Achieving sustainable, affordable, and secure energy for all is a societal imperative. The University of Oklahoma has demonstrated leadership in energy-related research and creative activity through an all-of-the-above approach. Data reported by OU’s Office of Research Services indicates that during FY23, OU researchers submitted 120 unique energy-related proposals requesting over $146 million in funding from external sources (e.g., federal agencies, industry, and not-for-profits). The data also show how genuinely multidisciplinary and even transdisciplinary energy research is at OU. Proposed projects have linked faculty experts in economics and psychology with experts in catalysis and physics. In another example, political science researchers have crossed campus to partner with weather scientists and experts from national laboratories. Our proposals have explored the co-creation of clean energy solutions with Oklahoma’s Tribal Nations focused on geothermal and solar energy technologies. These efforts, with a majority of the FY23 proposal submissions to US DOE and NSF, included large-scale, multi-institutional, muti-investigator, and industry-government-university partnerships, as well as smaller-scale collaborations of OU researchers. Breaking down the research into distinct categories is somewhat subjective. Still, topics include research in AI, batteries, carbon accounting and monitoring, CCUS, petroleum engineering, hydrogen, energy and society, fusion, critical minerals, ammonia, renewables, and more.
Proposals focused on hydrogen-based research represented the largest share of requested funding at $44 million and the second largest number of proposals submitted with 20 submissions. These were aimed at advancing the hydrogen economy in fundamental research and across the entire value chain of production, storage, transport, and end uses. The largest number of proposals in a category at 21 submissions was in renewable energy systems, with a total funding request of $20 million. This category's proposals focused on solar, biomass/biofuels, wind, geothermal, and systems integration. Other categories leading in the number of submissions and funding requested include energy efficiency and optimization, CCUS, and petroleum engineering. These proposed projects represent exciting, cutting-edge research advancing society toward a more sustainable future. This year, OU research also expanded into entirely new research frontiers, with two proposals submitted to study the feasibility of fusion-based energy systems in Oklahoma.
Growing vibrant and inclusive energy research programs at US universities is an exciting academic exercise, but it is also a critical need as we realize that sustainable, affordable, and secure energy for all presents a complex yet urgent challenge. This last year demonstrated that our OU community is stepping up to meet what is arguably the most significant grand challenge of our time.
