Rice, UH launch joint effort to accelerate plastics recycling solutions

plastics partnership

Rice's Baker Institute and UH's Energy Transition Institute have partnered to develop real-world solutions for plastic recycling. Photo courtesy UH

Institutes at two Houston universities are joining forces to help position the city as a global leader in plastics recycling innovation.

The Center for Energy Studies (CES) at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and the University of Houston’s Energy Transition Institute (UH-ETI) have announced a strategic partnership that aims to develop real-world solutions for plastic recycling.

The universities will kick off the new initiative with the Annual Sustainability Summit: Innovations and Collaborations in Circularity & Supply Chain Resilience event April 22 at the Baker Institute.

“Houston sits at the center of the global plastics and petrochemical value chain, which makes it uniquely positioned to lead in circular solutions,” Rachel Meidl, deputy director of CES, said in a news release. “This partnership is about moving beyond theory and bringing together data, policy and industry insight to accelerate technologies and frameworks that can scale.”

The partnership—which was made official during CERAWeek—will integrate policy, economics, science and engineering. The universities will work to “share data, insights, networks and connections to advance global work in protecting the environment, economy and society,” according to a news release from Rice.

Initially, the universities will focus on evaluating scalable advanced recycling pathways, developing policy frameworks to improve plastics circularity, analyzing emerging technology and using industry stakeholders for deployment.

Plastics circularity aligns with Rice and UH’s energy transition efforts to advance a circular economy. UH's ETI recently published a white paper that analyzes how the U.S. currently handles plastics recycling and advocates for a new approach. Ramanan Krishnamoorti, author of the paper and vice president of energy and innovation at UH, said the partnership with Rice’s Baker Institute could help bring some of the ideas outlined in the paper to reality.

“Our research has shown that a uniform approach may be the best way for the U.S. to tackle plastic waste,” Krishnamoort said in a news release. “By partnering with Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, we will be better positioned to deliver real-world solutions that advance a circular plastics economy.”

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ExxonMobil can bring a defamation lawsuit against California’s attorney general over comments about its recycling efforts. Getty Images

Texas federal judge allows lawsuit against California AG over ExxonMobil remarks

In the News

A federal judge in Texas ruled that ExxonMobil can bring a defamation lawsuit against California’s attorney general over comments about the company’s plastic recycling efforts.

U.S. District Judge Michael J. Truncale in the Eastern District of Texas said in a ruling in February that California Attorney General Rob Bonta cannot claim official immunity in regards to several statements he made, including one in a campaign email sent to Texas residents.

Bonta sued Exxon in September 2024, saying that the oil giant encouraged consumers to purchase plastics products with the promise that the products would be recycled. He said less than 5% of plastic is recycled into another plastic product, and that recycling processes touted by Exxon don't work. Exxon said the problem is with California's recycling system.

Exxon later sued Bonta in his individual capacity and environmental groups for defamation, saying that the comments harmed current and future business contracts. The lawsuit was filed in Texas, near its principal place of business.

Truncale dismissed the lawsuit against the environmental groups but allowed it to proceed against Bonta.

The judge pointed to a campaign email Bonta sent to Texas residents saying that only 5% is recycled and the rest ends up in the environment and in our bodies: “Exxon Mobil knew, and Exxon Mobil lied.” Bonta, a Democrat, argued he was simply updating email recipients on his office's activities.

But Truncale said a campaign contribution link on the email turned the communication into a campaign activity not protected by immunity in Bonta's official capacity as attorney general.

“Here, the contribution request betrays the email's true nature: a campaign promotion. Campaigning is not within Bonta's scope of employment,” the judge wrote.

Bonta has filed a notice of appeal.

“The Attorney General looks forward to vigorously litigating this case, and is proud to advance his lawsuit against ExxonMobil,” his press office said.

ExxonMobil said in a statement that the “campaign of lies designed to derail our advanced recycling business must stop.”

A team led by M.A.S.R. Saadi and Muhammad Maksud Rahman has developed a biomaterial that they hope could be used for the “next disposable water bottle." Photo courtesy Rice University.

