How small business accelerators can help Houston startups take off

Houston voices

“Small business incubators serve as the foundation of most innovation ecosystems." Graphic by Miguel Tovar/University of Houston

If you plan to start a new business or already have but you don’t have an office or lab space, why should you consider working with a small business incubator?

An incubator is an organization that offers assistance and resources to help newly-formed businesses get started and supports them as they move forward. Small business incubators also provide space to house these companies in a shared work environment.

According to the executive director of the University of Houston Office of Technology Transfer and Innovation, Christopher Taylor, “Small business incubators serve as the foundation of most innovation ecosystems and for startups, these hubs provide connectivity, support, and resources they can leverage to improve their odds of success.”

Community connectivity

In a small business blog on Chron.com, the author points out that even after a business leaves an incubator, the connections they make with other business owners are relationships that will continue to grow. There, startups can learn and grow together and, in turn, incubators foster a continuously growing community by looking for businesses and growing companies that serve the same field.

For example, an incubator that is focused on technology will look for companies that are in the technology sector. At Texas Medical Center Innovation, two programs support the development of health technologies. The Cancer Therapeutics Accelerator is a nine-month program where startups get support in market and technical research. The Health Tech Accelerator is a six-month program for digital health and medical device startups.

Startup support

Business incubators offer support in many ways, including critical services that help move businesses forward.

For example, the UH Technology Bridge connects new business owners to the Small Business Development Center, where they can get help with all their preliminary operational tasks. Companies housed at incubators also gain access to programming like focused workshops that cover how to find funding, how to build a business strategy and other business fundamentals.

Startup incubators also give startups with limited funds access to expensive equipment that they would otherwise not be able to afford. They also offer office space, usually at a lower cost than other commercial space. These spaces usually include office amenities such as central printing and conference rooms. They are able to offer lower costs because they are usually funded by a school, city or investors.

Some for-profit incubators make money by directly selling their services to startups or others. Some may make money indirectly, meaning their services generate sales for other services.

The Big Idea

“Many successful startups come out of incubators because they have the ability to create tremendous velocity as companies work towards commercializing their technologies,” Taylor said.

Starting a business is not an easy feat. But incubators can help improve a startup’s chances of success.

If you are in the Houston area and looking to partner with a small business incubator, visit the UH Technology Bridge, The Cannon, The Rice Alliance or any of the other many incubators in the area.

------

This article originally appeared on the University of Houston's The Big Idea. Cory Thaxton, the author of this piece, is the communications coordinator for The Division of Research.

From Your Site Articles
Taking these first steps will help you determine if entrepreneurship is a good fit. Graphic by Miguel Tovar/University of Houston

University of Houston: First steps toward faculty entrepreneurship

houston voices

If you are a faculty inventor, you’re likely also interested in becoming a faculty entrepreneur. Aspiring to be an entrepreneur is the first step, but what should you do next?

Take action

Bruce Fischer, professor of business and economics at Elmhurst University, said in a blog post that “above all, you should take action” and not procrastinate.

Fischer suggests taking a course in entrepreneurship that covers the fundamentals of management.

Your university is a great place to start. For instance, the University of Houston houses the Gulf Coast chapter of the Small Business Development Center, which offers in-person and online trainings as well as free business advising.

The Bauer School of Business at UH also has programming suited to entrepreneurs at various stages of experience. Depending on where you live corporate, nonprofit, and government-sponsored startup development organizations may also provide resources to introduce you to the fundamentals of entrepreneurship.

Find a mentor

Fischer also stresses the importance of finding a mentor. Find someone, maybe someone you know, that is already in the entrepreneurial space. Maybe they already have their own business, and they can give you help on your entrepreneurial journey.

The Associate Director of Startup Development at UH, Tanushree Chatterji, offered some advice for first time entrepreneurs.

“Networking is the key. Going to every relevant event and introducing yourself and talking about what you are doing is the most effective way to network. There are a lot of folks looking to mentor, you have to find them,” she said.

One way to get the conversation going is to reach out to your university’s office of technology transfer.

What's the big idea?

If you are a creative and passionate person, then maybe entrepreneurship is right for you. Taking these first steps will help you determine if entrepreneurship is a good fit while giving you exposure to the fundamentals of establishing your own business.

Fischer leaves us with some parting words of encouragement: “Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Entrepreneurs are a close community because they can relate to one another through their shared experiences.”

