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Top stories: DOE funds 2 Houston projects, CenterPoint's new resiliency exec, port secures grant, and more

Port Houston's new grant will help promote cleaner air, reduced emissions, and green jobs — plus more trending energgy transition news. Photo via Getty Images

Editor's note: From DOE's deployment of CCUS funding to sustainability founders weighing in on their biggest challenges, these are the top headlines that resonated with EnergyCapital readers on social media and daily newsletter this week.

DOE dishes out funding to 2 Houston carbon caption projects

In all, DOE recently allocated $518 million to 23 CCUS projects in the U.S. Photo via Getty Images

Two Houston companies have received federal funding to develop carbon capture and storage projects.

Evergreen Sequestration Hub LLC, a partnership of Houston-based Trace Carbon Solutions and Jacksonville, Mississippi-based Molpus Woodlands Group, got more than $27.8 million from the U.S. Department of Energy for its Evergreen Sequestration Hub project in Louisiana. DOE says the project is valued at $34.8 million.

The hub will be built on about 20,000 acres of timberland in Louisiana’s Calcasieu and Beauregard parishes for an unidentified customer. It’ll be capable of storing about 250 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. Continue reading.

Houston organization names annual energy industry award winners

ALLY Energy's eighth annual GRIT Awards and Best Energy Workplaces named its winners this week across nine categories plus several people's choice winners. Photo via ALLY Energy/LinkedIn

A Houston company identified the top players in the energy industry — with this year's honorees being recognized for their growth, resilience, innovation, and talent.

ALLY Energy's eighth annual GRIT Awards and Best Energy Workplaces named its winners this week across nine categories plus several people's choice winners.

"The GRIT Awards honor those who have shaped the industry and continue to inspire future generations. These winners have demonstrated extraordinary leadership and dedication to driving innovation across the energy landscape," says Katie Mehnert, founder and CEO of ALLY Energy, in a news release. Continue reading.

CenterPoint names 40-year industry veteran as exec for emergency response

Don Daigler will be tasked to lead CenterPoint Energy's yearly work in preparation for, response to and recovery from all emergencies, which includes both natural disasters and man-made events. Photo via CenterPoint Energy/LinkedIn

CenterPoint Energy announced the hiring of industry veteran Don Daigler as the new senior vice president of CenterPoint’s Emergency Preparedness and Response.

Daigler will be tasked to lead the company’s yearly work in preparation for, response to and recovery from all emergencies, which includes both natural disasters and man-made events. Daigler and his team will coordinate with all public safety partners.

“I’m pleased to join CenterPoint Energy and lead its Emergency Preparedness and Response team to transform how we prepare, mitigate and respond to the impacts of hurricanes, extreme weather and other emergencies,” Daigler says in a news release. ”The year-round work of our team will help position CenterPoint to deliver the service our customers expect and deserve before, during and after emergencies when the need is greatest.” Continue reading.

Port Houston secures $3M from EPA program to fund green initiatives, clean tech

The grant, funded by the federal Inflation Reduction Act, will help promote cleaner air, reduced emissions, and green jobs. Photo via Getty Images

Port Houston’s PORT SHIFT program is receiving nearly $3 million from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Ports Program.

The grant, funded by the federal Inflation Reduction Act, will help promote cleaner air, reduced emissions, and green jobs.

“With its ambitious PORT SHIFT program, Houston is taking a bold step toward a cleaner, more sustainable future, and I’m proud to have helped make this possible by voting for the Inflation Reduction Act,” U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia says in a news release. Continue reading.

Houston's top energy transition founders explain their biggest challenges

Clockwise from top left: Sean Kelly of Amperon, Dianna Liu of ARIXTechnologies, Matthew Dawson of Elementium Materials, Vibhu Sharma of InnoVent Renewables, Cindy Taff of Sage Geosystems, and Emma Konet of TierraClimate. Photos courtesy

From finding funding to navigating the pace of traditional oil and gas company tech adoption, energy transition companies face their fair share of challenges.

This year's Houston Innovation Awards finalists in the Energy Transition category explained what their biggest challenge has been and how they've overcome it. See what they said below, and make sure to secure your tickets to the Nov. 14 event to see which of these finalists win the award. Continue reading.

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A View From HETI

Researchers created a light-driven catalyst for hydrogen production, offering an emission-free alternative to traditional methods. Photo by Jeff Fitlow/Rice University

Researchers at Rice University have developed a catalyst that could render steam methane reforming, or SMR, entirely emission-free by using light rather than heat to drive the reaction.

The researchers believe the work could prove to be a breakthrough for extending catalyst lifetimes. This will improve efficiencies and reduce costs for a number of industrial processes that are affected by a form of carbon buildup that can deactivate catalysts called coking.

The new copper-rhodium photocatalyst uses an antenna-reactor design. When it is exposed to a specific wavelength of light it breaks down methane and water vapor without external heating into hydrogen and carbon monoxide. The importance of this is it is a chemical industry feedstock that is not a greenhouse gas. Rice’s work also shows that the antenna-reactor technology can overcome catalyst deactivation due to oxidation and coking by employing hot carriers to remove oxygen species and carbon deposits, which effectively regenerates the catalyst with light.

The new SMR reaction pathway build off a 2011 discovery from Peter Nordlander, Rice’s Wiess Chair and Professor of Physics and Astronomy and professor of electrical and computer engineering and materials science and nanoengineering, and Naomi Halas. They are the authors on the study about the research that was published in Nature Catalysis. The study showed that the collective oscillations of electrons that occur when metal nanoparticles are exposed to light can emit “hot carriers” or high-energy electrons and holes that can be used to drive chemical reactions.

“This is one of our most impactful findings so far, because it offers an improved alternative to what is arguably the most important chemical reaction for modern society,” Norlander says in a news release.

The research was supported by Robert A. Welch Foundation (C-1220, C-1222) and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (FA9550-15-1-0022) with the Shared Equipment Authority at Rice providing data analysis support.

“This research showcases the potential for innovative photochemistry to reshape critical industrial processes, moving us closer to an environmentally sustainable energy future,” Halas adds.

Hydrogen has been studied as it could assist with the transition to a sustainable energy ecosystem, but the chemical process responsible for more than half of the current global hydrogen production is a substantial source of greenhouse gas emissions.Hydrogen is produced in large facilities that require the gas to be transported to its point of use. Light-driven SMR allows for on-demand hydrogen generation,which researchers believe is a key benefit for use in mobility-related applications like hydrogen fueling stations or and possibly vehicles.

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