Research

Powering Up: Electrical Engineering Department at Colorado School of Mines grows as demand for jobs goes up 4/28/2025

Powering Up: Electrical Engineering Department at Colorado School of Mines grows as demand for jobs goes up

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Peter Aaen contributes to this article about how the Mines Electrical Engineering Department has a new online master’s degree, increased enrollment, and innovative research, all contributing to the positive future for the field.  April 28, 2025.

Astronaut nuclear safety: A concept for managing crew risks when using space nuclear power systems 4/23/2025

Astronaut nuclear safety: A concept for managing crew risks when using space nuclear power systems

Payne Institute Fellow Alexander Q. Gilbert writes about how space nuclear power systems can provide transformational, enabling capabilities for human space exploration missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.  However, widespread use of space nuclear power systems in direct support of astronaut operations calls for a concerted and holistic focus on the impacts on crew safety.   April 23, 2025.

Jessica M. Smith named 2025 Andrew Carnegie Fellow 4/16/2025

Jessica M. Smith named 2025 Andrew Carnegie Fellow

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Jessica M. Smith, University Professor of Anthropology in the Engineering, Design & Society Department at Colorado School of Mines, has been named a 2025 Andrew Carnegie Fellow. Smith is one of 26 scholars across the United States – and the first Mines professor ever – selected for the prestigious honor. April 16, 2025. 

Fossil fuel subsidy reforms have become more fragile 3/26/2025

Fossil fuel subsidy reforms have become more fragile

Payne Institute Fellow Paasha Mahdavi, Michael L. Ross, and Evelyn Simoni write about how since the mid-2010s, many governments have pledged to reduce their subsidies for fossil fuels. Yet, it is unclear whether these reforms have been implemented, with prior studies showing conflicting results. March 26, 2025.

Intercomparison of Three Continuous Monitoring Systems on Operating Oil and Gas Sites 3/18/2025

Intercomparison of Three Continuous Monitoring Systems on Operating Oil and Gas Sites

Colorado School of Mines Student Researchers William S. Daniels, Spencer G. Kidd, Shuting Lydia Yang, Shannon Stokes, Payne Institute Fellow Arvind P. Ravikumar, and Faculty Fellow Dorit M. Hammerling compare continuous monitoring systems (CMS) from three different vendors on six operating oil and gas sites in the Appalachian Basin using several months of data. March 18, 2025.

Influence of climate change and accidents on perception differs among energy technologies 3/7/2025

Influence of climate change and accidents on perception differs among energy technologies

Guillaume F. L’Her, Nickolas A. Duncan, Hank C. Jenkins-Smith, and Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Mark R. Deinert write about how public perception of energy technologies is crucial for their acceptance and development, particularly in the context of climate change and postaccident scenarios.  March 7, 2025.

The Future of Carbon Dioxide Removal 2/17/2025

The Future of Carbon Dioxide Removal

Ben Tourkin, Nomadic Venture Partners (NVP), writes about the role that removal of atmospheric carbon will play in a global net-zero roadmap. From high-level market dynamics to comparisons of specific technologies and investment pathways, this exploration reflects a broad yet practical approach to understanding the opportunities and hurdles in this field.  February 17, 2025.  

Advancing Co2 Separation and Capture in Post-Combustion Scenarios Using Resonant Vibration Techniques 2/24/2025

Advancing Co2 Separation and Capture in Post-Combustion Scenarios Using Resonant Vibration Techniques

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Amirhosein Riahi, Julie Muretta, and Richard LaDouceur write about how carbon dioxide (CO2) requires specialized capture methods for effective mitigation. Biochar has garnered significant interest as a versatile, porous solid adsorbent due to its cost-effective production, thermal, chemical, and mechanical stability, and minimal environmental impact. However, its small surface area and diffusional issues result in slow CO2 adsorption kinetics and limited capacity, hindering widespread adoption.  February 14, 2025.