------

This article originally appeared on the University of Houston's The Big Idea. Cory Thaxton, the author of this piece, is the communications coordinator for The Division of Research.

Go and get connected to this global research system. Graphic by Miguel Tovar/University of Houston

University of Houston: New open index of scholarly articles helps researchers connect

houston voices

We have all needed scholarly articles to cite in our academic careers. Now, there is a place where researchers can get millions of them, all on one site.

Named after the Library of Alexandria, OpenAlex is an index of over 200 million scientific documents including publication sources, author information and research topics that can be used to conduct studies and build research tools. According to its founders, the goal of this index is to “create a comprehensive, interlinked database of the global research system.”

So, how can researchers use this database and why is it beneficial?

More data

After Microsoft announced the closure of the Microsoft Academic Graph, a non-profit scholarly service firm, OurResearch, created OpenAlex.

OpenAlex gets its information from MAG and other sources. It also integrates with Unpaywall, which has over 30 million articles. This allows for access to much more information.

There are not just free articles to read, but OpenAlex will also tell you the license and the version of the articles.

OpenAlex updates every two weeks and brings in even more data from its other sources. With all this extra information, researchers have everything they need to conduct studies using scholarly articles by their peers.

Free and easy to use

Who doesn’t like free stuff? Everyone does! OpenAlex is 100% free to use. You don’t have to register for anything or sign in every time. You just go to the website and look for what you need.

According to one researcher, “for somebody who is more computer savvy, MAG might be easier… For researchers who want to try small projects on their own, OpenAlex will be way easier to start with.”

While it can take several days to a week to get started on MAG, it only takes a few hours on OpenAlex.

What's the big idea?

If you’re a researcher looking for an open index of millions of scholarly articles, you should try OpenAlex. A more user-friendly search engine will be added in February, making it that much easier to use the site. OpenAlex’s goal is to make connections between an expansive database of scholarly articles. Go and get connected to this global research system.

------

This article originally appeared on the University of Houston's The Big Idea. Cory Thaxton, the author of this piece, is the communications coordinator for The Division of Research.

University of Houston's The Big Idea highlights the three things to consider when starting a business. Graphic by Miguel Tovar/University of Houston

University of Houston research: When's the best time to start a business?

houston voices

Have you ever thought about opening your own business, but you didn’t know when to do it? Maybe you’ve heard the phrase: “the best time to start a business is today.” Is this actually good advice?

Yaro Starak, entrepreneur, blogger and podcaster, answers this question on his blog. Starak highlights three things aspiring entrepreneurs should do first when they decide to open a business.

What to do today:

1. Get prepared 

Starak believes there is some truth to the statement that starting a business today is the best time because it focuses on action and “to take action, means you need to be prepared to do so.”

He says that once you start your business you’ve, at least, taken a step towards being prepared because chances are, you’ll never have the right timing in the beginning. “By starting now, you begin the process of learning and putting in place resources that, in time, will lead you to be prepared for taking advantage of an opportunity when it presents itself,” Starak said.

2. Start building resources

“Whether you succeeded or failed, or pivot to something else, you’re always gaining experience, learning from mistakes, and building resources for your next project, whether they be financial (or capital), mental or skill-based resources,” Starak said. This is why today is the best day to start a business because everything that you do, once you get started, will contribute to you gathering the necessary resources and experiences that will help your business to excel.

3. Start building an audience

Starak believes that, just like the self-help books suggest, “the best asset to work on is yourself,” but that shouldn’t be all you focus on. “Even if you’re not sure if you intend to sell coaching, courses, write books or sell services or software or physical products, your audience is the door to taking advantage of all new opportunities… No attention, means no customers,” Starak said.

According to Starak, marketing and sales are the two most important skills to work on in order to be prepared to start a business. He suggests that aspiring business owners should learn how to use internet resources to post content in order to reach people and build their audience. Then they can use that content to advertise and sell.

What's the big idea?

Now is always the best time to start a new business because even if you’re not quite sure what it’s going to be yet, you can get yourself prepared, start building resources and start building an audience.

------

This article originally appeared on the University of Houston's The Big Idea. Cory Thaxton, the author of this piece, is the communications coordinator for The Division of Research.

