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Howdy!
Welcome to the February 2012 issue of News Briefs, the Texas A&M Energy Institute's e-newsletter. News Briefs is intended to keep you informed about all the good things going on in energy research at EI and Texas A&M University as well as state, national and international energy-related news that affects all of us.
If you have any questions, comments or ideas for future issues, please contact Lisa Groce at 979.458.1644 or tamuenergy@pe.tamu.edu.
We encourage you to forward News Briefs on to your friends and colleagues. If you aren't already a subscriber and would like to receive our monthly e-newsletter, please click the "Join our Mailing List" button on the lower right.
Thank you and Gig 'em!
Steve Holditch
Director, EI |
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Texas A&M Wind Energy Research Group to be Reactivated | |
As part of his ongoing efforts to bring together Texas A&M faculty with research interests in the wind energy field, John Pappas, Vestas Director of the Wind Energy Center, has proposed that the dormant Texas A&M Wind Energy Research Group be reactivated. Being aware of current and proposed research projects as well as the expertise available at TAMU could lead to opportunities for collaboration on new and multidisciplinary projects.
Initial activities will include a series of one to two-hour meetings during which individual speakers will spend 10 minutes giving an overview of their current research and its relationship to wind power. Participants will then discuss current events and opportunities in wind power.
If you are interested in being part of this group, please contact Robyn Pearson (rlpearson@tamu.edu) or 979-458-1685. The first meeting will be held in March, date TBD. |
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An Interim To-Do List: What's Ahead for the Lege in Energy | |
February 7, 2012 l 11:00 a.m.
by Terrence Henry
On Monday afternoon, Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst released his interim charges to the Business & Commerce, Natural Resources and Government Organization Committees.
What are interim charges? They are issues that the respective Senate committees look at leading up to the next legislative session, which is less than a year away. Some of these issues are being examined now so a bill will be ready to go once the legislature convenes. Essentially, the interim charges are a preview of what will be important for the next session, and as such, give us a sneak peak of what energy and environmental issues will be in the mix.
Dewhurst is currently running for the U.S. Senate, campaigning heavily against many policies of the Obama administration.
Dewhurst directed the Natural Resources Committee to look at the potential effects of new and upcoming Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules on:
- Electric reliability in Texas,
- Affordability of electricity in Texas, and
- Competitiveness of energy intensive sectors of the Texas economy, and make recommendations to reduce the regulatory burden and maintain a business-friendly climate.
The last one is likely to get some attention. Dewhurst listed the specific EPA regulations he wants the committee to look at, and they mirror almost exactly the EPA rules that the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation lambasted yesterday at a conference, calling it an "approaching regulatory avalanche."
To read more, click here. |
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Pipeline Plight - Obama Rejects Permit, Debate Continues | |
The Battalion
President Barack Obama rejected a permit on Jan. 18 to start building the Keystone XL Pipeline, a 1,700-mile pipeline that would travel from the tar sands of Alberta, Canada, to refineries on the Gulf Coast.
If construction were approved, the pipeline would create tens of thousands of jobs for construction laborers and engineers. Kelly Brumbelow, associate professor of petroleum engineering, said in the long-term, all students at A&M, along with everyone else, would be affected to some degree by the effects of the pipeline - good and bad.
"On the good side, the U.S. would have another means to import petroleum from a friendly neighbor," Brumbelow said. "On the bad side, there will be a lot of greenhouse gas emissions and processing costs will make this a relatively expensive oil source."
Many factors contribute to the controversy that surrounds the President's decision, including environmental concerns, profitability of the Keystone XL project and conflicting bipartisan views. Brumbelow said the big conflict is that it would cross western Nebraska, over the Ogallala Aquifer, which is a very important aquifer for several states.
"You might have a rupture or leak, and petroleum would seep into the aquifer underneath," Brumbelow said. "Sometimes it can be very expensive to treat the water and clean potential spills. The number one issue of tar sand oil is that it's very hard to get out of the ground and also hard to process because it's so thick. To draw oil out of a place like that, you have to scrape open the earth for thousands of acres."
Stephen Holditch, director of the Texas A&M Energy Institute and
professor of petroleum engineering, said the pipeline is so vital to the well being of the American oil power struggle that its construction is inevitable.
"Let's say the unthinkable happens and they don't build this pipeline - the Canadians are just going to build a pipeline to the Pacific and sell it to China," Holditch said. "The environmental concerns are essentially nonsense; it's astounding to look at a map of all the pipelines that have been laid already in North America. This is just one more pipeline. Pipelines are the safest way to move oil and a new one will not create an environmental disaster. In fact, a new pipeline will be constructed to the latest and safest standards."
To read more about the pipelight plight, click here. |
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U.S. Energy Department Awards $1.87 Million for Plant Fuel Project | |
February 15, 2012
by Kathleen Phillips
COLLEGE STATION - The U.S. Department of Energy has granted more than $1.8 million to a researcher looking at tobacco as a potential fuel source. And if that succeeds within 18 months, almost $2 million more will be given to transfer the technology into giant reed, a fast-growing grass species.
"The goal of our project is to make sure our country is the leader around the world in terms of energy and research," said Dr. Joshua Yuan, Texas AgriLife Research plant pathologist and lead investigator on the project. "Energy independence and energy costs are all important considerations for our country."
To read the article in its entirety, click here. |
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Xie Receives Prestigious NSF CAREER Award | |
Dr. Le Xie, assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Texas A&M University, recently received the prestigious Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF).
The NSF established the CAREER program to support junior faculty within the context of their overall career development, combining in a single program the support of research and education of the highest quality and in the broadest sense. Through this program, the NSF emphasizes the importance on the early development of academic careers dedicated to stimulating the discovery process in which the excitement of research is enhanced by inspired teaching and enthusiastic learning.
To read the complete article, click here. |
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The Energy Institute (EI) is addressing the world's energy challenges through research, development and deployment. The Institute matches researchers and world-class facilities with internal and external partners to define and solve energy problems and turn those solutions into useful global products. |
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Energy Institute to Exhibit at Offshore Technology Conference | |
Save the date! The TAMU Energy Institute will be exhibiting at the Offshore Technology Conference at Reliant Arena in Houston, April 30 - May 3, 2012.
Come by our booth #10072. For more information or to participate, please contact
Lisa Groce at llgroce@tamu.edu.
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| Contact us | |
Texas A&M Energy Institute
3372 TAMU
244 Wisenbaker
College Station, TX 77843
979.458.1644 |
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