NCSU, UNC, Duke, RTI unite to tackle energy challenge
Higher Education
Courtney Doi
Triangle Business Journal
January 9, 2009
Photo c/o John Theilgard, RTI International
Vikram Rao, a former chief technology officer at Halliburton, was hired in September as
the executive director of the RTEC.
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – A bold bet by the Triangle’s three major universities
a year ago to combine forces and establish a consortium devoted to renewable energy
research appears to have granted the campuses a winning hand.
With the incoming Obama administration promising to jump-start a “green” economy,
the Research Triangle Energy Consortium says it’s well positioned to attract some of the
federal dollars that are likely to be devoted to the effort.
RTEC was formed in November 2007 by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,
Duke University, North Carolina State University and RTI International to highlight
energy issues; better inform academics, industry, policy makers and investors; and
conduct research and development to create sustainable sources of energy.
“With the faculty strength and expertise in a lot of different areas, we’re in a position to
take the lead both nationally and internationally on strategic thinking on key areas that
have to do with energy,” says Thomas J. Meyer, Arey Distinguished Professor of
Chemistry at UNC and the university’s liaison to RTEC.
In September, the RTEC hired Vikram Rao, a former chief technology officer at
Halliburton, to be its executive director. “The urgency centers around the generally held
belief that the new administration will spend a lot more – both in research and
development as well as generating jobs in energy,” says Rao. “If folks like us don’t
influence that pretty soon, there is a risk that the direction taken will be too much of a
juggernaut that will be hard to alter the course of.”
Following are some of the consortium’s initiatives:
n RTEC conducts a monthly breakfast forum that draws leaders from different energy
specializations. The first two meetings attracted 30 to 40 people each, and Rao is hopeful
that the meetings will lead to new collaborations across fields and institutions.
n In 2008, the consortium’s three university members, along with North Carolina Central
University, submitted a proposal to become an Energy Frontier Research Center, a
program of the U.S. Department of Energy. The federal agency received 260 such
applications and expects to name grant winners in April. The EFRC awards are expected
to be in the range of $2 million to $5 million annually for an initial five-year period.
n Because of the efforts of RTEC, a Duke University professor has begun a study into the
future of biofuels. The report will tackle the economics and the environmental and social
impact of biofuels. This report is especially relevant to North Carolina because of a state
mandate that by 2017, 10 percent of liquid fuels sold in the state come from biofuels
grown and produced within the state. Rao says that the RTEC is coordinating research
and funding to make this goal a reality and plans to get the completed report delivered to
leaders in Raleigh and Washington, D.C. so as to influence policy.
n In mid-January, RTEC will hold a meeting in Chapel Hill on solar energy that is
attracting speakers from across the country. And in May or June, RTEC will host a
symposium called “Electrifying Transport” which will address critical technical,
economic and policy issues related to renewable energy. The most common example of
this effort would be a plug-in hybrid car. “In my personal view, it is the single best route
to reducing dependence on imported oil without any doubt in my mind,” Rao says.
RTEC also will hold a symposium on a soon-to-be completed Duke study of the
economics of carbon capture and storage by U.S. power plants and will support a NCSU
program on smart grids.
WORKING IN TEAMS
Combining their talents allows the universities to attack broad problems by bringing
together people with varying backgrounds and expertise. “This partnership has the
potential to create a powerful source of broad, implementable solutions to this crucial
issue,” says Terri Lomax, interim vice chancellor for research and graduate studies at
North Carolina State University, where energy is one of five major focus areas.
The consortium is not meant to replace projects and programs at each university, says
Lincoln Pratson, faculty director of the Energy and Environment Program at the Nicholas
School of the Environment at Duke University.
Instead, he says, it enhances existing programs and helps leverage new opportunities.
Because of the establishment of RTEC, each university is being approached with new and
different projects that may not otherwise have arisen. “The strategy behind RTEC is to
pool the four institutions’ expertise and resources to enable us to take on energy projects
that we wouldn’t be able to do as individual institutions,” Pratson says. “That is the
primary advantage of RTEC from our perspective at Duke. This is going to open up new
opportunities to engage in energy studies that we wouldn’t be able to do on our own.”
The combined strengths of the three universities and RTI will make the consortium more
competitive for funding against other single-entity applicants as the Obama
administration begins to dole out funds, Meyer says.
“It is important to be at the beginning,” he says. “We really want to position ourselves so
we are trendsetters.”
BIG GAINS
RTEC will not perform R&D itself to avoid competing against one of its members, Rao
says. Instead, it will highlight issues and push for funding from government agencies. If
two or more of the members are not involved in a project, then RTEC has no role. The
consortium will maintain a three-pronged content focus – technology, socioeconomics,
and policy, Rao says.
While RTEC’s scope is large, the organization itself is small. Rao, who works out of an
office at RTI’s campus, is the sole employee of RTEC, and he outsources administrative
support and marketing. He declined to reveal the organization’s operating budget. The
four founding members contribute equally to the budget with increasing commitments as
the program ramps up, Lomax says. Members also provide in-kind support for the
consortium, Meyer says, as it does not receive any portion of the funds it generates for
the universities.
It’s impossible to estimate the amount universities have invested in RTEC, says Tony
Waldrop, vice chancellor for research and economic development at UNC. He says those
contributions include funding for basic operations, support of symposiums and research
funds. “We’d like to see faculty who weren’t previously working on energy-related
research to start combining their efforts, more grant funding, and faster movement toward
answering questions in (the) energy arena,” Waldrop says.