Should you lead the company that's taking your technology to commercialization? Maybe. But maybe not. Graphic by Miguel Tovar/University of Houston

University of Houston: What should a faculty inventor’s role be in their startup?

houston voices

Are you a faculty member at a university? Are you a researcher with an invention that you want to monetize? Do you want to start your own startup company? If you answered yes to these questions, another question you need to consider is, should you leave your research position at the university to lead your company or get out of the way entirely?

The answer to that question will be different for everyone. Some faculty inventors want to leave and launch a company based on their research. In most cases, faculty members want to keep their university roles. What is the right decision for you?

Douglas Hockard, the assistant vice president of Tech Launch Arizona at The University of Arizona, said, in a Tech Launch blog post, to consider your passion, time and expertise.

Do you have the passion?

Passion is required for anyone to enjoy their chosen career paths. Without passion, you are not going to want to dedicate your time or seek the expertise to become the best.

“Faculty researchers chose their careers intentionally, dedicating years of study and research to arrive where they are today. Most faculty are not interested in abandoning that career path,” Hockard said.

Leading a startup requires the same dedication that it took to get where you are in your university role.

Do you have the time?

A startup is not a part-time job. “While faculty researchers are rarely interested in leaving their career in the university, investors want a committed, and focused, leadership team. More than anything, the startup needs someone to focus full-time… to eschew any other pursuits and devote themselves fully to the success of the startup,” Hockard said.

Do you have the expertise?

Hockard mentions in his blog that there are roles that exist in startups for university faculty. The faculty inventor is the technology expert, and their knowledge will help in the commercialization of their technology. Sometimes there are better ways to support the startup while remaining in your university position.

“A scientific role in the company allows them to help guide the company technology direction while allowing someone else to focus on company formation, strategic planning, business development, and importantly, raising capital. What is most important is aligning the myriad needs of the startup with the knowledge, skills, and singular focus best suited to fulfill those needs,” Hockard said.

What's the big idea?

If you don’t have the passion, the time, or the expertise to run a startup or you just simply want to keep your university, maybe someone else should lead your startup.

“Without a doubt, identifying leadership can be daunting. While the desire might be to zero in on a ‘superstar,’ a startup needs someone that can commit the time and the effort and knows ‘what to do next.’ How can startups find that person?” Hockard said.

Your university’s technology transfer office can provide support and can be a good place for you to start. “TTOs provide myriad resources to help inventors move innovations ahead, including technology and market analysis, intellectual property protection, marketing, and more. Many full-service TTOs also have dedicated personnel to help launch startups based on university technologies.” Of course, it’s up to you who should join the company— especially to lead it— but having the support of “experienced potential partners” will help you make the right decision.

Startups need a lot of resources to become successful. Bringing in someone to help, if you don’t have the passion, time or expertise, could be very beneficial. If you do have all three of those things and you want to leave your university role, then go be the lead in your startup.

------

This article originally appeared on the University of Houston's The Big Idea. Cory Thaxton is the communications coordinator for The Division of Research.

There are several things faculty need to think about before even considering spinning out their research. Graphic by Miguel Tovar/University of Houston

University of Houston: How to spin out university research into a startup as faculty

houston voices

Most inventors, whether they are university faculty or not, want to eventually start a company and capitalize on their inventions and research. For university faculty, this could be, or at least seems like a much more difficult thing to do. Why? Well, they already have a full-time job as a professor.

There are several things faculty need to think about before even considering spinning out their research. In his blog post on Y Combinator, Jared Friedman, the Managing Director, Software and Group Partner at Y Combinator and co-founder of Scribd, suggests to first decide if you should spin out and when.

“In a typical spin-out situation, there are several people who worked on the research, including a mix of students, post docs and faculty. The first thing you need to decide is who is going to work on the company and who is going to stay at the university,” Friedman said.

Friedman suggests that the “ideal situation” is for one or more people, who were originally involved in the research and lab work, to leave and start the company as co-founders. “One full-time founder is also ok. One of the people who leave to start the company should be the CEO.”

The others who stay behind at the university usually still want to be involved. Friedman said that this is fine. They are often call “academic cofounders” or “scientific cofounders”.

Leaving something you’re comfortable with, like your university position, can be scary but Friedman says, don’t wait too long, eventually being at a university will start to slow your progress down.

