UT Energy Bulletin | October 2026

Energy@UT News

UT Team Wins Google.org Impact Challenge With Fusion Energy Project

UT physicists and engineers Joshua Burby, Tan Bui-Thanh, and David Hatch will lead a three-year project to develop neural network models to speed up the design of compact stellarator fusion reactors. One of 17 teams worldwide selected by Google.org for funding, the team includes collaborators from the University of Washington, New York University, the Dutch Institute for Fundamental Energy Research, Type One Energy, and ExoFusion.

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Andy Uhler Explores the People and Institutions Shaping America’s Energy Future

EI Energy Reporter in Residence Andy Uhler’s newest projects expand his ongoing investigations into the people, institutions, and decisions behind U.S. energy policy. In 5280, Uhler examines U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright’s social media presence, oil and gas industry background, and views on fossil fuels, climate change, and American energy policy. Meanwhile, Forged in Crisis, a new podcast series via Good Energy Collective, traces the history of the U.S. Department of Energy and explores how its evolving priorities influence scientific research, nuclear energy, and technological innovation.

Read the Piece and Listen to the Podcast

Quantum Breakthroughs at UT Austin Poised to Shape Next‑Gen Energy Technologies

A “second quantum revolution” is underway at UT Austin, where researchers are advancing quantum materials and technologies while educating the scientists and engineers who will lead the next generation of innovation in the field. Their work in atomically thin materials, quantum sensing, and quantum information has the potential to transform everything from electronics to energy storage and grid optimization.

NSF CAREER Award Supports UT Research on Critical Minerals for Future Energy Technologies

Chenguang Sun, assistant professor in Earth and Planetary Sciences at UT Austin, received a 2026 NSF CAREER Award to investigate how rare earth elements concentrate in carbonatite systems. This process is key for securing critical minerals used in clean‑energy technologies such as EV motors, batteries, and high‑efficiency electronics. His project will recreate carbonatite magmas in the lab to study how temperature, pressure, and fluids drive rare earth enrichment, to improve scientific models and guide future mineral exploration strategies.

Reusing Produced Water to Cool Data Centers

Researchers at UT Austin are exploring how salty or contaminated water from industrial processes could help meet growing demand for water for data center cooling. A team led by Professor Vaibhav Bahadur's group in the Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering with contributors from UT Bureau of Economic Geology’s COMPASS consortium studied desalination methods to evaluate cost, energy use, and environmental impacts. Coming from sources like oil and gas production, the treated water could reduce pressure on freshwater supplies while providing a productive use for wastewater and is part of a broader effort to help policymakers evaluate data centers’ impacts on local water and energy resources.

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UT Chemist Kurtis Carsch Named 2026 Packard Fellow

UT Austin Assistant Professor of Chemistry Kurtis Carsch has been selected as a 2026 Packard Fellow for Science and Engineering by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Each year, the fellowship recognizes promising early-career researchers across the country and provides flexible funding over five years to support ambitious research and encourage scientific risk-taking. Carsch’s research focuses on developing porous materials for isotope separation and storage, with potential applications in nuclear energy and medicine. The fellowship will give Carsch and his team the flexibility to pursue innovative ideas, explore new directions in materials chemistry, and advance research with potential applications across energy and healthcare.

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UT Austin Faculty Receives Moore Foundation Experimental Physics Investigator Award

Jia Leo Li, associate professor of physics at UT Austin, was selected as a 2026 Moore Foundation Experimental Physics Investigator. His research explores quantum phenomena in atomically thin materials, with potential impact on next‑generation energy technologies such as more efficient electronics, improved solar materials, and advanced battery systems. With the award, Li will develop a new experimental platform combining free electrons above helium with layered 2D materials, work that could enable lower‑defect quantum materials and support future quantum‑enabled energy applications.

Texas Materials Engineers Bridge the Gap in Energy Storage Innovation

The Guihua Yu Lab at UT Austin has developed a new zinc-based battery design that “bridges” two types of electrolytes: water-based and organic. Electrolytes transport charged ions between a battery’s electrodes, enabling the electrochemical reactions that store and release energy. By combining the advantages of both electrolyte types, the researchers developed a battery that achieves up to six times the cycle life of conventional electrolyte designs. This approach could help advance longer-lasting energy storage technologies.

Cockrell Alumnus Jon McWhirter Is Building Nuclear Power in Wyoming

UT Austin alumnus John McWhirter is helping advance the next generation of nuclear energy. As chief engineer of thermal hydraulics at TerraPower, he works on the Natrium nuclear power plant project in Wyoming. Drawing on decades of experience with liquid metals, McWhirter is helping develop a reactor design that uses liquid sodium to transfer heat and molten salt to store it, allowing the plant to better adapt to changing electricity demand. With commercial operation planned for 2031, Natrium is part of a broader effort to advance nuclear technologies that support reliable, low-carbon electricity and meet growing energy demand.

