Houston energy transition events not to miss, expert commentary on climate crisis, and more things to know

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Houston energy transition folks — here's what to know to start your week. Photo via Getty Images

Editor's note: Start your week off strong with three quick things to catch up on in Houston's energy transition: a roundup of events not to miss, a new Houston energy executive to know, and more.

Events not to miss

Put these Houston-area energy-related events on your calendar.

Future of Energy Summit is Tuesday, February 6, at AC Hotel by Marriott Houston Downtown. Register.
The 2024 NAPE Summit is Wednesday, February 7, to Friday, February 9, at the George R. Brown Convention Center. It's the energy industry’s marketplace for the buying, selling and trading of prospects and producing properties. Register.
The De Lange Conference, taking place February 9 and 10 at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy, is centered around the theme “Brave New Worlds: Who Decides? Research, Risk and Responsibility” this year. Register.
The Future of Energy Across the Americas: Helping Lawyers Predict and Adapt — the 2024 Houston Energy Conference — is February 27 to March 1. Register.
CERAWeek 2024 is Monday, March 18, to Friday, March 22, in the George R. Brown Convention Center. Register.

Commentary: Chris Wood, co-founder of Moonshot Compost, on loving the climate apocalypse

Chris Wood knows that the last thing anyone wants to be reminded of in 2024 is the impending climate apocalypse, but, as he writes in his guest column, "There is a scientific consensus that the world climate is trending towards uninhabitable for many species, including humans, due in large part to results of human activity."

He cites a report that 93 percent “believe that climate change poses a serious and imminent threat to the planet.”

"Until recently reviewing this report, I was unaware that 93 percent of any of us could agree on anything," he writes. "It got me thinking, how much of our problem today is based on misunderstanding both the nature of the problem and the solution?" Read more.

New hire: Bracewell names new partner to advise clients on energy transition tax incentives

Bracewell announced that Jennifer Speck has joined the firm's tax department as a partner in the Houston office. Speck will advise clients on energy transition tax incentives.

Some of her experiences include onshore and offshore wind, solar, carbon capture, clean hydrogen and clean fuel projects. She recently served as senior manager of tax and regulatory compliance at Navigator CO2 Ventures LLC. She graduated in 2010 with a B.F.A. in mental health psychology from Northeastern State University, and received her J.D., with honors, from The University of Tulsa College of Law in 2012. Read more.

The De Lange Conference is taking place February 9 and 10 at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy. Photo by Gustavo Raskosky/Rice University

Upcoming Houston conference to address biology, technology and climate change

on the radar

Every other year, Rice University hosts a conference that addresses "issues of great concern to society," and this year will look at the intersection of technology, biology, and climate change.

The De Lange Conference, taking place February 9 and 10 at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy, is centered around the theme “Brave New Worlds: Who Decides? Research, Risk and Responsibility” this year. Chaired by Luis Campos, Baker College Chair for the History of Science, Technology and Innovation, the conference is an initiative of Rice’s faculty-led consortium Scientia Institute.

“We wanted to have a broad topic that would connect a lot of different disciplines and parts of campus,” Campos says in a news release. “Synthetic biology, the uses of data, climate change—whatever our field, job or profession, we have all heard of these things, and we all want to know more about them. So we’re bringing in scholars, scientists and artists to think about how these frontiers of scientific innovation and research relate to larger social contexts.

“Everybody is concerned with the future of their health, the future of their society, the future of the climate that they live in and the future of how their data is being used. This is a conference that weaves all those realms together with forms of artistic intervention and creative practice.”

Rice’s De Lange Conference explores future of synthetic biology, data technology and climate changewww.youtube.com

Attendees of the event can anticipate two days of discussions led by thought leaders, artistic interventions, screenings, and more from a roster of scientists, researchers, scholars, and artists. The full schedule is listed online.

The event is free to attend, but registration is required.

