(Fiscal Year 2022/2023)
(Fiscal Year 2022/2023)
(Fiscal Year 2022/2023)
(Fiscal Year 2022/2023)
Wilson Awards | ||||
25-Year Service Award Jonathan Mathews, professor of energy and mineral engineering | ||||
Promotion and Tenure
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Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering AwardsThe 2022 and 2023 John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering awards banquets recognized students and faculty in the department. The banquet is held in conjunction with the G. Albert Shoemaker Lecture. EMS Energy Institute students who received awards are listed. | |||||
2024 EME Student Merit Awards
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Hilal Ezgi Toraman, assistant professor of energy engineering and chemical engineering at Penn State, in research lab.
Credit: Courtney Robinson / Penn State
Hilal Ezgi Toraman, assistant professor of energy engineering and chemical engineering, was selected as a “Pioneer of Catalysis and Reaction Engineering (CRE)” by the CRE division of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.
https://bit.ly/3R4tL2Y
Hamid Emami-Meybodi, chair and associate professor of Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering, Zuleima Karpyn, associate dean for graduate education and research at the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences and Donohue Family Professor of Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering and Luis Ayala, William A. Fustos Family Professor in Energy and Mineral Engineering.
Credit: Courtney Robinson / Penn State
The Society of Petroleum of Engineers (SPE) has recognized three faculty members of the John and Willie Leone Family of Energy and Mineral Engineering (EME) for their exceptional service and leadership, as well as their significant professional contributions within their technical disciplines at the regional level.
https://bit.ly/4bDC5Pp
Younes Shekarian, doctoral degree candidate in the John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering.
Credit: David Kubarek / Penn State
Younes Shekarian, a doctoral degree candidate in the John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering received the SME Ph.D. Fellowship grant from the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration (SME). The award helps support exceptional doctoral students who are seeking a career in academia.
https://bit.ly/454bZCN
Ezgi Toraman, assistant professor of energy and mineral engineering and chemical engineering at Penn State, is one of 12 early-career scientists named to Chemical & Engineering News’ (C&EN) 2023 “Talented 12” list.
Credit: C&EN
Ezgi Toraman, assistant professor of energy and mineral engineering and chemical engineering at Penn State, is one of twelve early-career scientists named to Chemical & Engineering News’ (C&EN) 2023 “Talented 12” list that highlights early-career researchers in the chemical sciences who are fearlessly tackling difficult global problems. Toraman was selected for her research in technologies that turn waste into fuels, chemicals, and other products.
https://bit.ly/4aLAVQT
Sanjay Srinivasan
Credit: Penn State
Ever since America’s first commercial oil well began gushing in Pennsylvania in 1859, the state has profited from a robust energy industry. More recently, conservation and green-energy organizations have sprouted across the commonwealth’s three-quarters-rural landscape, pushing Pennsylvania to diversify into wind, solar, and other renewable resources. Whether drilling shale, promoting green alternatives, or keeping the power grids stable, the people on the 2023 Energy & Environment Power 100 list are all helping to write Pennsylvania’s sustainable next chapter.
https://bit.ly/4aEec9n
Russell Johns, professor of petroleum and natural gas engineering at Penn State, was selected to receive the 2023 SPE/AIME Anthony F. Lucas Gold Medal from the International Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) for technical leadership.
Credit: Penn State
Russell Johns, professor of petroleum and natural gas engineering, was selected to receive the 2023 SPE/AIME Anthony F. Lucas Gold Medal from the International Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) for technical leadership. The medal is SPE’s highest international technical award. Johns received the award at the 2023 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition October 16-18, 2023, in San Antonio, Texas.
https://bit.ly/4bWAaFs
Behzad Vaziri Hassas received the 2023 Rong Yu Wan Ph.D. Dissertation Award in Metallurgical Engineering from the Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration. He was recognized for his dissertation, “Process development for selective separation of critical elements from secondary resources.”
Credit: Penn State
Behzad Vaziri Hassas received the 2023 Rong Yu Wan Ph.D. Dissertation Award in Metallurgical Engineering from the Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration. Hassas, who earned his doctorate in energy and mineral engineering from Penn State last year, was recognized for his dissertation, “Process development for selective separation of critical elements from secondary resources.”
https://bit.ly/457YguD
Sarma Pisupati, professor of energy and mineral engineering, professor of chemical engineering, and director of the Center for Critical Minerals, was recently elected as a fellow of the Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers. The induction ceremony was held in Kolkata, India on December 27, 2023.