Houston researchers develop strong biomaterial that could replace plastic

plastic problem

Collaborators from two Houston universities are leading the way in engineering a biomaterial into a scalable, multifunctional material that could potentially replace plastic.

The research was led by Muhammad Maksud Rahman, an assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the University of Houston and an adjunct assistant professor of materials science and nanoengineering at Rice University. The team shared its findings in a study in the journal Nature Communications earlier this month. M.A.S.R. Saadi, a doctoral student in material science and nanoengineering at Rice, served as the first author.

The study introduced a biosynthesis technique that aligns bacterial cellulose fibers in real-time, which resulted in robust biopolymer sheets with “exceptional mechanical properties,” according to the researchers.

Biomaterials typically have weaker mechanical properties than their synthetic counterparts. However, the team was able to develop sheets of material with similar strengths to some metals and glasses. And still, the material was foldable and fully biodegradable.

To achieve this, the team developed a rotational bioreactor and utilized fluid motion to guide the bacteria fibers into a consistent alignment, rather than allowing them to align randomly, as they would in nature.

The process also allowed the team to easily integrate nanoscale additives—like graphene, carbon nanotubes and boron nitride—making the sheets stronger and improving the thermal properties.

“This dynamic biosynthesis approach enables the creation of stronger materials with greater functionality,” Saadi said in a release. “The method allows for the easy integration of various nanoscale additives directly into the bacterial cellulose, making it possible to customize material properties for specific applications.”

Ultimately, the scientists at UH and Rice hope this discovery could be used for the “next disposable water bottle,” which would be made by biodegradable biopolymers in bacterial cellulose, an abundant resource on Earth.

Additionally, the team sees applications for the materials in the packaging, breathable textiles, electronics, food and energy sectors.

“We envision these strong, multifunctional and eco-friendly bacterial cellulose sheets becoming ubiquitous, replacing plastics in various industries and helping mitigate environmental damage,” Rahman said the release.

The project would nearly eliminate the emissions associated with power and steam generation at the Dow plant in Seadrift, Texas. Getty Images

Dow aims to power Texas manufacturing complex with next-gen nuclear reactors

Clean Energy

Dow, a major producer of chemicals and plastics, wants to use next-generation nuclear reactors for clean power and steam at a Texas manufacturing complex instead of natural gas.

Dow's subsidiary, Long Mott Energy, applied Monday to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a construction permit. It said the project with X-energy, an advanced nuclear reactor and fuel company, would nearly eliminate the emissions associated with power and steam generation at its plant in Seadrift, Texas, avoiding roughly 500,000 metric tons of planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions annually.

If built and operated as planned, it would be the first U.S. commercial advanced nuclear power plant for an industrial site, according to the NRC.

For many, nuclear power is emerging as an answer to meet a soaring demand for electricity nationwide, driven by the expansion of data centers and artificial intelligence, manufacturing and electrification, and to stave off the worst effects of a warming planet. However, there are safety and security concerns, the Union of Concerned Scientists cautions. The question of how to store hazardous nuclear waste in the U.S. is unresolved, too.

Dow wants four of X-energy's advanced small modular reactors, the Xe-100. Combined, those could supply up to 320 megawatts of electricity or 800 megawatts of thermal power. X-energy CEO J. Clay Sell said the project would demonstrate how new nuclear technology can meet the massive growth in electricity demand.

The Seadrift manufacturing complex, at about 4,700 acres, has eight production plants owned by Dow and one owned by Braskem. There, Dow makes plastics for a variety of uses including food and beverage packaging and wire and cable insulation, as well as glycols for antifreeze, polyester fabrics and bottles, and oxide derivatives for health and beauty products.

Edward Stones, the business vice president of energy and climate at Dow, said submitting the permit application is an important next step in expanding access to safe, clean, reliable, cost-competitive nuclear energy in the United States. The project is supported by the Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program.

The NRC expects the review to take three years or less. If a permit is issued, construction could begin at the end of this decade, so the reactors would be ready early in the 2030s, as the natural gas-fired equipment is retired.