Critical Minerals and the Future of the U.S. Economy 2/10/2025

Critical Minerals and the Future of the U.S. Economy

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian and Communications Associate Gregory Wischer contributed to this CSIS Report about safeguarding the minerals supply chains for advanced technologies in strategic industries is an economic and national security imperative.  The report shows that resilient mineral chains have never been more important for U.S. security than at this critical juncture.   February 10, 2025.

A comprehensive global mapping of offshore lighting 2/8/2025

A comprehensive global mapping of offshore lighting

Payne Institute Earth Observation Group Director Christopher D. Elvidge, Research Associates Tilottama Ghosh, Namrata Chatterjee, and Mikhail Zhizhin, Paul C. Sutton, and Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian present the first comprehensive multiyear global mapping of offshore lighting structures derived from low-light imaging satellite observations collected at night. The sensor is the day–night band (DNB) flown as part of the NASA/NOAA Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS). The product merges two operational nighttime light products: VIIRS boat detection (VBD) data and VIIRS cloud-free nighttime light (VNL) data. The two products are spatially complementary, making it possible to fill gaps through a merger.  February 8, 2025.

Electrification of the joint force: Challenges and opportunities for competition in the Pacific and Arctic theaters 1/17/2025

Electrification of the joint force: Challenges and opportunities for competition in the Pacific and Arctic theaters

Joshua D. Simulcik, Fabian E. Villalobos, and Payne Institute Director Morgan D. Bazilian write about how the US Department of Defense will have to find ways to expand the portfolio of its energy sources, continue to refine its supply chains and delivery mechanisms for energy services, improve efficiency across systems, and maintain a focus on costs to increase growing demand for energy services on the battlefield.  January 17, 2025.

Critical Minerals Analytical Tools Launched by Payne Institute for Public Policy at Colorado School of Mines 12/9/2024

Critical Minerals Analytical Tools Launched by Payne Institute for Public Policy at Colorado School of Mines

The Payne Institute for Public Policy created a series of user-friendly critical minerals analytical tools.  The tools, being developed in cooperation with the Mineral and Energy Economics program at Mines, offer detailed information about the availability, cost, and demand for minerals integral to global efforts to transition to low carbon energy and transport systems.  December 9, 2024.

Mines researchers prioritize responsibility with carbon capture and storage 12/3/2024

Mines researchers prioritize responsibility with carbon capture and storage

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Jessica Smith is part of a team of Mines researchers are working in partnership with local stakeholders to curb these emissions in southern Colorado—and provide a model for similar efforts across the nation as states aim to meet greenhouse gas reduction goals and work toward a net-zero carbon future.  December 3, 2024.

Geophysics and the Energy Transition

GEOPHYSICS AND THE ENERGY TRANSITION

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Carol Dahl coauthored portions of this book on geophysical monitoring as a means to carbon capture and storage and the energy transition.  November 24, 2024.

 

 

Mines researchers looking for answers to climate challenges below the surface 11/21/2024

Mines researchers looking for answers to climate challenges below the surface

Payne Institute Faculty Fellows Ryan Venturelli, Matthew Siegfried and Brandon Dugan are featured in this article about how cross-collaboration is key to addressing climate science challenges.  The researchers are on the leading edge of advancing our understanding of and response to critical environmental issues.  November 21, 2024.

Jihye Kim wins Scialog Award for funding of research in sustainable energy systems 11/20/2024

Jihye Kim wins Scialog Award for funding of research in sustainable energy systems

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Jihye Kim, assistant professor of metallurgical and materials engineering, won the award as part of a multi-university team working on electrodeposition of nickel, cobalt.  Kim is part of a project titled “AI/ML-assisted Separation and Programmable Electrodeposition of Ni and Co.”  November 20, 2024.

