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

Chevron Deference
March 27, 2024 

Please join the Payne Institute for Public Policy at the Colorado School of Mines as we welcome Mindy Solomon, Geophysical Advisor for Oxy Low Carbon Ventures and Jake Levin, a member of Polsinelli Law Firm’s environmental group, for a hybrid topical CCUS discussion and coffee hour about the Chevron Deference, and the implications of the case currently before the Supreme Court, hosted by CCUS Program Manager Anna Littlefield on Wednesday, March 27, 2024 from 10:00AM – 11:00AM in Coorstek, Room 370.  Coffee and bagels will be served.  

Latest News

New Method for Tracking Down Methane Emissions on Oil and Gas Sites 3/27/2024

New Method for Tracking Down Methane Emissions on Oil and Gas Sites

Payne Institute Student Researcher William Daniels, Faculty Fellow Dorit Hammerling, and Director Morgan Bazilian write about how reducing methane emissions is a key component of short-term climate action.  Empirical data and transparent models are key pillars of emission reduction efforts.  Payne Institute researchers William Daniels, Meng Jia, and Dorit Hammerling have developed a completely open-source analytical framework for detecting single-source methane emissions, determining the source location, and estimating an emission rate using data from continuous monitoring systems (CMS).  March 27, 2024.

Energy Dept. Awards $6 Billion for Green Steel, Cement and Even Macaroni Factories 3/25/2024

Energy Dept. Awards $6 Billion for Green Steel, Cement and Even Macaroni Factories

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian contributes to this article about how industries produce 25 percent of America’s planet-warming emissions but so far have proved very hard to clean up. The Biden administration is trying by with plans to spend up to $6 billion on new technologies to cut carbon dioxide emissions from heavy industries like steel, cement, chemicals and aluminum, which are all enormous contributors to global warming but which have so far been incredibly difficult to clean up.  March 25, 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.

SENATE COMMITTEE EXAMINES PFAS AS HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES AMID RISING GLOBAL CONCERN 3/25/2024

SENATE COMMITTEE EXAMINES PFAS AS HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES AMID RISING GLOBAL CONCERN

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.

Stephanie Kwon wins NSF CAREER Award for research to design new catalytic materials 3/21/2024

Stephanie Kwon wins NSF CAREER Award for research to design new catalytic materials 3/21/2024

Carbon-carbon (C-C) coupling reactions can be used to enhance the fuel properties of biofuels in sustainable energy applications.

Stephanie Kwon, assistant professor of chemical and biological engineering at Colorado School of Mines, has received a National Science Foundation CAREER Award for her work to design catalytic materials for carbon-carbon (C-C) coupling reactions. March 21, 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

Morgan Bazilian

Morgan Bazilian

Director, Payne Institute for Public Policy

For more information about the Mines Global Energy Future Initiative at the Colorado School of Mines, please contact our Deputy Director, Gregory Clough, at gclough@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.