UTPB shares in $1 million grant to advance energy
Dean George Nnanna, left, and Narendra Boppana, faculty lecturer of chemical engineering, left, load produced water samples into an optical emission spectroscopy machine Sept. 8, 2021 on UTPB Engineering Building.
Jacy Lewis/Reporter-Telegram
Decades of experience and expertise in energy production have made the Permian Basin not only a global source of energy but the source of know-how and technology to produce energy.
Aiming to further develop that expertise and technology and help adapt it to a future of low-carbon or net-zero carbon energy, the National Science Foundation has awarded the University of Texas Permian Basin a $1 million planning grant to support research into and implementation of technologies in the region. UTPB is part of a two-state – Texas and New Mexico – multi-institutional team receiving the grant.
The award will accelerate the Permian Energy Development Laboratory’s progress, with particular attention to bridging the gaps between research, entrepreneurship and job creation in the region. More importantly, it is the first step toward a possible 10-year, $160 million investment from the National Science Foundation.
Of that potential investment, George Nnanna, director of UTPB’s Texas Water and Energy Institute and professor of mechanical engineering, said requests for proposals are expected in April through June of next year, with awards presented in the fall of 2025.
