Energy Geoscience Partners

Rice Departments
Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Science
Wiess School of Natural Sciences

Rice Clubs, Centers, and Institutes
AAPG, Rice University Chapter
SPE, Rice University Chapter
Center for Computational Geophysics

Other relevant organizations

RICE EARTH SCIENCE DEPARTMENT NEWS UPDATE:

The Energy Transition:

The global energy industry is evolving. Although petroleum-based technology is not disappearing, increasing recognition of the impacts of the resulting carbon emissions is leading to shifts in how we generate and use energy, chemicals, and materials, and the development of technologies for reducing carbon in the environment.

Renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, are building rapidly, increasing global energy supply but introducing new challenges relating to energy storage and transport. The shift to electricity, e.g., derived from wind or solar energy, has led to rapid demand for mineral resources that can be used for battery storage and electrical parts. Geothermal energy is increasingly recognized as a low-emissions alternative source of energy that can be produced in different parts of the world. Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) is a promising approach for removing carbon from the atmosphere and storing it within the subsurface; utilization of the captured CO2 (CCUS) has re-emerged as scientific and technological interest.

These alternative sources of energy and solutions to increasing carbon intensity in the environment provide unique opportunities for scientists and engineers to apply their transferrable skills to the search for new energy sources, to develop new technologies to harness and utilize this energy and to recover and remove the products of energy usage, and to design sustainable systems for the long term.

The Rice Professional Masters Program is geared toward training both new students, and scientists, and engineers currently in the energy field how to retool their skills to join the global workforce in the areas of the Energy Transition.

The Energy Geoscience (formerly Subsurface Geoscience) program will offer a fourth focus area in Fall 2022 related to Energy Transition and Sustainability!

Building a Habitable Planet: From Environment To Energy - Visit here for more!

The world is more complex and interconnected than ever. Building a habitable planet in such a complex world requires that we train a new generation of students versed in whole Earth systems. The goal of Rice University’s Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences is to bring together the creative power of Houston’s energy, environmental, and space industries in the context of whole earth systems to make sustainable progress on the landscape of the environment and energy. Subsurface Geoscience students participate in various field trips to study the geological formation and get real hands-on field methods training!

Rice geologists study half-billion-year-old ‘time capsules’ on Texas ranch under the guidance of our own SG Program Director Dr. Andre Droxler: