The Texas and Louisiana coasts are ideal spots for ocean-centric carbon removal work, according to a new study from UH. Photo via Pexels
The Gulf Coast is an ideal spot for deploying a new ocean-based carbon removal technology that uses seawater to capture and store carbon dioxide, according to a new study from the University of Houston.
The study was led by UH Cullen College of Engineering Professor Mim Rahimi and published in Nature’s Communications Sustainability journal. Abdelrahman Refaie, a PhD student at UH, authored the paper. It aimed to develop a plan for implementing an electrochemical marine carbon dioxide removal (e-mCDR) technology that treats seawater to increase the ocean’s ability to absorb and store carbon dioxide from the air.
Currently, oceans absorb about 30 percent of human-produced carbon dioxide emissions each year, according to UH, making it a great natural resource for carbon removal.
The team at UH scouted and analyzed 38 coastal facilities across the U.S.—including power plants, desalination plants, and liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals—before determining the Gulf Coast as an attractive option. The South Hub, or the Gulf Coast along Texas and Louisiana, ranked the top-performing area for the technology due to the industrial infrastructure, affordable electricity, hydrogen transportation and storage networks.
Other regions like California and the Northeast also scored well due to their clean energy mix and carbon removal potential, according to UH.
“The South hub has one of the highest diversity factors between power plants, desalination and LNG,” Refaie said in a news release. “That means if, logistically, down the road LNG is not open for this implementation, then we have another option in the area. It reduces the risk factor.”
UH says the findings show how companies could commercialize the technology, which could boost coastal economies.
“The question we had wasn’t technical, rather, it was logistical in regard to implementation down the road,” Rahimi said. “This would be a roadmap if a company or the government wants to utilize this technology.”
Rahimi aims to increase awareness about e-mCDR technology and its potential impact. He recently discussed the ocean-centric carbon removal work with members of Congress in March at the Carbon to Sea’s 2026 Hill Day.
“I think faculty at the University of Houston can do more of this kind of work,” Rahimi said in a separate release. “Meeting with Members of Congress gives us a chance to help policymakers better understand the science and engineering happening at our university. That kind of engagement is an important part of moving new technologies forward. It also shows how the work we do on campus can have a real impact on communities beyond the university.”
UH Energy named its second Innovation Commercialization Competition winners earlier this month with the goal of identifying promising ideas within the university that could have an impact in the energy transition.
The winning team, ECHO, or Electrochemical CO2 Harvester from the Ocean, was awarded a $25,000 award from Chevron, the event's sponsor, after presenting their pitch in front of a live Houston audience earlier this month.
“You don’t see the full impact of a good idea until someone figures out a way to convert it to a usable product or service that has value, brings it to market and makes money off of it—this is what makes it a sustainable business,” S. Radhakrishnan, the competition's coordinator and a retired University of Houston business professor, says in a statement. “To have a successful energy transition, we need many innovative ideas to be commercialized.”
Eighteen teams of University of Houston graduate students competed in the months-long competition and focused on projects related to carbon capture, carbon sequestration and lithium extraction from geothermal operations. Each team received a $2,000 stipend and mentoring throughout the competition.
The ECHO team was named the UH-Chevron Energy Transition Energy Innovation Challenge Winner. Comprised of four UH environmental engineering doctoral students (Prince Aleta, Ahmad Hassan, Mohsen Afshari and Abdelrahman Refale) and advised by Mim Rahimi, assistant professor of environmental engineering at the UH Cullen College of Engineering, the team pitched a membrane-less electrochemical process to capture carbon dioxide efficiently and sustainably. According to a statement from UH, the technology "seamlessly integrates with existing seawater intake infrastructure."
“As we’re from the STEM field, we normally work in lab environments, and I hear people say that what we’re working on has less commercial value and that it would take ages for them to commercialize,” Hassan adds in the statement. “This (competition) gave us the confidence and motivation to move forward.”
