Sustainability

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.

Humanities hosts daylong visit for high schoolers hoping to study the environment

These students picked Rice for a reason

Rice recognized as a Bicycle Friendly University

The League of American Bicyclists has named Rice a Bicycle Friendly University with Silver status, up from Bronze four years ago.

Gas flares tied to premature deaths

Rice engineers suggest that flaring of natural gas at oil and gas fields in the United States, primarily in North Dakota and Texas, contributed to dozens of premature deaths in 2019.

Rice earns Tree Campus USA recognition for 10th straight year

Rice earns Tree Campus USA recognition for 10th straight year

Environmental champions win Rice grants

The Rice University Sustainable Futures Fund backs six projects to help bolster the planet’s environmental health.

Rice announces plans to be carbon neutral by 2030

Rice President David Leebron and Provost Reginald DesRoches outlined the efforts in a message to the university community Feb. 11.

Rare earth elements await in waste

Rice University scientists applied their flash Joule heating process to coal fly ash and other toxic waste to safely extract rare earth elements essential to modern electronics and green technologies.

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.

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.

People, papers and presentations for Nov. 8, 2021

Rice is ranked No. 2 for diversity and affordability and tied for No. 5 for research in the latest edition of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education's Sustainable Campus Index.

Urban mining for metals flashes electronic trash into treasure

Flash Joule heating recovers valuable and toxic metals from electronic waste. The process allows for “urban mining” of resources that could be a win for the environment as well as for manufacturers.

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.

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.