A total of four applicants have asked the NRC for construction permits for advanced nuclear reactors. The NRC issued a permit to Abilene Christian University for a research reactor and to Kairos Power for one reactor and two reactor test versions of that company's design. It's reviewing an application by Bill Gates and his energy company, TerraPower, to build an advanced reactor in Wyoming.

X-energy is also collaborating with Amazon to bring more than 5 gigawatts of new nuclear power projects online across the United States by 2039, beginning in Washington state. Amazon and other tech giants have committed to using renewable energy to meet the surging demand from data centers and artificial intelligence and address climate change.

Lummus and Citroniq say their first plant, set for completion in 2027, will produce 400,000 metric tons of green polypropylene each year. Photo via lummustechnology.com

Houston companies partner on sustainable plastics alternative

green polypropylene

Two Houston companies, Lummus Technology and Citroniq Chemicals, have paired up to build North American plants that produce green polypropylene.

Polypropylene is a thermoplastic used to manufacture items such as plastic packaging, plastic parts, medical supplies, textiles, and fibers. Green polypropylene is made from biomass.

Lummus and Citroniq say their first plant, set for completion in 2027, will produce 400,000 metric tons of green polypropylene each year. The plant will be at an undisclosed location in the Midwest.

In April, Lummus and Citroniq signed a letter of intent to develop Citroniq green polypropylene projects in North America using Lummus’ Verdenesuite of polypropylene technology. Their newly announced licensing and engineering agreements apply to the first of four planned facilities.

“This agreement demonstrates the progress we continue to make with Citroniq in establishing the first world-scale sustainable bio-polypropylene production process in North America,” Romain Lemoine, chief business officer for polymers and petrochemicals at Lummus, says in a news release.

“Combining Lummus’ leadership in polypropylene licensing with Citroniq’s carbon-negative production capabilities will help us meet the growing demand for bio-polypropylene and accelerate the decarbonization of the downstream energy industry,” Lemoine adds.

Citroniq says it’s investing more than $5 billion to expand its E2O process. The process produces carbon-negative plastics and hydrogen-and-carbon compounds called olefins from fully sustainable feedstocks. This eliminates the use of convention fossil-fuel hydrocarbons, Citroniq says.

Mel Badheka, principal and co-founder of Citroniq, says his company aims “to meet the market’s growing need for sustainable carbon-negative polypropylene at a competitive price.”

The global market for green polypropylene was valued at $123.5 billion in 2022, according to Grand View Research. Growth in the sector is being driven in part by the construction industry, the firm says.

Asking ChatGPT what all was made from petroleum produced surprising results - the answer: everything. Photo by Sanket Mishra/Unsplash

Energy truly IS everywhere according to ChatGPT

EVERYDAY ENERGY

I sat down to have a conversation with ChatGPT from OpenAI about energy by-products; specifically, everyday items we use that contain some form of petrochemicals. My first prompt was rather broad, so I wasn’t surprised to get back a rather broad answer highlighting product categories instead of specific examples. Plastics, synthetic fibers, cleaning products, personal care products, medicines, paints & coatings, and adhesives were all succinctly summarized, but I wanted to dive deeper.

Given that AI has an almost limitless reach, I asked for a comprehensive list of all the products we use in everyday life that are made from petrochemicals. Turns out, ChatGPT has some healthy boundaries, so it pushed back, only offering a slightly more detailed list of the categories produced from the first prompt.

Not to be deterred, I asked for additional examples. I didn’t want to continue getting spoon-fed 10 items at a time, so I asked for 200. Less than comprehensive, more than the crumbs I was getting.

In entertaining fashion, ChatGPT told me compiling a list of 200 items might be challenging, but that it could offer up 100. The brazen negotiation made me smile.

I complimented the list and nudged a bit, encouraging ChatGPT it could come up with another 100 items if it tried. Much like a teenager wishes to stave off further questioning from a nosy parent, ChatGPT proffered up a second response of 100 items–almost half of which were simply things before which it added the qualifier “synthetic.” Salty.

As my intention is not to bore you, but rather enhance the knowledge of our readers by understanding how pervasive petrochemical products are in our everyday life, I settled on a more direct inquiry with a capped demand prompt: “What would you say are the 10 most surprising things in common everyday use that contain petrochemical products?”