Mines faculty examine the integration of mining, refining for domestic critical mineral production 11/18/2024

Mines faculty examine the integration of mining, refining for domestic critical mineral production

Payne Institute Faculty Fellows Nicole Smith, Elizabeth Holley, Jihye Kim, and Payne Institute Researcher Aaron Malone are featured in this article about how mining research will focus on both the environmental and community impacts of vertically integrated mining operations.  If the U.S. wants to stay competitive in the clean energy market, behind China, domestic production is crucial, which means the country needs more mines. November 18, 2024. 

ME Dr. Alexandra Newman honored as 2024 INFORMS Fellow 11/5/2024

ME Dr. Alexandra Newman honored as 2024 INFORMS Fellow

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Dr. Alexandra Newman has been honored as a 2024 INFORMS Fellow for her outstanding contributions to Operations Research.  The Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) Fellow Award is reserved for distinguished individuals who have demonstrated outstanding and exceptional accomplishments and experience in operations research and the management sciences (OR/MS). November 5, 2024.  

Gas Pathing: Improved Greenhouse Gas Emission Estimates of Liquefied Natural Gas Exports through Enhanced Supply Chain Resolution 11/5/2024

Gas Pathing: Improved Greenhouse Gas Emission Estimates of Liquefied Natural Gas Exports through Enhanced Supply Chain Resolution

Selina A. Roman-White, Deeksha Mallikarjuna Prasanna, Amber McCullagh, Payne Fellow Arvind P. Ravikumar, David Thomas Allen, Kavya Chivukula, Harshvardhan Khutal, Paul Balcombe, Gregory Ross, Payne SFL Program Manager Brad Handler, Director Morgan Bazilian, and Fiji C. George write about how the utilization of greenhouse gas (GHG) life cycle assessments (LCAs) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) has increased over the past decade. In this study, a novel framework for improved supply chain-specific LCAs for GHGs is presented using a gas pathing algorithm aligned with how gas is purchased, sold, and transported within the U.S.   November 5, 2024.  

Critical minerals mining and Native American sovereignty: Comparing case studies of lithium, copper, antimony, nickel and graphite mining in the United States 10/24/2024

Critical minerals mining and Native American sovereignty: Comparing case studies of lithium, copper, antimony, nickel and graphite mining in the United States

Payne Institute Communications Associate Macdonald Amoah, Benjamin K. Sovacool, Fellow Dustin Mulvaney, Director Morgan Bazilian, NAMES Director Richard Luarkie, and Daniel Cardenas write about how owing to the historical patterns of colonialism and settlement, many of the remaining undeveloped mineral resources needed for a low-carbon energy transition are located on lands that have historic, ancestral, or cultural significance to Native American Tribes and Indigenous communities, as well as are near environmental-sensitive areas, managed by multiple agencies with goals across the spectra from natural resource development to cultural resource conservation.  Through a comparative case study approach, this study analyzes mining projects seeking to develop these resources.   October 24, 2024. 

Sloan Foundation awards Mines more than $1M for energy/environment research 10/23/2024

Sloan Foundation awards Mines more than $1M for energy/environment research

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Jessica Smith is featured in this article about how Mines faculty and students are working on projects that centralize societal and community impact when developing solutions for the energy transition.  Among other research projects, is a $250,000 study of how energy researchers integrate societal considerations into their work. The project is led by Engineering, Design, and Society Professor Jessica Smith and Electrical Engineering Professor Katie Johnson.  October 23, 2024.  

Payne Institute for Public Policy 2024 State of Critical Minerals Report highlights potential of mining tailings and steep nickel cost curve 10/10/2024

Payne Institute for Public Policy 2024 State of Critical Minerals Report highlights potential of mining tailings and steep nickel cost curve

A new critical minerals report from The Payne Institute for Public Policy at Colorado School of Mines highlights the vast potential from mining tailings, the steep cost curve for Nickel, new legislation focused on increasing the domestic mining of critical minerals and the U.S. government’s recent $4.9 billion of investments in mining and processing.  October 10, 2024.

