July 2022: The Net-Zero Initiative for Decarbonization Pathways in the Oil and Gas Sector
Channel: Texas CSEE
Date: 2022-07-13

ABSTRACT: Production and use of oil and natural gas contribute over two-thirds of US greenhouse gas emissions. Any meaningful action to reduce carbon emissions must directly engage with the complex challenge of decarbonizing the oil and gas supply chain. The net-zero initiative at UT Austin is a multidisciplinary research and education initiative at UT Austin whose with a mission to inform institutions and governments on collaboratively developing cost-effective, sustainable, and equitable approaches to achieve net-zero greenhouse emissions and train the next generation of energy leaders. This initiative will leverage the strengths of PGE in subsurface engineering and technology development to create, test, and deploy solutions that reduce the carbon footprint of oil and gas supply chains. A unique aspect of this initiative is a focus on a systems-level perspective to understand how different approaches – supply chain methane emissions mitigation, geothermal energy, carbon removal, or hydrogen – could work together to achieve net-zero emissions. The goal of the initiative is to identify sustainable, cost-effective, and equitable pathways to decarbonize the natural gas supply chain; to develop technical and policy solutions to deploy and scale new technologies to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of fossil fuels including carbon removal, geothermal, and blue/green hydrogen; and to inform and identify the geography of new technology jobs and the future of the American workforce in the context of the energy transition. Achieving net-zero emissions by mid-century requires technological, financial, and policy innovation to both reduce emissions from existing supply chains and develop sustainable, low- or zero-emissions pathways. The initiative will champion a multidisciplinary approach and engage academic scholars, industry leaders, capital market participants, and government representatives to demonstrate a whole-of-society approach towards a successful energy transition.

BIO: Dr. Hugh Daigle is an Associate Professor in the Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering and the Center for Subsurface Energy and the Environment at the University of Texas at Austin. He holds a BA degree in Earth and Planetary Sciences from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in Earth Science from Rice University. Dr. Daigle’s industry experience includes work as a wireline field engineer for Schlumberger, and as a petrophysicist for Schlumberger, Brigham Oil and Gas, and Chevron. His research interests include fluid flow in porous media, geohazards, gas hydrates, nanotechnology, and sustainable energy for the energy transition.

BIO: Dr. Arvind Ravikumar is a Research Associate Professor in the Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin and holds a non-resident fellow appointment at the Payne Institute for Public Policy at the Colorado School of Mines. Over the past decade, Dr. Ravikumar has led several projects focused on methane measurements across the oil and gas supply chain, new technology assessments, and the development of techno-economic models to evaluate methane emissions policy. His current research focuses on developing and deploying multi-scale measurement protocols for quasi real-time estimation of methane emissions across oil and gas supply chains. He currently serves as a member of the US Department of Transportation’s gas pipeline advisory committee.