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Google's $40B investment in Texas data centers includes energy infrastructure

The future of data

Google is investing a huge chunk of money in Texas: According to a release, the company will invest $40 billion on cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, with the development of new data centers in Armstrong and Haskell counties.

The company announced its intentions at a meeting on November 14 attended by federal, state, and local leaders including Gov. Greg Abbott who called it "a Texas-sized investment."

Google will open two new data center campuses in Haskell County and a data center campus in Armstrong County.

Additionally, the first building at the company’s Red Oak campus in Ellis County is now operational. Google is continuing to invest in its existing Midlothian campus and Dallas cloud region, which are part of the company’s global network of 42 cloud regions that deliver high-performance, low-latency services that businesses and organizations use to build and scale their own AI-powered solutions.

Energy demands

Google is committed to responsibly growing its infrastructure by bringing new energy resources onto the grid, paying for costs associated with its operations, and supporting community energy efficiency initiatives.

One of the new Haskell data centers will be co-located with — or built directly alongside — a new solar and battery energy storage plant, creating the first industrial park to be developed through Google’s partnership with Intersect and TPG Rise Climate announced last year.

Google has contracted to add more than 6,200 megawatts (MW) of net new energy generation and capacity to the Texas electricity grid through power purchase agreements (PPAs) with energy developers such as AES Corporation, Enel North America, Intersect, Clearway, ENGIE, SB Energy, Ørsted, and X-Elio.

Water demands

Google’s three new facilities in Armstrong and Haskell counties will use air-cooling technology, limiting water use to site operations like kitchens. The company is also contributing $2.6 million to help Texas Water Trade create and enhance up to 1,000 acres of wetlands along the Trinity-San Jacinto Estuary. Google is also sponsoring a regenerative agriculture program with Indigo Ag in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and an irrigation efficiency project with N-Drip in the Texas High Plains.

In addition to the data centers, Google is committing $7 million in grants to support AI-related initiatives in healthcare, energy, and education across the state. This includes helping CareMessage enhance rural healthcare access; enabling the University of Texas at Austin and Texas Tech University to address energy challenges that will arise with AI, and expanding AI training for Texas educators and students through support to Houston City College.

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This article originally appeared on CultureMap.com.

Texas A&M's micro-nuclear reactor tops energy transition news to know

Trending News

Editor's note: The top energy transition news of November includes major energy initiatives from Texas universities and the creation of a new Carbon Measures coalition. Here are the most-read EnergyCapitalHTX stories from Nov. 1-15:

1. Micro-nuclear reactor to launch next year at Texas A&M innovation campus

Last Energy will build a 5-megawatt reactor at the Texas A&M-RELLIS campus. Photo courtesy Last Energy.

The Texas A&M University System and Last Energy plan to launch a micro-nuclear reactor pilot project next summer at the Texas A&M-RELLIS technology and innovation campus in Bryan. Washington, D.C.-based Last Energy will build a 5-megawatt reactor that’s a scaled-down version of its 20-megawatt reactor. The micro-reactor initially will aim to demonstrate safety and stability, and test the ability to generate electricity for the grid. Continue reading.

2. Baker Hughes to provide equipment for massive low-carbon ammonia plant

Baker Hughes will supply equipment for Blue Point Number One, a $4 billion low-carbon ammonia plant being developed in Louisiana. Photo courtesy Technip Energies.

Houston-based energy technology company Baker Hughes has been tapped to supply equipment for what will be the world’s largest low-carbon ammonia plant. French technology and engineering company Technip Energies will buy a steam turbine generator and compression equipment from Baker Hughes for Blue Point Number One, a $4 billion low-carbon ammonia plant being developed in Louisiana by a joint venture comprising CF Industries, JERA and Mitsui & Co. Technip was awarded a contract worth at least $1.1 billion to provide services for the Blue Point project. Continue reading.

3. Major Houston energy companies join new Carbon Measures coalition

The new Carbon Measures coalition will create a framework that eliminates double-counting of carbon pollution and attributes emissions to their sources. Photo via Getty Images.