Old Main on Penn State’s University Park campus.
Credit: Michelle Bixby / Penn State
Eleven Penn State faculty, including Zuleima Karpyn, have received Fulbright Scholar Awards for the 2023-24 academic year, according to the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program. The Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program is the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program. Through the program, Penn State faculty members, staff, and administrators have opportunities to conduct advanced research, teach, or do both, and attend seminars abroad. The program also gives recipients the opportunity to interact with and impact their host communities during their Fulbright tenure.
https://bit.ly/3WZiOnf
We are pleased to announce the creation of new shared laboratories. These labs boast state-of-the-art equipment, including relocated gas chromatography-mass spectrometers, surface analyzers, and thermogravimetric analyzers. Additionally, a dedicated sample preparation area featuring centrifuges, ovens, and grinding and polishing equipment is now available for researchers’ use.
To enhance the graduate student experience, we launched professional development and student engagement opportunities. This includes workshops, seminars, career skills training, and hands-on training, as well as new collaborative lounges for graduate students across two locations to foster more open communications and collaborations.
We’re excited to announce the return of our Energy Exchange Seminar Series after an eight-year hiatus. These seminars delve into critical energy issues of today. We have had discussions on cutting-edge advancements in carbon capture and utilization, clean coal technologies, the latest in oil and gas exploration, fuel cell development, and more. Our speakers are a distinguished group, featuring Penn State faculty alongside experts from government agencies and industry leaders.
We’ve been busy making improvements to the EMS Energy Institute facilities to improve your next visit. This includes clearer signage to help you find us more easily, a modernized lobby with a large information display and searchable people locator and upgraded conference rooms, and more than seventy new posters throughout our buildings to display our ongoing research and initiatives. We’re confident these changes will make your experience at the institute smoother and more efficient.
Incorporating field data for the first time, researchers at Penn State demonstrated machine learning can be a powerful and cost-effective tool for monitoring sequestered carbon dioxide, overcoming a hurdle for the burgeoning technology aimed at combating climate change.
https://bit.ly/4aEudw2
Carbon sequestration could potentially bridge some areas of transportation and manufacturing that are more difficult to shift to carbon neutral sources because the greenhouse gases can be stored deep in the earth. Yet the technology is costly. New work from researchers at Penn State demonstrates that machine learning could greatly reduce the long-term costs of monitoring carbon sequestration sites.
Credit: Pixabay
Stock image
Credit: Unknown
Addressing the incontrovertible risks of climate change requires deep decarbonization. In addition to green measures like upscaling renewables and improving energy efficiency, there is broad scientific consensus that large-scale carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) remains critical to limiting global temperature rise below 2° Celsius. CCS involves capturing carbon dioxide from a point source or directly from the air; compressing and transporting it via a pipeline; and storing it deep underground or utilizing it as a feedstock or agent in another industrial process.
https://bit.ly/4bO8z9w
An acid-mine sludge pond in central Pennsylvania. A byproduct of coal mining, such sites may be rich with critical minerals.
Credit: Provided by Sarma Pisupati
A Penn State research team was recently awarded a $4.99 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to develop and assess advanced separation technologies for the extraction and recovery of rare earth elements and other critical materials from coal, coal wastes and coal by-products.
https://bit.ly/44zglBC
Morgan Advanced Materials visited Penn State recently to sign a memorandum of understanding.
Credit: Christie Clancy/Penn State
Penn State and Morgan Advanced Materials have signed a memorandum of understanding to catalyze research and development of silicon carbide, known as SiC, a semiconductor material that operates more efficiently at high voltages than competing technologies. This agreement includes a new five-year, multimillion-dollar initiative and a commitment by Morgan to become a founding member of the recently launched Penn State Silicon Carbide Innovation Alliance, as well as to supply the graphite materials and solutions needed for SiC development to Penn State for use by internal and external partners. The initiative is a coalition of industry leaders, academic institutions, and government support led by Joshua Robinson, professor of materials science and engineering and acting associate dean for research in Penn State’s College of Earth and Minerals Sciences.
https://bit.ly/49BXOWk
Credit: Penn State
Experimental set-up in Sarma Pisupati’s lab for extracting and separating critical minerals from acid mine drainage.
