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Accelerating the Energy Transition to Zero-Emission Hydrocarbons

​The French-American Chamber of Commerce of Houston, in its spring-summer magazine, profiles the Rice University Carbon Hub
and its Executive Director Marie-Nathalie Contou-Carrere.

​Rice University is one of the chief influencers among our Top Energy University programs, particularly for its Energy and Natural Resources Initiative and OwlSpark incubator.

​Rice University research initiative aims to fundamentally change how the world uses fossil fuels. The COVID-19 pandemic perfectly highlighted both the progress we can achieve with global action and the massive impact of humanity's activities on carbon emissions. The International Energy Agency projects that global carbon dioxide emissions will decline by 8% in 2020 compared to 2019, owing to the worldwide measures put in place to slow the spread of COVID-19 in March-April 2020. This dramatic reduction in carbon dioxide emissions showcases the power of acting as one.

Unfortunately, it also came hand in hand with dire economic consequences. As economies restart, humanity will have to address the next conundrum with a global impact: how to provide sustainable energy to the world while fostering prosperity and ensuring equitable standards of living? This dual challenge presents a set of interconnected problems: creating new sources of clean energy beyond solar and wind; improving the energy efficiency of our air, land and sea transportation systems with lighter and fully electrified vehicles; decarbonizing the manufacturing and construction sectors; and the potential obliteration of the fossil hydrocarbon industry, which represents about 8% of the world economy. Are there potential technological solutions that could impact most or all the areas above, and do so simultaneously?
 
Yes. Inaugurated with a $10 million commitment from Shell, the Carbon Hub brings together industry, academic and non-profit organizations with similar goals to work in unison as non-competitive partners in order to accelerate the transition to reliable and affordable clean energy generation through the sustainable use of hydrocarbons.

Don’t Burn Hydrocarbons — Split Them

Instead of burning hydrocarbons and releasing carbon dioxide, split them into clean-burning hydrogen fuel and solid carbon materials. Hydrogen is a zero-emission fuel, and the carbon fraction from hydrocarbons can be used in everything from cars and clothing to buildings and soil additives for farmers. The concept of using hydrocarbons as a source of hydrogen and valuable carbon materials is a new one. For this concept to be useful on a massive scale typical of energy systems, we must find ways to turn gigatons of carbon into useful and marketable solid products. Fortunately, research and technological advances in the past two decades have unlocked a portfolio of technologies for making carbon materials that can compete with metals and other emissions-intensive materials used in construction and manufacturing.

Dr. Marie Contou-Carrere currently serves as the Interim Executive Director for the Carbon Hub. In this role, she oversees the initial deployment of the Carbon Hub structure. She develops, initiates and monitors business development activities. And she is the primary point of contact for non-technical inquiries about the Carbon Hub.

“Addressing climate change challenges requires a portfolio of solutions. The Carbon Hub is setting the foundations for a pathway to accelerate the development and adoption of long-term sustainable technologies by engaging with decision makers, industry and community leaders. Our ambition is to grow the Carbon Hub to fund and direct $100 million of basic science and engineering,” Contou-Carrere said.

Marie-Nathalie Contou-Carrere

Working with a company’s research and business leaders, Dr. Contou-Carrere develops and implements a strategic plan to align Rice’s research capabilities with the company’s interest and needs. Prior to joining Rice University in 2014, Dr. Contou-Carrere worked at INEOS Olefins & Polymers USA where she held various technical and commercial positions over a decade. She received a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering and Materials Science from the University of Minnesota and a M.S from Ecole Centrale Paris, France.


“I am honored to represent Rice University on the Board of the French-American Chamber of Commerce (FACC). “The impact of the FACC goes beyond supporting the French community in Houston. This vibrant group has positioned itself as a critical resource in the Houston ecosystem with a multi-faceted value for its members.
 
“My ambitions for the Carbon Hub,” she said, is to “maintain its focus on industry needs by creating a true technology push-market pull environment to ensure that resources are spent only on scalable solutions that match the needs of partners on the upstream and downstream portions of envisioned supply chains, and of the public simultaneously. This continued focus is ensured by the engagement of industrial members as intellectual, technological, and governance leaders.”
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The Collaborative Champion
 
The paradigm shift to a world where hydrocarbons supply zero-emission fuel and marketable solid products requires a focal point, a place where research, development and policymaking come together to help establish new value, manufacturing and supply chains. With world experts in carbon materials among its faculty and the presence of one of the top university-affiliated energy think tanks in the world, Contou-Carrere believes Rice University is uniquely positioned to bridge, enlist and coordinate the efforts of these many partners.

In addition to creating a research ecosystem with more than 70 researchers across 20 universities, federal labs and research institutes, the Carbon Hub is establishing the framework to quickly triage solutions to identify scalable technologies by bringing the supply chain together from the energy companies to the end users of carbon materials. Rather than replicating the existing organizations and infrastructure that are addressing the hydrogen value and distribution chains, the Carbon Hub focuses on the carbon side of the puzzle and interfaces with the hydrogen-focused organizations so as to ensure the two components of the hydrocarbon utilization benefit from each other's advances. Paving the path to scalable technologies The Carbon Hub will fund and direct research to develop scalable applications that are adaptive to the range of available solid carbon forms. The Carbon Hub aligns its partners' business performance with a commitment to environmental, social and community stewardship. The first wave of research projects will be announced in the fall.

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