Energy

A new “digital twin” of The University of Texas at Austin campus gives the clearest picture yet of historical and current energy usage across the Forty Acres — from engineering labs, to medical facilities, to sports stadiums, to residence halls.

A new battery technology is poised to boost electric vehicle capabilities by increasing how far a vehicle can go on a single charge and enabling more sustainable transportation. It could help usher in a future where electric vehicles play a major role in redefining mobility and environmental responsibility.

The University of Texas at Austin is the leading academic organization and a founding member of the new HyVelocity Hydrogen Hub that will deliver clean hydrogen innovation and good-paying jobs to local communities in Texas and southwest Louisiana, a region that is home to one of the world's largest concentrations of hydrogen production, pipelines and users.

Battery experts at The University of Texas at Austin have shed new light on a critical issue facing battery components commonly used in electric vehicles.

A startup born out of the late 2019 Nobel laureate Professor John Goodenough’s lab that is developing a cost-effective alternative to lithium-ion batteries is getting support from Discovery to Impact, The University of Texas at Austin's research commercialization group. 

Energy security is getting a boost at The University of Texas at Austin. The Cockrell School of Engineering will now partner with the Kay Bailey Hutchison Energy Center.

The journey through the past, present and future of energy continues as “Power Trip: The Story of Energy” returns for a second season airing on PBS nationwide.

An alliance of nine universities, three national labs and 37 companies will tackle one of the biggest hurdles to decarbonizing manufacturing: carbon dioxide emissions from generating process heat.

Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin will play a significant role in the effort that aims to replace the energy source that powers most manufacturing processes, swapping out hydrocarbon fuels for clean electricity – generated through renewable sources such as solar and wind. Doing this could make a major impact, as manufacturing represents more than 30% of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions.

The University of Texas at Austin is leading a new energy consortium in partnership with six New Mexico and Texas universities and two national laboratories for development of the Permian Energy Development Laboratory. The memorandum of understanding reflects a shared goal of conducting advanced energy research, educating the next generation of energy professionals, and supporting energy-intensive communities and the natural resources on which they depend.

A new multi-disciplinary report that includes several Texas Engineers lays out the case for geothermal energy as the next big source of clean energy in Texas, with the ability to scale globally over the next few decades.

The study evaluates the size and potential scale of geothermal — the naturally occurring heat energy in the Earth’s subsurface. It also provides a scientific basis for informed decision-making as entities begin to consider the increased development of geothermal in Texas.

Capturing the potential profits and jobs offered by a growing hydrogen industry may need as much innovation in regulatory agencies as it does in the research laboratories, according to new research from The University of Texas at Austin. The work highlights the increasing complexity and interconnected nature of energy markets as disparate regulatory agencies push for increased use of clean energy sources.

In the paper, published recently in the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, the researchers studied a wind farm in west Texas to find ways wind farm owners can enhance profitability by making hydrogen. They examined various scenarios, including profit points of selling electricity versus hydrogen and storing hydrogen to sell either hydrogen or hydrogen-derived electricity as the markets change.

The landscape of buildings that populate cities around the world are both major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, and potentially, significant suppliers of energy to the electrical grid. As a result, there is a movement around the world, across multiple industries, to better control building emissions and energy usage.

A competition created by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin challenges teams of engineers and scientists to deploy artificial intelligence to improve building energy consumption. Now in its third year, the CityLearn Challenge is the biggest it’s ever been, with more than 600 people from 50 countries, across roughly 100 teams, participating.

As electric vehicles grow in popularity, the spotlight shines more brightly on some of their remaining major issues. Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin are tackling two of the bigger challenges facing electric vehicles: limited range and slow recharging.

Four Texas universities, led by The University of Texas at Austin, have been awarded a grant to establish a new research center to study the risks and impacts of flooding and air pollution in a fast-growing part of Southeast Texas. The scientists will focus on the interactions between these two key issues, as well as their potential acceleration under various climate scenarios.

The University of Texas at Austin and Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) have selected five projects to be funded by the Energize Program, a new opportunity for enhanced scientific collaboration between the two institutions focused on energy research. “I have no doubt that with the combined capabilities and expertise of SwRI and UT Austin, these projects will have a strong, positive impact on some of our greatest challenges in the energy sector,” said SwRI Executive Vice President and COO Walt Downing.

A new, two-part class through Texas Engineering Executive Education (TxEEE), the professional development division of the Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, aims to give the energy industry greater understanding of how to utilize, manage and understand one of the world’s most important fuels while reducing the release of a potent greenhouse gas.

Texas could eliminate its carbon pollution in fewer than 30 years, and decarbonizing would actually strengthen the state’s economy, according to new research from energy scientists at The University of Texas at Austin. The report warns that global markets are already casting a wary eye on goods and services that rely on fossil fuels. Those shifting consumer preferences could mean trouble for Texas, which built an economy larger than those of most countries on the strength of its oil and natural gas industries. Texas risks losing its economic footing unless it embraces new approaches to energy production, the report says.

Led by the Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering, the Cockrell School of Engineering has launched a new sustainable energy minor, an 18-hour program available to students majoring in chemistry, environmental science, geological sciences, architectural engineering, chemical engineering, civil engineering, electrical and computer engineering, environmental engineering, geosystems engineering and hydrogeology, mechanical engineering and petroleum engineering.

The University of Texas at Austin and Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), a research organization that aims to improve the efficiency of conventional power generation and aid the integration of renewable resources, have created The Energize Program, a new opportunity to enhance greater scientific collaboration between the two institutions.

New applications in energy, defense and telecommunications could receive a boost after a team at The University of Texas at Austin created a new type of “nanocrystal gel” — a gel composed of tiny nanocrystals each 10,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair that are linked together into an organized network.