Credit: Patrick Mansell
Critical minerals, including rare earth metals, are vital components of our consumer goods, national defense, and emerging green-energy technologies, but the U.S is heavily dependent on imports for an adequate supply. Penn State researchers are looking for ways to tap Pennsylvania’s coal mine waste as a domestic source for these materials and reduce environmental pollution at the same time.
https://bit.ly/3R6nbJs
A core sample of clay in the lab. The Mercer Clay, a large deposit in central Pennsylvania, may be a secondary source of the battery metal lithium.
Credit: Patrick Mansell
A Penn State researcher holds a large piece of coal.
Credit: Penn State
The quest to develop hydrogen as a clean energy source that could curb our dependence on fossil fuels may lead to an unexpected place—coal. A team of Penn State scientists found that coal may represent a potential way to store hydrogen gas, much like batteries store energy for future use, addressing a major hurdle in developing a clean energy supply chain.
https://bit.ly/3VlRgWT
An international research team, including Penn State faculty Nelson Dzade, reported a new method for creating more durable solar cells that still achieve high efficiency for converting sunlight to electricity.
Credit: Provided by Nelson Dzade
Next-generation solar materials are cheaper and more sustainable to produce than traditional silicon solar cells, but hurdles remain in making the devices durable enough to withstand real-world conditions. A new technique developed by a team of international scientists could simplify the development of efficient and stable perovskite solar cells, named for their unique crystalline structure that excels at absorbing visible light. The scientists, including Penn State faculty Nelson Dzade, reported in the journal Nature Energy their new method for creating more durable perovskite solar cells that still achieve a high efficiency of 21.59% conversion of sunlight to electricity.
https://bit.ly/3V4rp5g
On April 22-24, 2024, the institute was evaluated by an external panel of experts as part of a mandatory eight-year review cycle. This review’s objective was to evaluate the institute within an international and national context of education and service and to provide constructive feedback on institute plans. This could include examining the institute’s short-term and long-term goals, the educational experience of graduate and undergraduate students, research accomplishments, service requirements, organization, facilities, and resource allocation decisions.
Our external visiting panel consisted of four experts:
During their visit, Lee Kump, the John Leone Dean in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, and Sanjay Srinivasan, institute director, welcomed the external visiting panel. They were presented with a focused self-study prepared by the institute, and, during the review, the external visiting panel had meaningful interactions with faculty, staff, and graduate students. Some of these were in the form of individual meetings and some were in the form of judiciously selected groups. The panel also toured the institute’s facilities. On the final day, the panel members prepared a report from the visit with commendations and recommendations.
External reviews are essential elements in improving the overall quality of education, research productivity and connectivity, and faculty service at the University, and the institute would like to thank the reviewers for their time and thoughtful advice to best advance our goals and mission.
Edward C. Dowling Jr.
Credit: Provided
Edward C. Dowling Jr., president and chief executive officer and board of directors’ member at Compass Minerals, gave the 2024 G. Albert Shoemaker Lecture in Mineral Engineering at Penn State. His talk, “Challenges and Opportunities of the Critical Minerals Revolution,” was held on April 19, in the Hub-Robeson Center’s Freeman Auditorium and online via Zoom. A reception followed in Alumni Hall.
The lecture focused on the realities of climate change and how the global need to transition to non-carbon-emitting energy generation, distribution, and utilization creates fundamental national security implications. The transition also drives an order of magnitude demand increase for various critical and essential minerals. Dowling discussed how significant increases in critical and essential mineral production are strategically vital to achieving the desired green energy transition. His lecture presented the scale of critical and essential mineral requirements and focused on the many technical, human resource, jurisdictional, financial, environmental social, and governance challenges and opportunities that the mining industry faces.
Credit: Pixabay
A workshop focusing on the rise of cross-border electricity interconnections—and the high-stake challenges they introduce—was held on April 15, in 603 Barron Innovation Hub. The workshop was also available online via Zoom.
Moderated by Chiara Lo Prete, associate professor of energy economics at Penn State, the workshop, “The Geopolitics of Cross-border Electricity Grids” featured a twelve-person panel of policy and academic experts who discussed the implications of increased international electricity trade implications in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America, as well as the impact on research.
Tour of labs during the EMS Energy Institute open house.
Credit: Jennifer Matthews
The Penn State EMS Energy Institute hosted an open house from 4-7 p.m. on September 27, 2023, on the Penn State University Park campus to introduce faculty, staff, and students to new director Sanjay Srinivasan and to discuss the path of the institute.
