Publications

The Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of Texas at Austin (UT-BEG) is leading the Gulf Coast Carbon Ore, Rare Earth, and Critical Minerals (CORE-CM) Initiative to assess the potential to produce critical minerals (CMs), including rare earth elements (REEs) from coal, coal ash, and produced water related to oil and gas production, and related materials (alumina processing waste...

The need for energy storage, particularly underground, where capacity and duration may far exceed battery storage technologies, is especially relevant given the increasing demands for reliable power alongside the development of intermittent renewable electricity sources. Geologic energy storage facilities already exist, and expanded use would enable storing gases such as methane and...

There is increasing interest in extracting critical minerals (CM), including rare earth elements (REE), from coals in the United States to address the overreliance on imported REE. The U.S. Gulf Coast and the Williston basins are the two major lignite-bearing basins within the country. Recent REE and CM studies of the lignite in these basins have indicated that the coals may be a viable...

Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 152 million barrels of oil and 47.9 trillion cubic feet of gas in reservoirs of the Haynesville Formation within the onshore United States and State waters of the Gulf Coast Basin.

Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean conventional and continuous resources of 4.7 trillion cubic feet of gas in the Mesaverde Group and Lance Formation in the Southwestern Wyoming Province, Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado.

Over the last 30 years, a substantial literature has evolved on the use of machine learning (ML) to assess, predict, and improve the efficiency of coalbed methane (CBM) recovery. In the United States, the production of CBM declined as shale gas production matured, but CBM continues to be an important energy resource in other parts of the world. ML applications that have the potential to...

The Early Cretaceous (Berriasian–Hauterivian) Hosston Formation in Louisiana and eastward is time correlative to the Travis Peak Formation of Texas and southern Arkansas. The formation is a first-order clastic sequence with a regional carbonate transgressive surface as an upper contact. The Hosston and Travis Peak formations contain conventional natural gas and oil accumulations that...

Since the vast majority of carbon dioxide (CO2) storage resources in the United States are in deep saline aquifers, optimizing the use of these saline storage resources could be crucial for efficient development of geologic CO2 storage (GCS) resources and basin- or larger-scale deployment of GCS in the country. Maximum CO2 injection rates can be enhanced by extracting brine from the CO2...

Geothermal resources exist in sedimentary rock where circulation of water for efficient extraction or storage of heat is possible. Except in rare instances where hot water is expressed at the land surface, sedimentary geothermal resources are hidden, so the identification of these systems is optimally accomplished using predictive subsurface modeling. An integrated approach using...

The United States is estimated to have hundreds of thousands of orphan oil and gas wells. Orphan wells are abandoned wells that are both unremediated and have no responsible operator. While traditionally considered environmental and economic liabilities, orphan oil and gas wells may offer new opportunities in sustainable geothermal energy development. This study evaluates the potential...

Assessing the potential for geothermal energy and liquid water presence in the Martian subsurface is crucial for future exploration and habitability studies. In this work, we employed comprehensive finite element model simulations adapted specifically for Martian conditions to estimate subsurface temperatures and the potential for liquid water at depth within Martian crater basins. Rock...

Lithium brine extractions and geothermal resource developments often are not economically viable as standalone projects, but they May become cost effective when the potential for both resources exist within the same reservoir. Subsurface datasets were analyzed to identify areas in the U.S. Gulf Coast region with potential for lithium brine and geothermal heat recovery. Temperature...