Optimizing the Physical Properties of Biochar for CO2 Adsorption Using Resonant Vibrations 10/3/2024

Optimizing the Physical Properties of Biochar for CO2 Adsorption Using Resonant Vibrations

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Amirhosein Riahi and Richard LaDouceur write about how among various Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) technologies, significant emphasis has been placed on biochar as an effective post-combustion CO2 capture method. Biochar demonstrates potential as a technically effective method for stabilizing carbon.   October 3, 2024.

Kamini Singha selected to 2024 class of AGU Fellows 9/18/2024

Kamini Singha selected to 2024 class of AGU Fellows

Payne Institute Fellow, Kamini Singha has been named to the 2024 class of fellows for the American Geophysical Union (AGU). She joins a distinguished group of 54 individuals from this year’s class.  AGU, the world’s largest Earth and space science association, bestows this honor annually to a select number of individuals who have made exceptional contributions. Since its inception in 1962, less than 0.1% of AGU members have been selected as fellows each year. September 18, 2024.

Could Justice40 reproduce injustices in the critical mineral sector? 9/13/2024

Could Justice40 reproduce injustices in the critical mineral sector?

Payne Institute Research Associate Aaron Malone and Faculty Fellows, Raphael Deberdt, Nicole M. Smith, and Elizabeth A. Holley write about how the United States is reprioritizing domestic extraction and processing of critical minerals, with billions of dollars of investments. Because of their uses in low-carbon technologies, the mining and processing of these resources falls under the scope of the Justice40 Initiative, the Biden administration’s flagship environmental justice policy that prioritizes green investments to benefit communities deemed disadvantaged, including all recognized Tribes.  September 13, 2024.  

Colorado School of Mines, Payne Institute for Public Policy announce grant from Quadrature Climate Foundation 9/5/2024

Colorado School of Mines, Payne Institute for Public Policy announce grant from Quadrature Climate Foundation

The Payne Institute for Public Policy and the Mineral and Energy Economics Program at Colorado School of Mines are pleased to announce the award of a three-year grant from Quadrature Climate Foundation in support of critical mineral development in resource communities, with an emphasis on the Global South.  September 5, 2024.

PROCESS INTENSIFICATION FOR CARBON SEQUESTRATION BY RESONANT VIBRATORY MIXING 8/2/2024

PROCESS INTENSIFICATION FOR CARBON SEQUESTRATION BY RESONANT VIBRATORY MIXING

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Amirhosein Riahi writes about how due to the excessive consumption of fossil fuels, which leads to significant greenhouse gas emissions and rapid climate change, it is crucial to develop various Carbon Capture and Sequestration strategies. CO2 sequestration in solid, porous adsorbents like low-cost biochar emerges as a promising method to achieve this goal.  August 2, 2024.

Electrifying Off-Road Vehicles: Is 1000 [Wh/kg] Enough? 7/24/2024

Electrifying Off-Road Vehicles: Is 1000 [Wh/kg] Enough?

Mines Aaron Brucker, Adam Duran, Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Neal P. Sullivan and Mines Aashutosh Mistry write about how in the past two decades, we have made strides in decarbonizing light duty vehicles through advances in lithium-ion battery technology. With the battery fundamentals reasonably known for these passenger electric vehicles (EVs), further scientific progress is motivated by the need to electrify other transportation modes.  July 24, 2024. 

Assessment of Peer-to-Peer Trading Benefits 7/10/2024

Assessment of Peer-to-Peer Trading Benefits

Emon Chatterji and Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian write about how a Peer-to-peer (P2P) electricity trading model can enable customers to support each other with potentially significant economic benefits, yields technical benefits to reduce losses/congestion, and presents a greater opportunity to maximize variable renewable development. This study uses a two-stage optimization model to generate supply curves for individual customers, followed by an optimization by the P2P operator to maximize the savings. July 10, 2024.