Most of the answers featured wax-based products, like lotions, crayons, and lipstick–not necessarily earth-shattering realizations given my familiarity with cosmetics as petroleum by-products. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that chewing gum, with its synthetic rubber base enabling theoretically endless chewing, is derived from petroleum. I was also surprised to learn that many artificial sweeteners, like saccharin and aspartame, are made from petrochemicals. Huh.

There was one item on the list, however, that helped me see how truly pervasive the energy industry is, and not just for petrochemicals. Tucked in nonchalantly at #6 was Deodorant. My brain jumped immediately to the waxy base of a solid sweat deterrent, but my eyes got a curveball. ChatGPT writes, “Many deodorants contain aluminum, which is often derived from bauxite, a mineral that is usually mined from the earth using petroleum-powered machinery.” Now that was an answer I wasn’t expecting.

While my initial inference stood true – the smooth glide of a buttery solid antiperspirant is without a doubt derived from petrochemicals (not to mention the plastic packaging surrounding it), I wasn’t expecting ChatGPT to rope in the oft petroleum-fueled tools used to make said product. If that’s true, then nearly every item on the planet is derived from petroleum. Or at the very least, some source of energy. Regardless of whether the machinery used runs on gasoline, electricity, or wind power, literally almost everything that is produced on this earth is related to the energy industry.

Even if it’s hand-made, it’s technically still energy-adjacent, assuming we all bathe regularly with soap, yet another on the list of commonly used items derived from petroleum by-products. It’s certainly directly powering some manual activities, for those busting stress and bad breath with gum, or drinking a diet soda to power through. No pun intended.

I share this amusing tale simply to clarify the ubiquitous nature of energy in all parts of the modern world. As we look toward the #futureofenergy, we must be cognizant of its universal reach. It’s not necessarily realistic to switch from one source of energy to another overnight, but we do have a responsibility to seek cleaner, healthier, more efficient sources of energy while sustaining the life to which we have all grown accustomed.

Much like ChatGPT thought she couldn’t come up with 200 items derived from petroleum products, many think Houston will be unable to drive the Energy Transition, given our extensive petroleum focus. But like so many fellow Houstonians before us, we love a good challenge.

Just keep prompting us, and we’ll eventually unlock infinite potential for the #futureofenergy. It’s a limitless time to be in Houston, absorbing wisdom the city so willingly wants to share with the growing ecosystem of innovators. Just ask the growing number of almost 5,000 Energy-related firms in Houston. We’re just getting started.

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Lindsey Ferrell is a contributing writer to EnergyCapitalHTX and founder of Guerrella & Co.

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Woodlands-based Lancium teams up on West Texas data center campus

coming soon

The Woodlands-based Lancium Technologies, which designs, develops, and manages gigawatt-scale data center campuses, has teamed up with Denver-based data center builder and operator Crusoe Energy Systems on a new grid-connected campus more than 100 miles east of Wichita Falls.

Construction on the 1-gigawatt Childress County campus, being built for an unidentified tech company, is expected to start in Q3 of this year.

Lancium owns the 270-acre site where the data center campus will be located and will set up and manage the campus’ energy infrastructure. Crusoe will design, build, and operate the campus.

The two companies already are working together on data centers in Abilene. Their first data center has already expanded to a capacity of 1.2 gigawatts, and a 900-megawatt data center is planned for adjacent land owned by Lancium.

The Abilene project is the first site of the Stargate initiative, an AI infrastructure program backed by MGX, OpenAI, Oracle, and Softbank to create a U.S. network of hyperscale AI data centers. The four-year initiative has earmarked $500 billion to build the network.

“Childress is a natural next step in our partnership with Crusoe,” Lancium CEO Michael McNamara said in a news release. “Crusoe has been a great partner to build alongside in Abilene, and we’re glad to bring that same model — and the jobs and investment that come with it — to the community of Childress. We are deeply committed to working with local stakeholders to advance a model of development that addresses the broader needs of the community we will share for a very long time.”