“In the early stages of developing a new technology, you’ll make faster progress still at the university, taking advantage of university resources. It’s the ideal place to do the initial experiments to prove that your idea could work. There’s a temptation to make the technology perfect before spinning out, and there’s always ‘one more experiment’ you could do. If you don’t stop this cycle, you’ll never leave,” Friedman said.

So, after you’ve decided you want to spin your research out and when, what do you do next?

Split the equity

Friedman offers two rules on how you should do this.

1) Founders who will be working on the company full-time should get equal or nearly equal amounts of equity.
2) Founders who will be leaving their job to work at the company full-time should get much more equity than founders who are going to remain in academia. Academic cofounders should typically own no more than 10% unless they are going to continue to be hands-on.
Jared Friedman, “How to spin your scientific research out of a university and into a startup”

The point of allocating equity is not to reward past contributors from the university but instead to anticipate new ones. It’s going to take an exceptionally long time to make a new company successful. The academic founders may have been helpful at first, but it’s those full-time founders that will take the company all the way. “The equity split between founders has to reflect the expected contributions over time.”

Sometimes, this means “the founders who leave will end up with much more equity than their former boss. This can be an awkward conversation, but it’s entirely sensible.”

Connect with your transfer office

If you want to commercialize the research that you started at your university, you will need to negotiate the right to the intellectual property with the university’s office of technology transfer.

Friedman mentions FOUR “key terms” in these types of agreements.

Equity

“Typically, the university will get equity in the company. This is ok as long as it is not too much. 3-5% is typical. Above 10% will cause problems.”

Royalty

“This means that you pay a percentage of revenue or profits to the university. If this is too high, it can affect the viability of the company to raise money and operate. Ideally you would make this zero. If you can’t do that, try to keep it < 5%, and to have it terminate after a certain number of years and/or a certain level of payments.”

Milestone Payments

“I.e., ‘You owe us $250K when the company raises its first $10M,’ or ‘You owe us $500K when you reach Phase II clinical trials.’ Because cash is scarce in the early days of a startup, you want to keep these as low as possible. You should never need to spend more than a few percent of the money you raise.”

Exclusivity

“If a license is not exclusive, the university could theoretically turn around and license the same IP to a big company to go compete with you. This sounds like a real problem, but often it’s not. For many inventions, in practice other companies won’t know how to use the IP and won’t value it until you’ve done years of work further developing it (at which point the university-owned IP isn’t sufficient). It may be optimal to have a non-exclusive license initially with an option to make it exclusive later, or a right of first refusal clause.”

Friedman also offers some advice on how to negotiate these agreements. First, start talking with these offices ASAP. This will give you more time to work out an agreement that you like, and you can learn how the tech transfer office works.

Also, “don’t wait for the agreement to start the company. Getting an agreement can take 6 months or longer. Many investors will fund companies before they have an agreement in place. The more progress you make on the company, the more leverage you have in the negotiation,” Friedman said.

Most importantly, get advice from other founders that have agreements with the same office to see what worked for them. You can also ask inventors, lawyers and other advisors what your best course of action is.

After spinning out

Friedman said, the first thing to do, once you’ve spun out, is to incorporate your company. He also said that it would probably make sense to keep collaborating with your university.

“In some cases, you may want to continue doing experimental work using university labs. University core facilities are commonly available to companies, albeit for higher fees. It’s possible to save a lot of money using university resources instead of buying equivalents commercially. That’s fine, as long as it isn’t slowing you down significantly and doesn’t create IP issues. Unfortunately, there is often a tradeoff between speed and cost,” Friedman said.

The big idea

The adjustment from academia to running a company is big and there are plenty of things to consider before even getting to that point. You should determine if you should even spin your research out of the university. If you decide you should, then decide when.

Once you’ve done that, then you must consider how to split the equity, negotiate with your university’s tech transfer office and continue collaborating with your university even after the spin out is successful.

A full understanding of everything that should be done when starting a business is the best way to set yourself up for success.

------

This article originally appeared on the University of Houston's The Big Idea. Cory Thaxton is the communications coordinator for The Division of Research.

Ad Placement 300x100
Ad Placement 300x600

CultureMap Emails are Awesome

Property Showcase

Houston schools shine on annual ranking of top institutions for 2025

best in class

Several Houston elementary and middle schools are at the top of the class when it comes to educating and preparing the next generation for a successful life and career, according to U.S. News & World Report's just-released list of 2025 Elementary and Middle Schools Rankings.

