transition and defense technologies — should spur U.S. policymakers to bolster raw materials supply chains, write energy fellow Michelle Michot Foss and co-author Jacob Koelsch.
Michelle Michot Foss, Jacob KoelschDecember 19, 2022
Why does Texas have its own power grid, and how can its history inform the future of electric power in the state? Nonresident scholar Julie Cohn looks beyond the mythology surrounding the standalone Texas grid and finds that reliability and economics — not politics — were the major factors leading to isolation.
Texas has long been an economic leader, but the state lags critically in a major area: health. A new report by M.D. candidate Kushal T. Kadakia and nonresident scholar Anaeze C. Offodile II offers a road map for improving Texas’ health rankings by 10 spots in 10 years.
Kushal T. Kadakia, Anaeze C. Offodile IIOctober 17, 2022
As the European Union develops a carbon border tax and the United States considers its own, this report argues for the need to track cross-border carbon trade comprehensively — including trade in fossil fuels.
The authors examine tensions in nickel supply and value chains within the context of broad aspirations to electrify transport. Through their case study, which focuses on China’s growing presence in Indonesian nickel extraction and processing, they contend that China is positioning itself as a gatekeeper to the energy transition — with vast implications for strategic planning in the United States.
With opposition to large-scale energy infrastructure on the rise, transmission service providers find it problematic to build the new power lines essential to a greener grid. This paper highlights the Texas Competitive Renewable Energy Zone initiative (CREZ) — a case study of the difficulties that new power lines face and the policy choices that can facilitate development of this necessary infrastructure. The CREZ experience can inform development of new large-scale transmission infrastructure in other regions.
In this series of papers, the authors argue that Texas has a comparative advantage when it comes to implementing CCUS technologies, given the volume of CO2 emissions from industrial activity, the amount of oil and gas production, the scale of geologic storage potential, and the breadth of engineering and subsurface expertise in the state. Lawmakers and regulators can help facilitate the development of a robust CCUS industry in the state by addressing existing legal and regulatory uncertainties and by carefully considering pathways that can establish Texas as a leader in a low carbon energy future.
Understanding the strategic and tactical considerations of Saudi Arabia will be the key factor for the success of U.S. policy in the wake of the oil price crash and Covid-19 outbreak.
Mark Finley, Jim Krane, Kenneth B. Medlock IIIApril 5, 2020