The Center for Energy Economics, a research institute formerly based at the University of Houston, has joined with the Bureau of Economic Geology at the University's Department of Geological Sciences to engage in research and education projects involving the economics of energy.

"As far as we know - in the United States at least - there are no research groups like us," said Michelle Michot Foss, chief energy economist and official head of the center. "We are actually within the bureau collaborating with the scientists. It's a much more direct connection compared to the other models out there."

The CEE began its official relationship with UT-Austin on June 1, and a series of projects are already underway.

"One area we are going to spend time on is carbon dioxide sequestering," said Jay Kipper, associate director for admission at the Bureau of Economic Geology. "CO2 is a greenhouse gas that is basically accumulating up in the ozone, and it's one of the things they blame global warming on. We are doing research on how to capture CO2 and sequester it, which means putting it underground in aquifers and oil wells. This actually enhances oil recovery."

Kipper said that Foss and the CEE team will add a lot to the commercial frameworks developed around CO2 sequestering.

Students at the University can expect to benefit from this arrangement as well, Foss said.

"At some point, some of us will be teaching courses in Austin," she said. "And we are always interested in students who want to do things like summer internships or who want to work with us on research projects for their graduate degrees."

While the CEE's current projects deal exclusively with the Bureau of Economic Geology, future projects may entail partnering with the LBJ School of Public Affairs and the Red McCombs School of Business, Foss said.

Foss founded CEE in 1995, and while at UH, it was called the Institute for Energy, Law and Enterprise.

"The center focuses its research on business-government interactions, frameworks for commercially viable energy projects and strategies for dealing with more competitive energy markets," said John Bird, spokesman for UT's Geology Foundation, in a written statement.

The CEE operates internationally, in the United States as well as Canada, Mexico, Russia, Japan, China and elsewhere, Foss said. It is sponsored by oil companies including Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Exxon. For the near future, the center will retain the majority of its offices in Houston in order to preserve a close working relationship with these Houston-based companies.

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