One such school – T.H. Rogers School in Houston ISD – is the No. 8 best middle school in Texas for 2025.

U.S. News ranked over 79,000 public schools on the state and district level using data from the U.S. Department of Education. Schools were analyzed based on their students' proficiencies in mathematics and reading/language arts on state assessments, and tie-breakers were decided based on student-teacher ratios.

Texas' best middle schools for 2025

Three Houston middle schools achieved spots among the top 10 best Texas middle schools for 2025, according to U.S. News.

T.H. Rogers School has a total enrollment of 1,063 students, with 87 percent of the student population scoring "at or above the proficient level" in mathematics, and 90 percent proficiency in reading. The school has a student-teacher ratio of 17:1, with 62 full-time teachers.

T.H. Rogers School also topped the district-wide list as the No. 1 best middle school in HISD.

Houston Gateway Academy - Coral Campus also ranked among the statewide top 10, coming in at No. 9 with a total enrollment of 914 students. U.S. News says 82 percent of HGA students are proficient in math, and 80 percent are proficient in reading.

"Houston Gateway Academy - Coral Campus did better in math and better in reading in this metric compared with students across the state," U.S. News said in the school's profile. "In Texas, 51 percent of students tested at or above the proficient level for reading, and 41 percent tested at or above that level for math."

Right behind HGA to round out the top 10 best Texas middle schools is Houston ISD's Briarmeadow Charter School. This middle school has 600 students, 69 percent of which are proficient in math and 74 percent are proficient reading.

Briarmeadow's student-teacher ratio is 16:1, which is better than the district-wide student-teacher ratio, and it employs 38 full-time teachers.

U.S. News also ranked Briarmeadow as the second best middle school in Houston ISD.

Six additional Houston-area schools ranked among the top 25 best middle schools in Texas, including:

  • No. 18 – Cornerstone Academy, Spring Branch ISD
  • No. 19 – Mandarin Immersion Magnet School, Houston ISD
  • No. 21 – Smith Middle School, Cypress-Fairbanks ISD
  • No. 22 – Seven Lakes Junior High, Katy ISD
  • No. 23 – Houston Gateway Academy
  • No. 25 – Beckendorff Junior High, Katy ISD

The best elementary schools in Texas

Jesus A. Kawas Elementary school in Laredo was crowned the No. 1 elementary school in Texas for 2025, while two Houston-area schools made it into the top 10.Tomball ISD's Creekside Forest Elementary in The Woodlands is the No. 7 best elementary school statewide, boasting 656 students, 42 full-time teachers, and one full-time counselor. Students at this school, which U.S. News designates is situated in a "fringe rural setting," scored 90 percent efficiency in math and 94 percent efficiency in reading.Following one spot behind Creekside Forest in the statewide ranking is Sugar Land's Commonwealth Elementary School in Fort Bend ISD, coming in at No. 8. Commonwealth has a student population of 954 with 55 full-time teachers, and two full-time counselors. The school's student-teacher ratio is 17:1, and 90 percent of students are proficient in math, and 94 percent in reading.U.S. News says student success at Commonwealth is significantly higher than the rest of Fort Bend ISD."In Fort Bend Independent School District, 59 percent of students tested at or above the proficient level for reading, and 47 percent tested at or above that level for math," U.S. News said in Commonwealth's profile. "Commonwealth Elementary [also] did better in math and better in reading in this metric compared with students across the state."Other Houston-area schools that were ranked among the 25 best in Texas are:
  • No. 13 – Bess Campbell Elementary, Sugar Land, Lamar CISD
  • No. 20 – West University Elementary, Houston ISD
  • No. 23 – T.H. Rogers School, Houston ISD
  • No. 25 – Griffin Elementary, Katy ISD

"The 2025 Best Elementary and Middle Schools rankings offer parents a way to evaluate how schools are providing a high-quality education and preparing students for future success," said LaMont Jones, Ed.D., the managing editor for Education at U.S. News. "The data empowers families and communities to advocate for their children’s education. Research continues to indicate that how students perform academically at these early grade levels is a big factor in their success in high school and beyond."

------

This article originally ran on CultureMap.

Rice University launches hub in India to drive education, tech innovation abroad

global mission

Rice University is launching Rice Global India, which is a strategic initiative to expand India’s rapidly growing education and technology sectors.