UH-based startup GeOME Analytics, led by UH's Moores Professor of Biology and Biochemistry and GeOME's president Preethi Gunaratne, was named the UH Energy Innovation Challenge Winner. The team pitched a new method for reservoir drainage diagnostics that uses the company's personalized DNA biomarkers. Other team members include Marcus Phillips, GeOME's vice president; postdoctoral researchers Partha Bhagavanthula and Nuwan Acharige; and UH graduate students, Micah Castillo, Dishan Adhikari and Shiyanth Thevasagayampillai.
Additional finalists included:
Team LiQuidium – Pitched lithium extraction from geothermal brines
Aldrogen – Pitched an A.I.-powered solution to improving grid resiliency while reducing emissions
MacAlgae – Pitched an environmentally conscious method of mycelium production
“The technology that was on display was fascinating,” Liz Schwarze, vice president of global exploration for Chevron, said in a statement. “I’m optimistic we can continue to grow this program, because it’s all about creating a culture where we can pursue our scientific and engineering dreams while partnering with business and entrepreneurship along the way to spinoff value to our community faster.”
Last month, UH and Chevron also partnered up to name its first-ever cohort of UH-Chevron Energy Graduate Fellows. The PhD and doctoral students will each receive a one-year $12,000 fellowship, along with mentoring from experts at UH and Chevron.
UH assistant professor Mim Rahimi published a paper on the development of his lab's emerging negative emissions technology known as electrochemical direct ocean capture. Photo via UH.edu
Researchers at the University of Houston are developing a new, cost-effective way to help rid oceans of harmful carbon dioxide and fight the effects of climate change.
UH assistant professor Mim Rahimi published a paper on the development of his lab's emerging negative emissions technology known as electrochemical direct ocean capture (eDOC) in the journal Energy & Environmental Science this month.
The paper details how Rahimi's team is working to create electrochemical tubes to remove dissolved inorganic carbon from synthetic seawater, according to a release from UH. The process aims to amplify the ocean’s ability to absorb carbon and can easily be integrated into existing on-shore and off-shore infrastructure, including desalination plants and oil rigs.
Unlike other methods that involve complex processes, expensive materials and specialized membranes, the eDOC method focuses on adjusting the ocean water's acidity using affordable electrodes.
“While eDOC won’t single-handedly turn the tide on climate change, it enriches our mitigation toolkit,” Rahimi said in a statement. “In this global challenge, every innovative approach becomes invaluable.”
Rahimi's research is funded by a $250,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy and preliminary research was sponsored by UH Energy’s Center for Carbon Management in Energy.
“The promise of eDOC is undeniable, but scaling it, optimizing costs and achieving peak efficiency remain challenges we’re actively addressing,” he added in a statement.
Late last month, UH shared details on another carbon removal project it is involved with–this time focused on direct air capture (DAC). Known as the Pelican Gulf Coast Carbon Removal study–led by Louisiana State University and including UH and Shell—the project looks at the feasibility of a DAC hub that would pull carbon dioxide from the air and either store it in deep geological formations or use it to manufacture various products, such as concrete.
In August, UH announced that the project received nearly $4.9 million in grants, including almost $3 million from the U.S. Department of Energy. Click here to read more.
Nearly 20 companies from Houston, ranging from global multinationals to innovative startups, joined the team at Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont, Illinois, for a full day of meetings, discussions, and networking focused on advancing innovation, commercialization, and industry collaboration.
The fly-in organized by the Houston Energy Transition Initiative, provided a unique opportunity for companies to engage directly with Argonne researchers, technical experts, and leadership while gaining a deeper understanding of the laboratory’s world-class capabilities. Participants explored how national laboratories can help bridge the gap between breakthrough research and commercial deployment, particularly in areas critical to U.S. competitiveness and economic growth.
The significance of this engagement extends beyond a single visit. While the U.S. Department of Energy operates 17 national laboratories, none is located along the Gulf Coast, a region uniquely home to industry, infrastructure, and energy systems at commercial scale. HETI’s continued work with the national laboratories helps bridge that geographic and operational gap by connecting world-class scientific research with companies that understand how to scale and deploy technologies. The Argonne fly-in also created space to address practical barriers to collaboration, including complex agreements and lengthy contracting timelines, and to explore ways to establish partnership frameworks more efficiently.