Last year, Lancium appeared at No. 43 on Time and Statista’s list of America’s top greentech companies.

Lancium has raised $1.25 billion in funding since its founding in 2017, according to PitchBook and CB Insights.

In 2021, Lancium closed $150 million in funding led by Hanwha Solutions, with participation from SBI Holdings, Novawulf and other investors. Four years later, the company arranged $600 million in debt financing to advance development of “clean” data center campuses.

New York energy firm scoops up Houston’s Infinity Power Partners

m&a activity

Houston-based energy management and consulting firm Infinity Power Partners has been acquired by New York City-based Environ Energy, which also offers energy management and consulting services.

The deal creates a new “anchor segment” for Environ in the multifamily market. With the addition of Infinity Power’s roughly 2,000 clients in the multifamily sector, representing more than 1 million multifamily units under contract, Environ now has more than 8,000 U.S. clients in the commercial real estate, healthcare, manufacturing, education and government sectors.

“This acquisition continues to solidify our presence in key energy markets while aligning with founders who share our deep commitment to client success,” Environ CEO Chris Sternberg said in a news release.

Infinity Power co-founders and managing partners Nick Altman and Peter Selber have joined Environ, a portfolio company of investment firm 424 Capital. Altman and Selber founded Infinity Power in 2011.

“We built our business one relationship at a time,” Selber said, “with a strong commitment to the communities we serve. That same dedication is reflected in Environ’s approach — now delivered at scale.”

Altman says the acquisition is part of the “next chapter” in energy management. Energy management services help commercial customers reduce utility bills, improve equipment life, achieve green energy goals, and decrease risk tied to fluctuating energy prices.

“Energy management is a culture for continual improvement of energy performance and efficiency that’s integrated within an organization’s normal business practice,” according to the U.S. Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy.

In all, Environ has made six acquisitions in the past 17 months.

Last year, Environ acquired another Houston-based energy management and consulting firm, CSD Energy Advisors. In that deal, Environ gained nearly 1,000 clients, including several Fortune 500 companies and three large industrial energy users in Texas. As part of the deal, CSD co-founders Andrew Barth and JB Sowyrda joined Environ.

Also last year, Environ purchased Carrollton-based energy advisory firm Rapid Power Management (RPM).

Houston's PowerBridge partners on 2GW Texas AI data center campus

data center venture

Houston-based PowerBridge has formed a joint venture with Denver-based Liberty Energy to develop large-scale data center campuses.

The joint venture’s initial focus will be PowerBridge’s Alpha Digital Campus, a 2-gigawatt data center operation planned for West Texas. PowerBridge sets up data center campuses to support AI and cloud computing. Liberty is an energy company whose Liberty Power Innovations subsidiary offers distributed power and energy storage services.

Houston-based investment firm Five Point Infrastructure LLC established PowerBridge last year, committing up to $1 billion in equity. Earlier this month, The Wall Street Journal reported Five Point is trying to raise $2.5 billion for a new fund targeting water management projects, natural gas treatment systems and data center sites.

Through Five Point subsidiary LandBridge, PowerBridge enjoys access to more than 275,000 acres for infrastructure development as well as low-cost natural gas.

The first phase of PowerBridge’s West Texas campus is expected to offer more than 300 megawatts of generation capacity, with the potential to add more capacity over time. The campus is scheduled to start delivering power in the fourth quarter of 2027.

“By aligning our powered-campus development assets with Liberty’s comprehensive power services and operational expertise, we are creating a model that can be scaled across future gigawatt-scale powered data center campuses in West Texas,” Alex Hernandez, founder and CEO of PowerBridge, said in a release.

Before joining PowerBridge in 2025, Hernandez led Cumulus Data and Talen Energy Corp., a provider of power and energy infrastructure. Amazon Web Services bought Cumulus Data, a subsidiary of Houston-based Talen, in 2024 for $650 million. Cumulus develops nuclear-powered data centers.

Hernandez sits on the board of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which manages about 90 percent of the state’s electrical load.

Liberty recently announced a partnership with Houston-based energy technology company SLB to support the expansion of data center capacity.

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