Houston Republic

• With the funding and financing in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and enhanced tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act, over a hundred carbon management projects have been publicly announced in the United States, with many more likely to emerge in the near term. Houston, Texas, with its strong industrial base and suitable geology for carbon dioxide storage, is already emerging as a critical hub for carbon management projects.
• Houstonians and community members in the Gulf Coast region are invited to learn about carbon management through an interactive summit, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management. The summit will be broadcasted virtually for community members who are not able to participate in person
• The summit will be held at Rice University’s Bioscience Research Collaborative on November 16 and 17, 2023. The event is free, and registration is now open.

Climate Now, in partnership with the City of Houston and Rice University, will host a Carbon Management Community Summit at the Rice University Bioscience Research Collaborative in Houston, Texas on November 16 and 17, 2023. The summit will be broadcasted virtually and will consist of a series of presentations, discussions, and workshops designed to inform and engage Houstonians on the topic of carbon management. Thanks in part to the support of Rice University and sponsorship from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, the event is free and open to the public.

The robust U.S. policy support for carbon management, through the funding and financing in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and enhanced tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act, is supercharging a powerful response in the marketplace. From a base of 16 operating commercial projects in the United States, over 100 carbon management projects under development have now been publicly announced, with many more on the drawing boards. Five of the 16 operating projects are in Texas, and Houston, with its strong industrial base and suitable geology for safe underground storage of carbon dioxide, is already emerging as a critical hub for carbon management projects.

By participating in this hybrid event, community members in Houston and the Gulf Coast region will have the opportunity to learn about carbon management technologies and their role within broader climate mitigation strategies, the regulatory process for implementation and oversight, and how to get involved in project development early to help shape how these projects are designed and built. The event will provide a structured opportunity to build bridges of communication and collaboration among community members, industry professionals, governments, and the educational institutions that are building a workforce pipeline.

“I am proud of Houston's history and proud of the innovation, growth, and prosperity the energy industry brings to our community. As the Energy Capital of the World, Houston is now poised to become a global clean energy economy leader,” said Sylvester Turner, Mayor of Houston, Texas. “It is our responsibility to develop innovative technologies and practices that will reduce carbon emissions, and as we do this, we also have a responsibility to address environmental injustices and lift up communities that have been historically under-resourced – so we set ourselves on a path towards an equitable and inclusive energy transition.”

Key topics to be explored during the summit will include how to minimize and mitigate risks and ensure that project benefits flow to local communities, particularly through local workforce development.

“Houston has one of the world’s greatest concentrations of energy and industrial assets and the best energy workforce in the world,” said Reginald DesRoches, President of Rice University. “Academic institutions like Rice University, with its commitment to producing the next generation of leaders and creating bold research solutions, can bolster that workforce and guide it into the future.”

The Carbon Management Community Summit is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management under Award Number DE-FE0032356. As part of its programming, the summit will highlight the Office’s intent to launch the Responsible Carbon Management Initiative.

“The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act offer unprecedented opportunities to help Houston sustainably develop and use its energy resources. And the Department of Energy is committed to supporting carbon management opportunities that build on Houston's current initiatives while also ensuring that communities and other impacted stakeholders are at the center of those efforts,” said Brad Crabtree, Assistant Secretary of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, Department of Energy. “Ultimately, communities and stakeholders can become project partners whose ideas and concerns can improve project design and outcomes, and ensure that tangible economic and environmental benefits flow to affected communities.”

The format of the summit will be an interactive workshop facilitated by experts from regional community development organizations, academia, industry, and federal and local government. It will include breakout learning sessions that will invite active participation from attendees and will result in a set of deliverables that can be used for continued community engagement on carbon capture, use, and storage technologies in Houston and other regions.

Registration Information

The summit will take place the evening of November 16 and during an all-day event on November 17. Attendees are invited to participate for one or both days. All portions of the main program will be broadcasted for virtual attendees. Spanish translation services will be available onsite, and for virtual attendees.

A speaker list and detailed agenda will be announced in the coming weeks. We are working to engage a broad group of local stakeholders on summit programming to ensure all workshops are useful and beneficial, and greatly welcome input from community members. Please contact emma@climatenow.com to share your input to help guide the event agenda.

To register to attend, visit https://cvent.me/EMyoRP. 

About Carbon Management 

Carbon capture, removal, transport, use and geologic storage technologies capture carbon dioxide (CO2) pollution from industrial facilities, power plants, and/or ambient air and then transport it to a site where it can be stored safely and permanently deep underground or used to make valuable products like low carbon fuels, chemicals and concrete. Alongside accelerated deployment of renewable energy and other forms of no or low-carbon energy, carbon management technologies will play a significant role in helping us reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Specifically, economy-wide deployment of carbon management is essential for achieving rapid and cost-effective reductions in carbon dioxide emissions in the industrial and power sectors.

About Climate Now

Climate Now is a multimedia company whose mission is to provide policy makers, industry leaders, investors, advocacy groups and the public with the scientific, policy and economic information necessary to make good decisions about mitigating and adapting to climate change. We develop accessible, expert-driven content about climate change and the clean energy transition and facilitate opportunities for education and community engagement on these topics. Our team has wide-ranging expertise in emerging clean energy technologies, climate change mitigation strategies, and the societal and environmental impacts of both. We produce podcasts, videos, articles, websites, public lectures and events..

About City of Houston

The Mayor’s Office of Resilience and Sustainability (MORS) is responsible for implementing the Resilient Houston Plan and the Houston Climate Action Plan (CAP). The plans provide a clear framework to foster the growth of a Houston that is both a healthy place to live, as well as an equitable, inclusive, and affordable city that leads in climate mitigation and adaptation and offers a transformative economy that builds forward.

About Rice University

Boasting a 300-acre tree-lined campus in Houston, Rice University is ranked among the nation’s top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has a 6-to-1 undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio, and a residential college system, which supports students intellectually, emotionally and culturally through social events, intramural sports, student plays, lectures series, courses and student government. Developing close-knit, diverse college communities is a strong campus tradition, which is why Rice is highly ranked for best quality of life and best value among private universities.

About the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management

The mission of the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management is to minimize the environmental and climate impacts of fossil fuels and industrial processes while working to achieve net-zero emissions across the U.S. economy. The Office’s programs use research, development, demonstration, and deployment approaches to advance technologies to reduce carbon emissions and other environmental impacts of fossil fuel production and use, particularly the hardest-to-decarbonize applications in the electricity and industrial sectors. Priority areas of technology work include carbon capture, carbon conversion, carbon dioxide removal, carbon dioxide transport and storage, hydrogen production with carbon management, methane emissions reduction, and critical minerals production. The Office recognizes that global decarbonization is essential to meeting climate goals and works to engage with international colleagues to leverage expertise in these areas. The Office is also committed to improving the conditions of communities impacted by legacy energy and industrial production and to supporting a healthy economic transition that accelerates the growth of good-paying jobs.

Original source can be found here.