Explore HETI’s key takeaways from the fly-in:
1. Scaling Technologies for Commercial Use
A central theme was the importance of scale-up infrastructure and the role Argonne plays in helping companies reduce technical and manufacturing risks. Participants learned how facilities such as the Materials Engineering Research Facility (MERF) support the transition from laboratory discoveries to pilot-scale production and ultimately commercial manufacturing. These capabilities are especially valuable for companies working to move promising technologies from concept to market.
The discussions also highlighted Argonne’s extensive work in critical materials, battery recycling, advanced manufacturing, and supply chain resilience. Attendees learned about initiatives including the ReCell Center, AI-enabled materials discovery, and advanced modeling tools that can help businesses understand supply chain vulnerabilities and evaluate mitigation strategies. These capabilities have applications across energy, chemicals, manufacturing, semiconductors, defense, and emerging technologies.
2. Creating Pathways for Collaboration
Another key takeaway was the importance of engaging early. Companies do not need to arrive with a fully developed project or solution. Argonne offers multiple pathways for collaboration, including sponsored research, user facility access, technology licensing, pilot-scale testing, and Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs). These partnerships help companies access specialized expertise, facilities, and analytical tools that can accelerate innovation and commercialization
3. Building Connections Across Industry and Research
The fly-in reinforced the value of relationship building. Bringing together nearly 20 organizations in one place created meaningful opportunities for collaboration, knowledge sharing, and identifying future projects.
The conversations throughout the day demonstrated a shared commitment to strengthening domestic innovation, developing resilient supply chains, and creating pathways to bring new technologies to market.
Fervo Energy’s flagship project in Utah just generated its first geothermal power.
The electricity is now flowing to the power grid from one of Cape Station’s three generation units, Houston-based Fervo said in a news release. This represents an early but important milestone for the project, as the unit isn’t scheduled to deliver contracted power until Oct. 1.
The achievement, coming four months after Fervo’s roughly $2.2 billion IPO, demonstrates the viability of enhanced geothermal systems (EGS).
“This is a gamechanger for the geothermal industry. It establishes EGS as the defining new power generation technology of our time, and we believe it shows that the commercial and technical maturity of EGS is ready to meet the urgent need for reliable, clean power,” Tim Latimer, co-founder and CEO of Fervo, said in the release.
The plant’s two other units are scheduled to launch commercial operations on Jan. 1.
The three units make up the project’s 99-megawatt first phase. The next phase, which will add 400 megawatts of capacity, is under construction. The second phase is set to go online in 2028.
Altogether, Cape Station will provide more than 4 gigawatts of capacity, with 900 megawatts already spoken for. The 900 megawatts of contracted electricity would be enough to power nearly 1 million U.S. homes per year.
“Cape Station works because we treated the subsurface like an engineering challenge,” Jack Norbeck, co-founder and chief technology officer of Fervo, added in the release. “Years of drilling, completion design, subsurface modeling, and flow testing led to this moment, and this is the validation that matters most.”
Enhanced geothermal continuously draws on heat that’s deep underground, producing electricity around the clock regardless of weather or time of day. That makes it one of the only carbon-free resources capable of constant power delivery, which is critical for data centers and AI infrastructure.
While hundreds of thousands descend on New York for Climate Week, Houston offered a different proposition: come where the work is being built. And last week Houston proved that it’s solving for more energy and fewer emissions; reliability and affordability; speed and durability. We are solving for the “&.”
That equation sharpened last week. On Sept. 14, the Environmental Protection Agency announced it had repealed most 2024 federal carbon-pollution standards for power plants and proposed rescinding remaining greenhouse-gas requirements. Policy matters, but it can pivot. The need to build does not.
HECW is a proving ground, not another conference stop. As I wrote in the Houston Chronicle, Mayor Sylvester Turner planted the seed by insisting we bring people together across the city and industry to drive Houston’s energy future. He knew false choices have no place here: oil and gas and clean technology; prosperity and stewardship; industry and lower emissions.
ECW joined the Climate Week Network this year, connecting Houston to a growing community of more than 500,000 people across 22-plus cities. We now have a seat at the global table—and a responsibility to use it well, building with other cities and the wider clean-energy-solutions world rather than merely talking at them.