U.S. researchers build 16%-efficient mini perovskite solar module resistant to UV light-induced degradation 7/10/24

U.S. researchers build 16%-efficient mini perovskite solar module resistant to UV light-induced degradation

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Allan Sellinger contributes to this article about how a U.S. research team has built a 15 cm2 perovskite solar module with improved stability and efficiency thanks to a polymer hole transport layer that reportedly improves the panel stability and efficiency. July 10, 2024.

Elevate Quantum awarded $40.5M to expand quantum ecosystem in Colorado, Mountain West 7/2/2024

Elevate Quantum awarded $40.5M to expand quantum ecosystem in Colorado, Mountain West

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Eliot Kapit is featured in this article about how Mines is part of regional consortium receiving federal funding to support efforts to strengthen the quantum workforce over the next decade.  The federal funding, alongside Colorado’s recently passed $74 million Quantum Tax Credit and New Mexico’s substantial quantum investments, will enable Elevate Quantum to deliver on its key objectives, such as launching 50+ quantum startups, upskilling 30,000 workers, and establishing a world-leading quantum lab to provide state-of-the-art hardware and expertise to startups.  July 2, 2024.

Mines-developed molecule improves performance of perovskite solar cells 7/1/2024

Mines-developed molecule improves performance of perovskite solar cells

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Alan Sellinger is featured in this article about how a new molecule, called EtCz3EPA, was designed, and synthesized by his research group.  The molecule, which forms stronger bonds within the solar cells, enhancing the connection between different parts of the cells. In doing so, the molecule increases the cell’s stability and efficiency – even when exposed to UV radiation and tested outdoors.  July 1, 2024.

Statistical Review of World Energy 6/26/2024

Statistical Review of World Energy

The Payne Institute Earth Observation Group provided the data for global gas flaring based on our satellite data algorithms for the Energy Institute Statistical Review of World Energy.  The Energy Institute Statistical Review of World Energy analyses data on world energy markets from the prior year. Previously produced by bp, the Review has been providing timely, comprehensive and objective data to the energy community since 1952.  June 26, 2024.

Lori Tunstall wins NSF CAREER Award for research on concrete sustainability and durability 5/29/2024

Lori Tunstall wins NSF CAREER Award for research on concrete sustainability and durability

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Lori Tunstall is featured in this article has received a National Science Foundation CAREER Award for her work on improving concrete durability with a focus on sustainability.  The research aims to create methods for concrete that lasts long enough to offset carbon footprint from production.  May 29, 2024.  

Microgrid design and multi-year dispatch optimization under climate-informed load and renewable resource uncertainty 5/28/2024

Microgrid design and multi-year dispatch optimization under climate-informed load and renewable resource uncertainty

Madeline Macmillan, Alexander Zolan, Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian, and Daniel L. Villa write about how microgrids are an increasingly popular solution to provide energy resilience in response to increasing grid dependency and the growing impacts of climate change on grid operations.  They develop a two-stage stochastic programming extension of an existing microgrid design and dispatch optimization model to obtain uncertainty-informed and climate-resilient energy system decisions that minimizes long-term costs. May, 28, 2024.

Mitigating Performance Degrading Defects in Gallium-doped Czochralski Silicon Solar Cells with Data-Informed Modeling

Mitigating Performance Degrading Defects in Gallium-doped Czochralski Silicon Solar Cells with Data-Informed Modeling

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Sumit Agarwal received funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) Small Innovative Projects in Solar (SIPS) for a project that studies light- and temperature-induced degradation observed in p-type silicon passivated emitter rear contact (p-PERC) solar modules. The team is using gallium-doped Czochralski silicon wafers to understand the high efficiency and reliability of p-PERC crystalline silicon (c-Si) modules by mitigating 30 years of degradation in the field due to light and thermal effects.  May 16, 2024.