Six companies with a large presence in the Houston area have joined a new coalition of companies pursuing a better way to track the carbon emissions of products they manufacture, purchase and finance. Houston-area members of the Carbon Measures coalition are Spring-based ExxonMobil; Air Liquide, whose U.S. headquarters is in Housto; Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, whose U.S. headquarters is in Houston; Honeywell, whose Performance Materials and Technologies business is based in Houston; BASF, whose global oilfield solutions business is based in Houston; and Linde, whose Linde Engineering Americas business is based in Houston. Continue reading.

4. Wind and solar supplied over a third of ERCOT power, report shows

A new report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows that wind and solar supplied more than 30 percent of ERCOT’s electricity in the first nine months of 2025. Photo via Unsplash.

Since 2023, wind and solar power have been the fastest-growing sources of electricity for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) and increasingly are meeting stepped-up demand, according to a new report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). The report says utility-scale solar generated 50 percent more electricity for ERCOT in the first nine months this year compared with the same period in 2024. Meanwhile, electricity generated by wind power rose 4 percent in the first nine months of this year versus the same period in 2024. Continue reading.

5. Rice University partners with Australian co. to boost mineral processing, battery innovation

Locksley Resources will provide antimony-rich feedstocks from a project in the Mojave Desert as part of a new partnership with Rice University that aims to develop scalable methods for extracting and utilizing antimony. Photo via locksleyresources.com.au.

Rice University and Australian mineral exploration company Locksley Resources have joined together in a research partnership to accelerate the development of antimony processing in the U.S. Antimony is a critical mineral used for defense systems, electronics and battery storage. Rice and Locksley will work together to develop scalable methods for extracting and utilizing antimony. Continue reading.

Energy sector AI spending is set to soar to $13B, report says

eyes on ai

Get ready for a massive increase in the amount of AI spending by oil and gas companies in the Houston area and around the country.

A new report from professional services firm Deloitte predicts AI will represent 57 percent of IT spending by U.S. oil and gas companies in 2029. That’s up from the estimated share of 23 percent in 2025.

According to the analysis, the amount of AI spending in the oil and gas industry will jump from an estimated $4 billion in 2025 to an estimated $13.4 billion in 2029—an increase of 235 percent.

Almost half of AI spending by U.S. oil and gas companies targets process optimization, according to Deloitte’s analysis of data from market research companies IDC and Gartner. “AI-driven analytics adjust drilling parameters and production rates in real time, improving yield and decision-making,” says the Deloitte report.

Other uses for AI in the oil and gas industry cited by Deloitte include:

Integrating infrastructure used by shale producers
Monitoring pipelines, drilling platforms, refineries, and other assets
Upskilling workers through AI-powered platforms
Connecting workers on offshore rigs via high-speed, real-time internet access supplied by satellites
Detecting and reporting leaks

The report says a new generation of technology, including AI and real-time analytics, is transforming office and on-site operations at oil and gas companies. The Trump administration’s “focus on AI innovation through supportive policies and investments could further accelerate large-scale adoption and digital transformation,” the report adds.

Chevron and ExxonMobil, the two biggest oil and gas companies based in the Houston area, continue to dive deeper into AI.

Chevron is taking advantage of AI to squeeze more insights from enormous datasets, VentureBeat reported.

“AI is a perfect match for the established, large-scale enterprise with huge datasets—that is exactly the tool we need,” Bill Braun, the company’s now-retired chief information officer, said at a VentureBeat event in May.

Meanwhile, AI enables ExxonMobil to conduct autonomous drilling in the waters off the coast of Guyana. ExxonMobil says its proprietary system improves drilling safety, boosts efficiency, and eliminates repetitive tasks performed by rig workers.

ExxonMobil is also relying on AI to help cut $15 billion in operating costs by 2027.

“There is a concerted effort to make sure that we’re really working hard to apply that new technology … to drive effectiveness and efficiency,” Darren Woods, executive chairman and CEO of ExxonMobil, said during a 2024 earnings call.

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