UH May Be Key to Alternative Energy Solution

As industry leaders look to address the growing energy crisis, they may very well find solutions at the University of Houston. Texas Governor Rick Perry recently announced that UH’s Center for Industrial Partnerships will be home to the Texas Bioproducts Industry Council, a key player in the development of statewide bioenergy initiatives.

The Texas Bioproducts Industry Council is responsible for helping develop policy and moving the governor’s agenda forward. The council includes partners from the energy, agriculture and petrochemical sectors, such as Shell, BASF, Bayer CropScience, Chevron, Earth Biofuels, Standard Renewable Energy and CleanFuel USA.

“We’re pleased our Center for Industrial Partnerships will not only serve as a member of the council but also contribute a base of operations for this important new group,” said John Warren, executive director of the CIP/UH. “Texas is well suited to lead in the development of global solutions for energy and environmental issues, and we look forward to playing a role in that.”

The Center for Industrial Partnerships fosters joint initiatives between companies and the university’s research and educational resources to help solve technological challenges involved in the commercialization process. Its purpose is to facilitate research across UH System campuses with off-campus researchers and industry.

“Houston can be the hub of the bio-fuels, bio-chemicals and bio-material enterprises that play such a fundamental role in creating the state’s bio-economy,” said Lee Ann Woods, project manager of the Governor’s Statewide Energy Initiative.

The Center for Industrial Partnerships at the University of Houston will be uniquely positioned to help the Texas Bioproducts Industry Council provide technology and research support to bring a wide range of goods and services into the marketplace. This latest development is an extraordinary complement to other UH led energy efforts in wind, fuel cell, diesel, ultra-deepwater and unconventional onshore hydrocarbon recovery.

UH will be working with academic partners from around the state, including Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Baylor and Lamar universities. For more information about CIP/UH, please visit www.uh.edu/cip.