NSF Engines Development Award: Advancing energy and resilience technologies in the Permian Basin (TX, NM)

This Regional Innovation Engines Development Award is focused on ensuring that the communities of the Permian Basin participate in and equitably accrue the economic and environmental benefits of the global transition to a low-carbon energy system. The Permian Basin Energy Technology and Resilience Alliance (PETRA) will leverage the region's considerable energy infrastructure and expertise - developed through decades of producing energy on a globally significant scale - to support research, development, and commercialization of advanced energy solutions and technologies.

A 66-county region encompassing eastern New Mexico and West Texas, the Permian Basin includes urban centers (e.g., Midland, the region's "oil capital") and vast rural territory. Its economy is uniquely and deeply tied to the fossil fuel industry. Yet, while sharing many economic and environmental challenges and opportunities, its communities are quite diverse, each with distinct cultural values and specialties in energy production.

PETRA's broad coalition of partners, based in and around the region, is focused on the success and service of these communities. The Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation's local ties and outreach will ensure that the engine's activities are community-driven. New Mexico State University, New Mexico Tech, Midland College, Odessa College, Texas A&M University, University of Texas (UT) of the Permian Basin, UT El Paso, and UT Austin will share their considerable resources in use-inspired research and educational programming, as will the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories.

The Midland and Odessa development corporations and local colleges will support workforce development. Industry partners, including GTI Energy, will support translating innovation to practice.

The envisioned PETRA project will support the development of a regional clean-energy technology and applied-research framework to engage and inform other oil- and gas-dependent regions. To do so, it will develop and demonstrate advanced energy technologies at scale; improve systemic environmental performance; share the benefits of the energy economy with local communities through place-based economic development approaches and fit-for-purpose education; and implement best practices in community-engaged, use-inspired research to grow the region's innovation ecosystem from its current Development Phase into a Nascent Phase of a full NSF Engine.

In preparation for a compelling full NSF Engines proposal, this development award will support PETRA's continued efforts to build a platform for collaboration among diverse stakeholders and engage the resources of diverse entrepreneurial ecosystems offered by the PETRA partners to ensure that community and economic development are equitable, scalable, and central to the future of energy.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.