Enhancement of CO2 Adsorption Kinetics onto Carbon by Low-Frequency High Amplitude Resonant Vibrations 5/9/2024

Enhancement of CO2 Adsorption Kinetics onto Carbon by Low-Frequency High Amplitude Resonant Vibrations

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Amirhosein Riahi, Ethan Heggem, Mario Caccia, and Richard LaDouceur write about how due to the excessive consumption of fossil fuels, which leads to significant greenhouse gas emissions and rapid climate change, it is crucial to develop various carbon capture and sequestration strategies. CO2 sequestration in solid, porous adsorbents like low-cost biochar has emerged as a promising approach to achieve this goal. May 9, 2024.

World Online Ranking of Best Environmental Scientists – 2024 Report 5/9/2024

World Online Ranking of Best Environmental Scientists – 2024 Report

Payne Institute Earth Observation Group Senior Research Associate Dr. Christopher Elvidge has been named to the 2024 Edition of the Ranking of Best Scientists in the field of Environmental Sciences by Research.com.  The ranking is based on D-index (Discipline H-index) metric, which only includes papers and citation values for an examined discipline. The ranking includes only leading scientists with D-index of at least 30 for academic publications made in the area of Environmental Sciences.  Dr. Elvidge has been ranked #513 in the world ranking and #250 in United States.  May 9, 2024.

Colorado School of Mines awarded $10.5M in fuel cell funding 4/26/2024

Colorado School of Mines awarded $10.5M in fuel cell funding

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Robert Braun is featured in this article about how his research team received three federal awards boost funding for fuel cell and hydrogen technologies research.  The team is approaching this challenge from a multidisciplinary lens, with researchers bringing experience across cutting-edge fuel-cell research capabilities including new materials development, high-temperature electrochemistry, device design and characterization, ammonia chemistry, and systems integration.  April 24, 2024.

Greenhouse Gases Life Cycle Assessment for Natural Gas and Liquefied Natural Gas 4/23/2024

Greenhouse Gases Life Cycle Assessment for Natural Gas and Liquefied Natural Gas

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian contributed to this report from the National Petroleum Institute on titled Reducing GHG Emissions from the U.S. Natural Gas Supply Chain.  His contributions were made to Chapter 4 – Greenhouse Gases Life Cycle Assessment for Natural Gas and Liquefied Natural Gas.  The chapter introduces the fundamental concepts of LCA, discusses modeling GHG emissions from U.S. natural gas and LNG supply chains, quantifies life cycle GHG emissions, and explores application of LCAs in public and corporate policies.   April 23, 2024.

Potential for small and micro modular reactors to electrify developing regions 4/19/2024

Potential for small and micro modular reactors to electrify developing regions

Mines Faculty Guillaume L’Her, R. Scott Kemp, Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian, and Faculty Fellow Mark Deinert write about how small-scale nuclear power is typically thought of for niche markets, however recent work has suggested that it could help address the massive gaps in energy access in developing countries.  They present a global analysis of regions suitable for nuclear reactor deployment based on physical siting criteria, security, governance and economic competitiveness.  April 19, 2024.

Exploring the Hidden World of Lighting Flicker with a High-Speed Camera 4/2/2024

Exploring the Hidden World of Lighting Flicker with a High-Speed Camera

Payne Institute Earth Observation Group Senior Research Associate Christopher D. Elvidge, Research Associate Mikhail Zhizhin, Director Morgan Bazilian, Ashley Pipkin, Sharolyn Anderson, and William S. Kowalik write about how alternating current can result in flickering—or pulsing—in the brightness of light emitted by luminaires.  However, evidence indicates that many organisms perceive flicker with non-visual photoreceptors present on the retinas. April 2, 2024.

