The University of Tulsa showcased some of its initiatives to Oklahoma’s senior U.S. senator on Thursday.
Sen. James Lankford toured TU’s north campus to learn about research involving hydrogen blending, a process integrating hydrogen with natural gas to reduce carbon emissions. The process is appealing to oil and gas executives in part because it offers an incremental pathway to greener energy solutions.
"People talk about a switch to hydrogen, there are literally a million different issues with that. But the initial focus is blending the two together and seeing if you can figure out how to make it work," said Lankford.
Professor of Petroleum Engineering Cem Sarica also presented plans for a mock natural gas distribution center designed to assess vulnerabilities to cyberattacks.
“We started with existing facilities, but we needed to expand and develop a dedicated space for [our] cyber project. This is our war room, so to speak, and we hash everything out here,” said Sarica.
The cybersecurity project involves multiple disciplines and aims to stay ahead of threats targeting infrastructure that experts say will likely increase as technology develops. Lankford noted the global demand for energy is not expected to diminish.
“Now with AI, with data centers, with so much need for electricity out there, people are saying, ‘We just need electricity, period, because we can’t find enough production of electricity,’” said Lankford.
While Lankford demurred to discuss government funding, he praised TU’s facilities as “remarkable.”
We must note, TU holds the broadcast license for KWGS.
