Texas Tech awarded $1.6 million for hydrogen research
In Texas, KCBD reported that two Texas Tech University professors in the Edward E. Whitacre Jr. College of Engineering have been awarded more than $1.6 million for pioneering research aimed at enhancing hydrogen production through innovative chemo-bio-physical stimulations. Danny Reible, the Donovan Maddox Distinguished Engineering Chair and a Horn Distinguished Professor, and Qingwang Yuan, an assistant professor in the Bob L. Herd Department of Petroleum Engineering, are principal investigators for Texas Tech’s award, which is part of a $20 million investment from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) exploring geologic hydrogen, according to the report. “This award will explore some of the potentially most impactful approaches to moving away from a carbon economy by stimulating carbon-free hydrogen production in the subsurface,” Reible said. “I believe that hydrogen can potentially be produced without expensive and energy-intensive hydrogen production facilities above ground.” The report noted that Texas Tech’s project will develop chemical, biological and physical methods to stimulate geological hydrogen across various types of iron-containing rocks. Texas Tech will partner with global mining firm Rio Tinto and Lavoisier H2 Geoconsult,, along with two national laboratories, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, in executing the research, the report added.