“India is a country of tremendous opportunity, one where we see the potential to make a meaningful impact through collaboration in research, innovation and education,” Rice President Reginald DesRoches says in a news release. “Our presence in India is a critical step in expanding our global reach, and we are excited to engage more with India’s academic leaders and industries to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time.”

The new hub will be in the country’s third-largest city and the center of the country’s high-tech industry, Bengaluru, India, and will include collaborations with top-tier research and academic institutions.

Rice continues its collaborations with institutions like the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru. The partnerships are expected to advance research initiatives, student and faculty exchanges and collaborations in artificial intelligence, biotechnology and sustainable energy.

India was a prime spot for the location due to the energy, climate change, artificial intelligence and biotechnology studies that align with Rice’s research that is outlined in its strategic plan Momentous: Personalized Scale for Global Impact.

“India’s position as one of the world’s fastest-growing education and technology markets makes it a crucial partner for Rice’s global vision,” vice president for global at Rice Caroline Levander adds. “The U.S.-India relationship, underscored by initiatives like the U.S.-India Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology, provides fertile ground for educational, technological and research exchanges.”

On November 18, the university hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Bengaluru, India to help launch the project.

“This expansion reflects our commitment to fostering a more interconnected world where education and research transcend borders,” DesRoches says.

UH-backed project secures $3.6M to transform CO2 into sustainable fuel with cutting-edge tech

funds granted

A University of Houston-associated project was selected to receive $3.6 million from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy that aims to transform sustainable fuel production.

Nonprofit research institute SRI is leading the project “Printed Microreactor for Renewable Energy Enabled Fuel Production” or PRIME-Fuel, which will try to develop a modular microreactor technology that converts carbon dioxide into methanol using renewable energy sources with UH contributing research.

“Renewables-to-liquids fuel production has the potential to boost the utility of renewable energy all while helping to lay the groundwork for the Biden-Harris Administration’s goals of creating a clean energy economy,” U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm says in an ARPA-E news release.

The project is part of ARPA-E’s $41 million Grid-free Renewable Energy Enabling New Ways to Economical Liquids and Long-term Storage program (or GREENWELLS, for short) that also includes 14 projects to develop technologies that use renewable energy sources to produce sustainable liquid fuels and chemicals, which can be transported and stored similarly to gasoline or oil, according to a news release.

Vemuri Balakotaiah and Praveen Bollini, faculty members of the William A. Brookshire Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, are co-investigators on the project. Rahul Pandey, is a UH alum, and the senior scientist with SRI and principal investigator on the project.

Teams working on the project will develop systems that use electricity, carbon dioxide and water at renewable energy sites to produce renewable liquid renewable fuels that offer a clean alternative for sectors like transportation. Using cheaper electricity from sources like wind and solar can lower production costs, and create affordable and cleaner long-term energy storage solutions.

Researchers Rahul Pandey, senior scientist with SRI and principal investigator (left), and Praveen Bollini, a University of Houston chemical engineering faculty, are key contributors to the microreactor project. Photo via uh.edu

“As a proud UH graduate, I have always been aware of the strength of the chemical and biomolecular engineering program at UH and kept myself updated on its cutting-edge research,” Pandey says in a news release. “This project had very specific requirements, including expertise in modeling transients in microreactors and the development of high-performance catalysts. The department excelled in both areas. When I reached out to Dr. Bollini and Dr. Bala, they were eager to collaborate, and everything naturally progressed from there.”

The PRIME-Fuel project will use cutting-edge mathematical modeling and SRI’s proprietary Co-Extrusion printing technology to design and manufacture the microreactor with the ability to continue producing methanol even when the renewable energy supply dips as low as 5 percent capacity. Researchers will develop a microreactor prototype capable of producing 30 MJe/day of methanol while meeting energy efficiency and process yield targets over a three-year span. When scaled up to a 100 megawatts electricity capacity plant, it can be capable of producing 225 tons of methanol per day at a lower cost. The researchers predict five years as a “reasonable” timeline of when this can hit the market.

“What we are building here is a prototype or proof of concept for a platform technology, which has diverse applications in the entire energy and chemicals industry,” Pandey continues. “Right now, we are aiming to produce methanol, but this technology can actually be applied to a much broader set of energy carriers and chemicals.”

------

This article originally ran on EnergyCapital.

View All Listings