In 2020, at the Annual Meeting of the Greater Houston Partnership – the city’s powerful Chamber of Commerce and economic development organization with a heavy concentration of oil and gas companies – Bobby Tudor, the incoming Chairman of the Board, told the membership: “The oil and gas business is not likely to be the same engine for Houston’s growth over the next 25 years, that it’s been in the past 25 years.” He added further: “We can lead the energy transition. There is fantastic business opportunity for us in this effort; it’s necessary and it’s the right thing to do. Houston is about making things happen, and we can lead this energy transition. We should be driving the discussion… “

As any person who follows Texas politics and the political economy of the state, Tudor’s speech signaled a major shift. An organization that represented some of the most influential oil and gas interests in the state made clear it would no longer be fighting the energy transition; instead, it decided to lead it.

Following the speech, the Partnership launched the Houston Energy Transition Initiative or HETI to build on traditional energy skills and systems to leverage Houston's industry leadership to accelerate global solutions for an energy-abundant, low-carbon future.

My guest today, Jane Stricker, is the Executive Director of the Houston Energy Transition Initiative where she leads a coalition of industry, academia and community partners to ensure 4the long-term economic competitiveness and advancement of the Houston region towards a net-zero emissions future. Prior to joining the HETI, Jane spent over 20 years at BP in a variety of roles and thus has considerable expertise in engaging and transitioning the oil and gas industries.

During the interview, Jane and I discussed how the skills, knowledge, and resources from the oil and gas industry – and its workforce – can be leveraged to advance the clean energy transition. We dug into the opportunities for job creation, the need for workforce development and training, the potential and challenges of hydrogen hubs, the importance of engaging and responding to the communities that have been disproportionately harmed by fossil fuels, the necessity of innovation in business models and technology, and much more.

This was a great discussion and I hope you enjoy it and learn a lot about Houston’s role, its risks, and its opportunities in the energy transition.

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Timestamps

4:11 - About the Houston Energy Transition Initiative

9:31 - Opportunity and responsibility of Houston in the Energy Transition

12:42 - Expertise, knowledge, and skills from the oil and gas industry and how they can be applied to advance clean energy and the energy transition

20:18 - Why the Houston area has particular potential for the energy transition and technologies that are especially important

23:29 - Hydrogen hubs and the role of hydrogen in the energy transition

28:53 - The need for community engagement in the development of hydrogen hubs and the Climate Equity Framework

35:14 - The need for innovation in all aspects of the work: business, communications, regulatory, and technology etc.

36:41 - Electrifying the Houston region and expected demand growth

41:11 - Industrial electrification and its impact on demand growth

42:32 - Advanced nuclear

44:06 - Collaboration between oil/gas industry and renewables in Houston; opportunities for economic and job growth from renewables

48:08 - Reducing scope 1 and 2 emissions with renewables

50:19 - Jobs, workforce development, transitioning workers from oil and gas to renewable jobs, and engaging young people

Show Notes

Houston Energy Transition Initiative (HETI)

Houston Energy Transition Initiative Members

Greater Houston Partnership

Climate Equity Framework and Toolkit for an Equitable Energy Transition in Greater Houston

Perspective on the Energy Transition Capital of the World: Houston’s Opportunity to Win by Catalyzing Capital Formation - Report from McKinsey

The Oil and Gas Industry in Net Zero Transitions, International Energy Agency report

Video and transcript of Bobby Tudor’s 2020 speech at the Greater Houston Partnership’s Annual Meeting

Distributed Energy Resources and "all-of-the-above" energy solutions with CenterPoint's Jason Ryan

How Americans’ attitudes about climate change differ by generation, party and other factors - Pew Research Center

Greater Houston Partnership Signs Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Argonne National Laboratory

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Oil and Gas in the Energy Transition with Jane Stricker

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