UT Austin Faculty Recognized in 2026 SPE International Awards

Four faculty members from the Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering have been recognized in the Society of Petroleum Engineers’ 2026 international awards. Kishore Mohanty received the SPE/AIME Honorary Member Award; Mojdeh Delshad received the SPE/AIME Anthony F. Lucas Gold Medal for Technical Leadership; Jon Olson received the SPE Distinguished Achievement Award for Petroleum Engineering Faculty; and Pradeepkumar Ashok received the SPE Data Science and Engineering Analytics Award. Their recognition highlights contributions spanning research, leadership, education, and data-driven innovation in petroleum happening at UT Austin.

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Featured Publication

Environmental and Health Impacts of Alternative Grid Configurations Under Large Load Growth Scenarios

This study investigates how different electricity-grid configurations affect air pollution, public health, and the cost of supplying electricity. As electricity demand grows rapidly due to factors such as data centers, population growth, and electrification, conventional electricity-system planning models often prioritize minimizing costs without fully accounting for the health impacts of air pollution. Using Texas as a case study, researchers combine electricity-system modeling with health-impact assessment tools to evaluate alternative grid configurations and explore the trade-offs between electricity costs, emissions, and public health.

Between Two Cacti X Phases and Stages

In the latest episode of Between Two Cacti, Brian Korgel sits down with Andy Uhler, Energy Reporter in Residence at the Energy Institute and host of the podcast Phases and Stages: The Texas Energy Story. Listen as Brian and Andy compare notes on podcasting in the energy space and explore why understanding the future of energy starts with listening to the people living through its changes.

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and more!

News From Around Campus

Energy Institute

Brian Korgel spoke with KUT Radio about uncertainty around how many new data centers will come online in ERCOT and about public concern for the grid and other local impacts.

Carey King mentioned on KXAN that global supply issues, not domestic factors, are driving Texas’s high diesel prices.

Jorge Piñon shared his perspective on Cuba’s strategies and investment in solar energy with the Los Angeles Times.

Andy Uhler reflected on the Texas Standard on the insights he gained while reporting the first season of his podcast “Phases and Stages: The Texas Energy Story”

Cockrell School of Engineering | Energy Institute

Brian Korgel, Michael Webber, and Ross Baldick were quoted by The Daily Texan, emphasizing that the biggest concerns around data centers are water, power, and their impact on nearby communities, and shared different approaches data centers can use to mitigate these concerns.

Cockrell School of Engineering | Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering

Hugh Daigle was quoted by ABC News and The Economic Times US about how uncertainty about the Strait of Hormuz is keeping gas prices elevated despite improvements in regional oil traffic.

Daigle was also quoted in Politifact on the hurdles Venezuela would face trying to become a major oil producer.

School of Law

Wendy Wagner co-authored a piece in Lawfare about how expanding federal preemption in the Suncor v. Boulder County case could limit states’ ability to hold fossil‑fuel companies accountable for climate-related harms, with implications for future energy and environmental policy.

Cockrell School of Engineering | Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering

Michael E. Webber published an opinion piece in the Houston Chronicle🔒 criticizing the Trump administration’s energy policies for undermining lawful governance and creating uncertainty that harms Houston’s energy sector.

Vaibhav Bahadur was quoted on KVUE explaining the difficulty regulators face in gathering accurate information about data centers’ water use and cooling technologies, including companies’ potential business reasons for avoiding disclosure.

He was also quoted in YahooTech and Interesting Engineering about how Texas could treat and reuse produced water from the oil and gas industry for data-center cooling.

Webber Energy Group

Joshua Rhodes was quoted by Marketplace and The Daily News noting that record-setting wind, solar, and battery performance helped ERCOT meet unprecedented summer electricity demand while natural gas remained steady and coal continued to decline.

He was also quoted in the Houston Chronicle🔒 about the potential of developing geothermal energy in Texas.

Center for Energy and Environmental System Analysis

Ben Cahill warned in Politico that restricting U.S. diesel exports would damage America’s reputation as a reliable fuel supplier and push global buyers to seek alternatives.

Kay Bailey Hutchison Energy Center

Jack Balagia was quoted in The Texas Tribune, providing his insight into how a U.S. ban on diesel exports will affect complex crude oil markets.

Cockrell School of Engineering | Chandra Family Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Hao Zhu was quoted by the Boston Herald warning that data centers can challenge electric grids not just by increasing demand, but also by introducing rapid power fluctuations that can be destabilizing to the grid.

Cockrell School of Engineering | Fariborz Maseeh Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering

Christian Claudel was quoted in The Daily Texan about the feasibility of the Boring Company’s proposed Austin-San Antonio “Hyperloop” tunnel.

Bureau of Economic Geology | COMPASS

Ning Lin and Vaibhav Bahadur were quoted in EurekAlert!, TechXplore, and Bioengineer.org discussing the significance of COMPASS researchers’ testimony before the Texas Senate on data centers’ water and power use.