The event began with a presentation led by Srinivasan and Bruce Miller, associate director of the institute. Miller presented an overview of the institute with a historical timeline and an overview of the types of fundamental and applied research performed, strategic program areas, and a breakdown of personnel and funding.
Srinivasan highlighted the benefits of being affiliated with the institute and his plans for the institute’s future, which include fostering collaboration, identifying and supporting niche areas, and leveraging resources to better support researchers. He hopes to build a vibrant student community, promote professional development opportunities, and advance students’ research writing and presentation abilities. In addition, he wants to build a stronger infrastructure that better supports collaboration with industry, national laboratories, and other research organizations.
Participants were also led on a tour of several laboratories to get a better look at facilities and research being conducted at the institute. The labs highlighted included some used for critical minerals research, shared analytical labs, and pilot-scale facilities.
https://www.energy.psu.edu/ei-open-house-2023
Energy Exchange is a seminar series hosted by the EMS Energy Institute as part of its outreach mission. The seminars focus on highly relevant energy topics. Energy topics discussed include new innovations in carbon dioxide utilization, clean coal, petroleum and natural gas, fuel cells, and more. Speakers include Penn State faculty as well as government and industry professionals. The Energy Exchange Seminar Series will return in the fall. Please check our website often for updates: energy.psu.edu
This year’s speakers were:
Eugene Morgan “CO2-SMART: A New Industry-University Collaborative Research center for CO2 Storage Modeling, Monitoring, Analytics, and Risk Reduction Technologies” February 8, 2024 | Erica Smithwick “Penn State's Climate Consortium: Partnerships for People and the Planet” March 14, 2024 Sarma Pisupati “Mineral Security Challenges in Meeting the Goal of Net-Zero Carbon Emissions by 2050” March 28, 2024 | Thandazile Moyo “Integrating Sustainability in Minerals and Energy Resource Extraction Education” April 18, 2024 Joshua Robinson “Silicon Carbide: The Critical Semiconductor for the Energy Transition” May 9, 2024 |
The EMS Energy Institute welcomes the following new members who have joined the Institute since our last publication. Detailed profiles can be found at energy.psu.edu.
Thandazile Moyo
Assistant Professor
Moyo is an assistant professor in the John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering and a co-funded faculty in the Materials Research Institute. She is experienced in the hydrometallurgical processing of gold and base metals. Her research interests are developing flowsheets and testing green technology for metal recovery from primary and secondary resources. Some of her research uses electrochemistry and electroanalytical tools to study surface reactions in mineral dissolution. Beyond the purely technical, Moyo is passionate about the sustainable development of mineral resources and researches the long-term impacts of mineral extraction. She researches artisanal and small-scale mining, looking at the technological challenges and the sector’s contributions to sustainable development. Before she joined Penn State, Moyo completed her doctoral degree in chemical engineering at the University of Cape Town. She worked as a researcher, focused on flowsheet development and testing for metal recovery from waste polychlorinated biphenyls, and co-developed and taught courses on sustainability in minerals extraction at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
Olumide Samuel Ogunmodimu
Assistant Professor
Ogunmodimu is an assistant professor in the John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering, with roles in the EMS Energy Institute, Institute for Computational and Data Sciences, and the Materials Research Institute. With an academic foundation in physics and solar, advanced degrees in energy studies, and a doctorate in chemical engineering from the University of Cape Town, South Africa, his expertise lies in comminution and classification in mineral processing. Before joining Penn State, he gained experience as a research fellow at the University of Cape Town and the University of Queensland’s Julius Kruttschnitt Mineral Research Centre. His research spans the full spectrum of mineral processing, particularly emphasizing the detailed study of granular flow modeling to enhance energy efficiency and sustainability within the mineral processing value chain. Utilizing cutting-edge techniques like positron emission particle tracking and advanced mathematical and computational models, Ogunmodimu is dedicated to advancing mineral processing and materials science, aiming for more sustainable and efficient methodologies.
Jeralyn Brewer
Multimedia Specialist
Brewer joined the EMS Energy Institute in January 2024. She has experience in various areas of graphic and digital design. She currently creates print and digital materials, including flyers, posters, brochures, slides, and more. Prior to joining the institute, Brewer worked in the news media business. She has a bachelor of science degree in geography.