Energy, material, and resource efficiency for industrial decarbonization: A systematic review of sociotechnical systems, technological innovations, and policy options 3/25/2024

Energy, material, and resource efficiency for industrial decarbonization: A systematic review of sociotechnical systems, technological innovations, and policy options

Jinsoo Kim, Benjamin K. Sovacool, Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian, Fellow Steve Griffiths, and Minyoung Yang write about how efficiency stands out as one of the most important options for achieving industrial decarbonization. In addition to carbon emissions reductions, improving energy, material and resource efficiency can bring many desirable benefits, such as cost savings, increased energy and resource security, and higher productivity. We conducted a comprehensive and systematic review through a socio-technical lens of more than 2.8 million references and 380 selected studies on industrial decarbonization.  March 25, 2024.

Exploring policy choices for addressing forever chemicals 3/25/2024

Exploring policy choices for addressing forever chemicals

Payne Institute Communications Associate Kristin Ziv, Student Researcher Isabel Guajardo Retamales and Director Morgan Bazilian write about how on March 20, the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) convened a pivotal hearing titled “Examining PFAS as Hazardous Substances.”  The session focused on the risks associated with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a group of synthetic chemicals found in various industrial and consumer products. March 25, 2024.

Review of Policy Research Special Issue March 2024 3/21/2024

Review of Policy Research Special Issue March 2024

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Dr. Kathleen J. Hancock is the editor of this March 2024 edition of the RDR Special Issue on Energy Regionalism. The Special Issue’s focus on energy regionalism stems from increasing academic interest in how geographic regions compare with each other and across issues areas as well as growing interest in a wide range of energy issues, often seen through lenses other than the traditional security one and including non-state actors. Understanding how regionalisms—players, processes, institutions, and organizations—intersect with energy is directly linked to domestic and international energy policies and outcomes. The contributions cover sub-Saharan Africa, the East Mediterranean, Central America, Russia, Europe, and North America.  March 21,2024.

Detection, localization, and quantification of single-source methane emissions on oil and gas production sites using point-in-space continuous monitoring systems 3/20/2024

Detection, localization, and quantification of single-source methane emissions on oil and gas production sites using point-in-space continuous monitoring systems

Payne Institute Student Researchers William S. Daniels and Meng Jia, and Faculty Fellow Dorit M. Hammerling write about how they propose a modular framework for methane emission detection, localization, and quantification on oil and gas production sites that uses concentration and wind data from point-in-space continuous monitoring systems. The framework leverages a gradient-based spike detection algorithm to estimate emission start and end times (event detection) and pattern matches simulated and observed concentrations to estimate emission source location (localization) and rate (quantification). March 20, 2024.

Projecting demand for mineral-based critical materials in the energy transition for electricity 3/18/2024

Projecting demand for mineral-based critical materials in the energy transition for electricity

Payne Institute Student Researcher Gabriel Collins, Faculty Fellow Carol A. Dahl, Student Researcher Maxwell Fleming, Student Researcher Michael Tanner, Student Researcher Wilson C. Martin, Kabir Nadkarni, Fellow Sara Hastings-Simon and Director Morgan Bazilian write about how mapping the changing energy landscape toward net zero and understanding the critical material needs to support the transition are essential for demanders and suppliers as well as policy makers seeking to orchestrate the transition. They provide such decision makers for electricity markets with a transparent tool that can be easily understood and modified as our transitional knowledge improves.  March 18, 2024.

Michael McGuirk Wins Negative Emissions Scialog Award 3/7/2024

Michael McGuirk Wins Negative Emissions Scialog Award

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Mike McGuirk has won a $50,000 award from the Research Corporation for Scientific Advancement’s (RSCA) Negative Emissions Science Scialog program to conduct research exploring opportunities to replace petroleum in this process with polyolefin waste, the largest type of post-consumer plastic.  March 7, 2024.

 

The Payne Institute experts are regional, national, and international leaders in applied research in natural resources, energy, and the environment. Our team is involved in a wide variety of research projects in these fields, and are committed to sharing these results with academic and professional audiences.

 

DISCLAIMER: The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed are those of the author alone and do not reflect the opinions, beliefs, viewpoints, or official policies of the Payne Institute or Colorado School of Mines.