Financing the transition: Students raise $200k to launch Rice New Energy Fund
Shikhar Verma ’24 launched the student-managed Rice New Energy Fund (RNEF), the nation’s first student-managed investment fund focused on the energy transition. Its goal is to generate returns for the fund with sustainability initiatives while advancing decarbonization, student finance education and team diversity.
Lithium’s narrow paths limit batteries
Study suggests that lithium batteries would benefit from more porous electrodes with better-aligned particles that don’t limit lithium distribution.
Wind, solar could replace coal power in Texas
A fraction of the wind and solar projects already proposed in Texas could eliminate the state’s remaining coal power plants and their emissions, according to Rice University engineers.
Saudi Aramco joins Rice University’s Carbon Hub
Saudi Aramco joins Rice’s Carbon Hub research initiative to accelerate the energy transition by developing sustainable uses of hydrocarbons.
Energy transition could be headed for ‘valley of death,’ says report
Investments in oil and gas have decreased in favor of alternative energy in recent years, but with alternative energy technologies still able to supply only a small fraction of useable energy, rushing the transition would be a costly mistake, according to a new report from Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.
Rusting iron can be its own worst enemy
Atom-level simulations reveal the reason iron rusts in supposedly “inert” supercritical carbon dioxide fluid. Trace amounts of water can cause a reaction at the interface between iron and the fluid, prompting the formation of corrosive chemicals.
Rice’s Technology Development Fund backs faculty projects
Nine projects proposed by Rice researchers have been granted seed funding by Creative Ventures' Technology Development Fund.
Ultrathin solar cells get a boost
Rice University engineers boost the efficiency while retaining the toughness of solar cells made of two-dimensional perovskites.
Renewable energy will increase security and lower geopolitical risk, study shows
The transition to renewable energy will make the U.S. energy supply significantly more secure not only by decreasing the mining and materials required to build fossil fuel systems, but also by avoiding the political risks that threaten fossil fuel supply chains, according to new research from Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.
Baker Institute and Baker Botts’ Annual Energy Summit to examine global energy transition
HOUSTON – (Sept. 15, 2021) – The 2021 Annual Energy Summit at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy will explore the critical issues affecting global energy markets, oil and gas, electricity, renewables and the environment in a virtual conference Sept. 29-30.
Iran’s water crisis is a warning for the US
HOUSTON – (Aug. 3, 2021) – Iran’s groundwater depletion and food security crisis is an issue of global importance reflecting not only climate change, but also a pattern of policy mismanagement, according to an expert from Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.
Solar energy collectors grown from seeds
Rice University engineers have created microscopic seeds for growing remarkably uniform 2D perovskite crystals that are both stable and highly efficient at harvesting electricity from sunlight.
Houston is ready for the green energy transition, says Baker Institute expert
Houston’s “energy capital of the world” status is here to stay — no matter the type of energy — according to a new report from Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.
Rice team vying for $1 million Solar Desalination Prize
A Rice team's clever design uses the power of the sun to make fresh water from saltwater, even at night.
Rice team forges path toward geothermal future
Rice scientists have joined a federal project to accelerate breakthroughs in geothermal systems for unlimited, inexpensive energy.