Aime Jones
Administrative Assistant
Jones joined the institute in November 2023. Before starting in her current role, she worked beginning in April 2023 in the College of Information Sciences and Technology. She studied labor and human resources at Penn State.
Colin Minnick
Research Assistant
Minnick joined the institute as a research assistant in December 2023. He holds a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering technology from Penn State.
Faras Al Balushi
Post-doctoral Scholar
Al Balushi joined Penn State as a postdoctoral scholar in the Arash Dahi Taleghani research group in January 2024. He received his bachelor of science, master of science, and doctorate degrees, all in petroleum and natural gas engineering, from Penn State. His research interests include multiscale—pore-, particle-, and field-scale—modeling of subsurface systems for applications in oil and gas and geothermal reservoirs. His doctoral research focused on finding an innovative solution for thermal breakthrough in enhanced geothermal systems and performing sensitivity and feasibility analyses to determine the effectiveness of the developed approach.
Livio Yang Santos
Post-doctoral Scholar
Yang Santos joined Penn State as a postdoctoral scholar in the Arash Dahi Taleghani research group. His research interests include expandable proppants for hydraulic fracturing.
Hello friends:
Greetings to you on a beautiful sunny day in State College after a rainy and damp winter and the beginning of spring. The University Park campus is resplendent with the colors of azaleas, phlox, and the ever-pleasing roses. The lines at the Nittany Lion Shrine are slowly starting to become more manageable, after the frenzy of spring graduation. It is indeed gratifying to note that the University has put forth the next generation of talented and well-trained young professionals to take on the myriad of challenges facing our society. The EMS Energy Institute also had its share of graduate and undergraduate students, well-trained in many aspects of energy research, who are eager to unleash their skills to shape the transformation that is ongoing in the energy sector. We wish them well and look forward to hearing about their career exploits and the major ways in which they have impacted the energy industry.
In the meantime, I have spent my first year as the director of the EMS Energy Institute mostly familiarizing myself with the current activities within the institute. We have an incredibly talented group of administrative and technical staff, and they constantly strive to outdo each other in contributing to making the institute a fantastic place to work. Despite budget reductions, personnel reorganization initiated by the University, and numerous demands placed by funding organizations, these staff members go about doing their jobs with the utmost dedication and diligence, and for that, I am extremely grateful. It gave us much happiness to celebrate our esteemed colleague Elizabeth Wood’s retirement. Liz, as many of you know, was the key person responsible for maintaining the institute’s presence on the worldwide web. She is a graphic artist par excellence, and her artistic touch is visible in nearly every poster on display on the walls of the institute.
Thanks to the enthusiasm of the staff and the army of research affiliates associated with the institute, we have been successful in launching several initiatives during this year.
Some of these are:
For each thematic area, we identified a team of area leads. We entrusted these leads to engage researchers in discussions and produce recommendations for allocation of research resources such as labs, facilities, assignment of graduate assistants, seed funds, etc., recommend members to join the institute’s advisory board, and suggest names of speakers for the Energy Exchange Seminar Series.
Through all these activities, the institute has striven to provide top notch research support to all our affiliates. Whether it be helping projects with research accounting, ordering supplies and chemicals, aiding with organization of meetings, or assisting researchers in the setup of their lab, our staff remain committed to make these as streamlined and efficient as possible. They may be lean in number but large-hearted in their efforts to assist everyone affiliated with the institute. Together we will strive to attain even higher standards in service and efficiency.
Sanjay Srinivasan
Director, EMS Energy Institute
Penn State
Credit: Adobe Stock
ReCET is a new center for repurposing fossil energy infrastructure for energy transition applications. Its mission is to lead in the creation of high-impact, scientifically driven solutions that transcend traditional disciplinary boundaries and transform the trajectory of our world, focusing on subsurface innovations for a sustainable future. It strives to bridge the gap between knowledge and action in geothermal energy, underground pumped hydro storage, hydrogen storage, carbon sequestration, and more.
A: The center is led by Arash Dahi Taleghani. Zhen Li is the associate director.
A: ReCET is based in the EMS Energy Institute. Research labs that contribute to their efforts are housed within the institute and around campus.
A: ReCET has received initial funding from the Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering, the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, the Institute of Energy and the Environment, and the Office of the Senior Vice President for Research at Penn State. Additionally, it has an externally funded project from the U.S. Department of Energy that is currently in the negotiation stage.
