Global Energy Future Initiative

Connecting energy innovators,
industry leaders and policy makers
to advance scientific, data-driven solutions
for the global energy future

The Future of Energy is Now, at Mines

Join the Mines Global Energy Future Initiative as we bring together global energy thought leaders and world-class Colorado School of Mines faculty through research, education, workshops, seminars and outreach. 

Why Mines Global Energy Future Initiative?

Governments and industry around the globe are pursuing increasingly ambitious initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and diversify their energy portfolios, all while the world is facing significant growth in energy demand from emerging and developing economies. On these complex issues, Mines has a unique combination of expertise with the depth to meet the energy challenges head on. Mines has an exceptional track record of solving tough scientific and engineering problems across the gamut of energy and environmental fields. The university enjoys a hard-earned reputation as an unbiased problem-solver in disciplines often at odds in the energy-environment discussion; the university tagline, “Earth, Energy, Environment” is an accurate reflection of our expansive and growing purview.  

With partners from academia, industry, government, and civil society galvanized by Mines’ uniquely comprehensive expertise, we’re developing energy solutions that will shape decision-making, now and in the decades to come. 

Impactful Hubs

Low Carbon and Renewable Energy

Developing renewable, secure, resilient, and adaptive energy infrastructure that fosters economic growth while reducing environmental impact

Carbon Capture Utilization & Storage (CCUS)

Multidisciplinary approach to scientific, engineering and policy research on net zero emissions technological innovations

Clean Water Innovations

Role of technology innovation in reimagining global water in the future energy system

Minerals & Metals

Finding solutions to meet the minerals and metals needs to create our future energy system, including sustainable mining practices; technological innovations in mining; and the role of markets, economics and policy

Oil and Gas

Designing interdisciplinary research focused on the science, engineering and policy of oil and gas in the net-zero energy future

Supply Chain Transparency

Understanding how the future energy system will impact the global supply chain and the associated effects on markets, communities and the environment

Upcoming Events

Latest News

Carbon Credits for Mitigating Orphan & Idle Oil Well Methane Emissions 11/1/2024

Carbon Credits for Mitigating Orphan & Idle Oil Well Methane Emissions

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Jim Crompton, Sustainable Finance Lab Program Manager Brad Handler, and Student Researcher Vandan Bhalala write about how it is well understood that permanently plugging old, abandoned oil and gas wells in the U.S. can make a big impact in our nation’s efforts to combat global warming.  Through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, public funding has increased to properly plug many orphan wells.  November 1, 2024.

Demystifying Hydrogen: Production Pathways, Applications, Storage & Transportation (Part 1) 10/24/2024

DEMYSTIFYING HYDROGEN – PRODUCTION PATHWAYS, APPLICATIONS, STORAGE & TRANSPORTATION (PART 1)

Payne Institute CCUS Program Manager Anna Littlefield and Student Researcher Siddhant Kulkarni write about how as global efforts to decarbonize the economy intensify, hydrogen is emerging as an important component of the clean energy transition.  Hydrogen offers a versatile, low-carbon solution that addresses the limitations of electrification in sectors like heavy industry and transportation, making it a critical tool in the global push toward sustainability.  October 24, 2024.

FINANCING OPTIONS & LIABILITY MANAGEMENT IN CCS 10/24/2024

FINANCING OPTIONS & LIABILITY MANAGEMENT IN CCS

Payne Institute Sustainable Finance Lab Program Manager Brad Handler presented at the Houston Strategy Forum’s “Carbon Conclave” held on October 22, in Houston, TX.  This paper addresses some of the academic and advocacy communities’ thinking on the state of risk management and financing opportunities for the U.S. CCS sector, and the Payne Institute’s perspective on some of these issues that comes out of its ongoing work in carbon finance and some specific work looking at managing liability in CCS.  October 24, 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. 

Moving in the wrong direction

Moving in the wrong direction

Payne Institute’s Earth Observation Group provided the satellite data in this article about flaring emissions from global upstream oil and gas production activity increased by 7% from 2022 to 2023, according to latest Rystad Energy research. Upstream activities emit about 1 gigatonne per year of carbon dioxide (CO2) in total, with flaring contributing around 30% of those emissions in 2023 assuming 98% flaring efficiency on average. October 15, 2024.

Why Mines?

Since 1874, Mines has been a pioneer at the frontiers of science and engineering, from locating and recovering earth resources, to energy production, to environmental stewardship.

Over time, Mines’ expertise expanded to meet the changing needs of industry and society, playing key roles in the growth of the global energy and natural resource industries. We are now positioned to leverage that deep expertise through a data-driven approach to informing the global energy future, in collaboration with academia, industry, government and civil society partners.

Leadership

John Bradford

John Bradford

Vice President for Global Initiatives

For more information about the Mines Global Energy Future Initiative at the Colorado School of Mines, please contact our Director, John Bradford, at jbradford@mines.edu.

Mines@150

As Colorado School of Mines approaches our sesquicentennial, we are ideally suited to lead this initiative. Our bold and ambitious MINES@150 strategic plan builds on the exceptional legacy of our PAST, the ways we impact the PRESENT and the POSSIBILITIES of our global energy future.