The capital is already moving. Since 2017, Houston Energy Transition Initiative member companies have invested more than $95 billion in low-carbon infrastructure, technologies, and research and development. This is where the transition is financed, engineered, tested and operated. But the work requires more than capital. It requires capital allocators who understand the difference between a promising idea and a project that can scale, hire and endure.
Last week was Houston’s show and tell. At ARTECHOUSE, The &Bassador Reception & Awards brought art, technology, culture, philanthropy and energy together. Then the week went beyond downtown.
Sugar Land Town Square became the launchpad for the Metro Innovation Tour & Market: a place for an ecosystem conversation about smart cities, clean energy, equitable access and next-generation mobility before participants boarded three tour routes across greater Houston. It was also the starting point for the Bay City South Innovation Tour to Erthos Project Bravo in Matagorda County, where small groups saw Earth Mount solar modules being installed in real time. The conversation did not end at a panel. It went to the project site.
The HTX Tech Tours included a visit to the Erthos Project Bravo in Matagorda County. Photo courtesy
Approximately 100 startups from around the world pitched at Rice Alliance, Greentown Labs and Halliburton Labs events. At Astros Night at Daikin Park, builders, backers, and believers traded conference rooms for the diamond, creating an experience, not just another event. That is how this work becomes civic fabric.
Activation also means making the energy story felt, not merely explained. AY Young brought the Battery Tour for live performances. It was a reminder that the “Power of &” is not confined to a boardroom or a laboratory. Art and technology, culture and commerce, a new generation and established industry can share the same stage—and help more people see themselves in the work ahead.
Perhaps no activation made the “Power of &” more immediate and real than the Houston, We Have Solutions open mic night. At Creatopia’s Innovation Studio, people took the mic—or simply listened—to share what they were building, the problem they could not stop thinking about, and the connection they hoped to make. It put founders, artists, community builders, researchers and future-makers in one room. That is collaboration in real time: different kinds of expertise meeting before anyone knows exactly what the solution will be.
FOX26 helped carry that story beyond the rooms we convened, hosting Erthos COO Jessica Knight, Mars Materials co-founder Aaron Fitzgerald, and investors Taylor Chapman and Juliana Garaizar to discuss building and backing the future in Houston. Our region should be proud—not as self-congratulation, but because the world is beginning to experience energy and climate solutions firsthand.
This was also a week to give back. Allies in Energy awarded $27,500 to nine organizations advancing energy and climate literacy, civil dialogue, workforce pathways and community action. NRG Energy’s Brighter Communities provided a founding gift to expand the week and fund local grants. It took partners, hosts, sponsors, volunteers, funders and community organizations. That is the “Power of &”: collaboration that leaves a stronger community behind.
The “Power of &” cannot stop at Houston’s city limits. Louisiana’s participation—through its support of the Digital Delta Symposium & Expo—made clear that Houston’s builder ecosystem is regional by necessity. Gulf Coast infrastructure, supply chains, talent, and industrial decisions do not recognize state lines. Neither should our collaboration. If we are serious about building more energy with fewer emissions, we must align capital, resources and opportunity across the entire Gulf Coast.
That same commitment to practical collaboration means listening, learning and adjusting. A builder’s mindset does not protect a plan simply because it came first; it improves the conditions for the work to succeed. That is why Houston Energy and Climate Week will move to April 4–10, 2027—better weather, more time and space for connection, and a stronger city-wide experience for the people building what comes next.
But the real test begins now. Can we keep widening the circle? Can we continue to turn research into projects, pilots into infrastructure, capital into good jobs and climate ambition into results that families and communities can see? Can we make every new solution stronger by bringing in the people who must finance it, build it, operate it, live beside it and benefit from it?
That is the work ahead. Turner understood that Houston does not move forward by asking who wins the argument. It moves forward by asking who is ready to solve the problem. His legacy—and the promise of the “&”—is an invitation to choose collaboration over division, action over performance and possibility over false choices.
The future does not need another city to talk about it. It needs Houston to keep building it. And it will only be built if we keep choosing the "&."
The HTX Tech Tours included a visit to the Erthos Project Bravo in Matagorda County. Photo courtesy