Permian Energy Development Lab guiding region through economic innovation

Stretching across 66 counties in West Texas and eastern New Mexico, the vast region known as the Permian Basin is a cornerstone of the U.S. energy economy.

The Permian Basin accounts for nearly half of U.S. crude oil production, and if it were a country, it would be one of the biggest oil producers in the world.

Having an economy so closely tied to the oil and gas industry presents certain challenges — especially as the United States seeks to lead in addressing global climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The region’s skilled workforce and natural resources, however, also create opportunities for the region to reinforce its status as a leader in the new advanced energy economy.

The Permian Energy Development Lab, also known as PEDL, looks to foster those opportunities by bringing together industry, government and academic partners to advance energy development in ways that benefit both local communities and the country. Sandia has been involved with PEDL since its formation as a key technical adviser.

Nadine Miner, Sandia’s campus partnership manager for the University of Texas at Austin, recalls first learning about the idea for PEDL from Brian Korgel, director of the university’s Energy Institute.

“He had this vision,” Nadine said, “for creating an energy development lab that would enable large-scale, proof-of-concept projects to test safe and resilient clean energy solutions at scale.”

At the same time Nadine was talking with University of Texas Austin, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory also reached out to Sandia to pitch the concept.

“Sandia was just a perfect fit based on our breadth of energy work, experience working with communities and presence in New Mexico,” Nadine said.

Sandia signed a memorandum of understanding in spring 2022 to team on this effort, becoming a PEDL cofounder along with University of Texas Austin as the prime lead. Other partners included the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation, Midland College, Houston Advanced Research Center, New Mexico State University, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Odessa College, University of Texas at El Paso and University of Texas Permian Basin.

Origins of PEDL

The Permian Basin is uniquely positioned to contribute to an advanced energy future because of its renewable resources and geology, specialized expertise and existing infrastructure. PEDL aims to leverage these resources to catalyze advanced energy research, develop new energy professionals and entrepreneurs and share the benefits of the energy economy.

Funding from the Mitchell Foundation, a grant-making organization out of Austin, Texas, facilitated initial efforts to get PEDL off the ground, including support for Sandia’s participation starting in 2023.

“We’re grateful to PEDL leadership, and in particular Brian Korgel at UT Austin and Marilu Hastings at the Mitchell Foundation, for recognizing the significant value that national labs like the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Sandia could contribute to this important energy innovation initiative,” said Ben Cook, Sandia’s PEDL senior management champion.

A survey and focus groups provided the PEDL team with important insights into how the region’s communities perceive energy and their concerns. While they found energy is not top of mind, Permian Basin residents do worry about the energy transition’s impact on their communities and would like to see sustainability and workforce training prioritized moving forward.

Drawing on those concerns, PEDL is working with the New Mexico State University Global Campus to create courses that address knowledge gaps uncovered in a larger landscape analysis of the region’s strengths. The first course, Advanced Energy 101, is planned to launch in spring 2025 and will provide a high-level overview of advanced energy topics, such as geothermal, hydrogen, storage and energy-water issues.

Safeguarding the region’s scarce water resources is another primary concern raised by basin residents. This finding led the team to incorporate a focus on water in their plans, including at PEDL’s 320-acre demonstration site in Yoakum County, Texas, which is adjacent to Lea County, New Mexico.

“If you take a systems approach, you see that water is actually integral to energy development,” said Thushara Gunda, Sandia’s technical lead for PEDL. “We plan to use the PEDL site to demonstrate how innovations in water treatment can bridge multiple technologies.”

An example of that systems approach, Thushara said, would be to pilot and test technologies that use solar and wind energy to remove oil and sediments from the groundwater brought to the surface by pumping rigs. The treated water could then aid in generating hydrogen from oilfield methane emissions.

“Such advances can convert energy waste streams into valuable resources for the region,” she said.

At Sandia, Thushara and others are exploring all the ways Sandia’s technical expertise could contribute to these R&D efforts.

“Most Sandia research programs are oriented around a capability that can be applied to different regions,” Thushara said. “PEDL flips the script by being place-based. It allows you to think through opportunities at the intersection of technologies that might not otherwise bubble up.”

Modeling a new, just energy economy

With renewables like solar and wind energy expected to overtake coal as the world’s largest source of electricity generation by early 2025, the clean energy transition is well underway. This shift in our energy mix could provide a pathway to economic diversification and increased community resilience, according to PEDL.

“This period of diversification provides a lot of opportunities for economic innovation and for building a workforce that benefits all members of the region,” said Stephanie Kuzio, manager of Sandia’s Energy-Water Systems Integration team. “Still, more research, technology development, training and community engagement are needed to ensure that our energy future is just.”

All PEDL activities aim to advance energy equity and environmental justice for local communities within the Permian, with an eye toward transferability to other similar regions. They accomplish this in part by working to balance community and industry needs and benefits while also developing a plan for collecting measurable data on their impact in the Permian.

The PEDL team is now pursuing multiple options to continue and build this work. A Phase 1 grant from the National Science Foundation Regional Innovation Engines program, in particular, has supported community engagement with the goal of spurring innovation and economic growth.

“Our hope is that through these efforts, the Permian Basin will not only thrive but also serve as a model for other energy-producing regions, demonstrating that the future of energy can be safe, reliable and fair,” Thushara said.