A: Through rigorous research and innovation, the center hopes to develop cutting-edge subsurface technologies that drive the transition to convert fossil energy infrastructure into clean energy while ensuring fair access and benefits for all communities. In addition to this research, it is committed to an active outreach initiative. It aims to educate and engage the broader community, fostering understanding and support for sustainable practices. Its outreach program includes partnerships with local schools, workshops for industry professionals, and public workshops on the importance of repurposing solutions for a greener planet. It also plans to work with policymakers to inform regulations and policies that protect our environment.
A: Repurposing mines and oil and gas wells uses existing underground infrastructure for renewable, clean energy technologies. However, each site needs a thorough assessment for technical, environmental, and economic feasibility, requiring multidisciplinary research teams to work on different aspects of such projects such as drilling, cementing and wellbore integrity, geological evaluations, reservoir characterization, seismic monitoring, risk assessment, decision analysis, policy analysis, and project economics. In parallel with efforts to reuse existing infrastructures, the center will also revisit existing technologies in the oil and gas industry and adapt them to be reutilized in challenging subsurface environments such as for hydrogen storage, carbon sequestration, and geothermal production.
A: Pennsylvania has many abandoned mines and about 300,000 abandoned oil and gas wells. Each of these mines or wells may have associated infrastructure in place. These fossil energy assets have historically provided employment opportunities for nearby communities. As we transition to a clean energy economy, it is crucial to revitalize the economies in these energy communities. The new center aims to develop innovative technologies and methodologies to repurpose existing fossil energy assets and infrastructure, both social and economic, into revenue-generating opportunities.
A: This initiative stands out in several ways:
A: ReCET is a multidisciplinary endeavor that brings together faculty members with diverse expertise and backgrounds to address the environmental challenges while reviving the economies of energy communities affected by the transition to less carbon-intensive industries. Our mission is to ensure that the climate benefits derived from repurposing abandoned fossil energy assets are accompanied by tangible social and economic benefits for these communities. By using the collective knowledge and skills of our team, we aim to develop holistic solutions that not only mitigate environmental impacts but also support the well-being and prosperity of the very communities that have historically driven our nation’s energy landscape.
The Subsurface Energy Recovery and Storage (SERS) JIP focuses on energy recovery from geological reservoirs, improved hydrocarbon recovery, and geo-storage of hydrogen and carbon dioxide (CO2). The SERS JIP includes research topics in enhanced oil recovery, hydrocarbon production from unconventional reservoirs, hydrogen and carbon dioxide geo-storage, and geothermal energy. Related research projects use analytical, experimental, and numerical methods.
Multicontact miscibility not valid: RF increases with pressure beyond MMP
Two phase condition: CO2 > CH4 > N2
A: The JIP is co-directed by Hamid Emami-Meybodi, Russell Johns, and Shimin Liu. The effort is led by Emami-Meybodi.
A: The JIP is operated through the EMS Energy Institute and the John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering. Research labs and faculty and student offices are in Hosler Building, Coal Utilization Lab, and Academic West.
A: JIP members consist of industry partners—oil, gas, and energy companies—that pay annual membership fee of $75K/yr.
A: The JIP goals are to:
A: An advisory board comprised of the members of the SERS JIP has been established to provide recommendations on proposal requests, educational topics, and technology research and development projects related to the mission of SERS JIP.
A: It is evident that subsurface energy resources, such as hydrocarbon reservoirs, will be needed for the foreseeable future even as the energy transition occurs. Engineering innovation will be essential to ensure these resources will be part of the solution for the energy transition.
A: The JIP is one of the first of its kind worldwide in sustainable geo-energy production and storage with a focus on increasing energy efficiency and reducing emissions. Because some countries and companies will forego the exploration of new subsurface energy resources, this JIP will develop new technologies to maximize energy recovery from new and mature fields. The JIP also considers how to maximize CO2 storage during and potentially after hydrocarbon depletion. Hydrogen storage and geothermal energy present new challenges in subsurface engineering as well.
A: Membering companies share the risks for conducting high-risk, high reward projects though the JIP. Through combining expertise and resources of multiple co-directors and companies, the JIP members can effectively manage and mitigate risks throughout the projects. Members have ease of access to updated versions of the most advanced toolkits available in the topic areas. Members will also have ease of access to laboratory services, such as routine and special reservoir rock characterization and testing.
