Division of Energy and Innovation

The Fall 2024 TIEEP Energy Forum

Thursday, October 10, 2024

4:00 pm - 6:00 pm

Theme: Lowering the Cost of Decarbonization

The pressure is on to decarbonize industry – but at what cost? In this forum we will address this question by examining both technical and financial strategies and solutions that can lower the cost of decarbonization as the industrial sector strives to meet increasingly aggressive goals

Additional Details: This event is co-hosted by TIEEP and STS-AIChE.

PDH certificates available.

Energy Forum Registration:

In-person | Virtual

The mission of the Texas Industrial Energy Efficiency Program (TIEEP) is to provide thought-leadership, sharing ideas, technologies, opportunities and timely information to Texas industries on ever-improving energy intensity, reduced environmental impact, resilience, and enhanced social and economic development. TIEEP’s industry focus is the oil refining and chemicals sectors. TIEEP is organized by UH Energy, and funded through a grant from the State Energy Conservation Office (SECO).

STS-AIChE Dinner

The TIEEP Energy Forum will be followed by STS-AIChE’s monthly dinner meeting program. This includes:

• 6:00PM - 6:30PM: Networking and Drinks
• 6:30PM - 7:15PM: Dinner
• 7:00PM - 7:15PM: Dessert, Announcements & Best Paper Awards
• 7:15PM - 8:15PM: Keynote Presentation (1 PDH by STS)

Registration for the dinner meeting program, both online and in-person, is available on the STS-AIChE events page, STS AIChE October 10th 2024 Monthly Dinner Meeting | AIChE

Presenters

Presentation 1: Driving the Energy Transition: From Strategy to Action

Michiel Spoor, Principal Energy Consultant at KBC Advanced Technologies (A Yokogawa Company)

Michiel brings over three decades of experience in the global downstream business. A culturally sensitive professional, his clients include national and multinational energy companies, independent energy firms, investors, and governments.

He’s passionate about energy efficiency and energy transition. Michiel combines experience, training, and technology to help clients develop decarbonization strategies that conserve the plant’s operating costs, while also sustaining long-term emission reduction targets.  In addition to American and Eurasian oil refineries, Michiel also has experience in the petrochemical, fertilizer, and LNG industry.

Michiel is known internationally as an authority on refinery energy efficiency due to his numerous papers and contributions to conferences and is author of the monthly Energy Saver column in the Chemical Processing magazine.  He holds a master’s degree in Chemical Process Technology from the Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands.  Contact: michiel.spoor@kbc.global

Abstract:

1. Overview of Carbon Reduction Strategies: Methodologies such as marginal abatement cost curves (MACCs), energy transition roadmaps, and consulting studies used to formulate carbon reduction strategies.
2. Enhancing with Clarity and Action: Exploration of additional steps such as carbon intensity benchmarking to refine goals, set actionable targets, and engage stakeholders effectively.
3. Deploying Advanced Technologies: Integrated process and supply chain modeling to optimize operations, track progress, and identify opportunities for emissions reduction.
4. Case Study and Best Practices: Examination of a real-world example and best practices from oil refineries that have successfully initiated energy transition initiatives.

Presentation 2: Enabling the Decarbonization and Circularity of the Chemical Industry through Process Technology Development and Scale-Up

Ignasi Palou-Rivera, Executive Director and Chief Technology Officer of the RAPID Manufacturing Institute

In addition to his role in the RAPID Manufacturing Institute, Ignasi serves as the President of the US Manufacturing Innovation Council (an independent non-profit connecting the Manufacturing USA institutes) and the Chair of the Manufacturing USA Council.

With a career spanning more than 25 years, Ignasi has diverse expertise in chemical process development, process modeling, refinery planning, process technology valuation and commercialization, and R&D management. Prior to joining RAPID in 2017, Ignasi held roles at Aspentech, Applied Materials, BP, LanzaTech, and Argonne National Laboratory.

In 2023, Ignasi was elected a Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) and he has been heavily involved as a volunteer in both in the Computing & Systems Technology Division (CAST) and the Sustainable Engineering Forum (SEF) AIChE Communities. Ignasi is a Past Chair of the Sustainable Engineering Forum, part of the Institute for Sustainability (IfS) Board, and a member of the PAIC Policy Committee.

Furthermore, Ignasi also teaches on entrepreneurship and IP management as an adjunct faculty at the Illinois Institute of Technology. His educational background includes an Engineer degree from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya in Barcelona, a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and post-doctoral research at MIT.

Abstract:

This talk will explore how the concepts of industrial decarbonization and circularity are connected in the context of the modern chemical industry. The RAPID Manufacturing Institute, a public/private partnership between the DOE and AIChE, is addressing both of these sustainability initiatives through the development and scale-up of process technologies.

Presentation 3: Unlocking Carbon Credits with Technology to Address Climate Change

Sunny Trinh, CEO, DevvStream, Inc.

With over 25 years in the electronics and semi-conductor industry, Sunny has helped hundreds of companies, from start-ups to large multi-billion-dollar companies, move their ideas through design, production and revenue. In addition, he has helped advanced numerous technologies with a current focus on ESG, sustainability, and carbon credits.

Sunny is currently the CEO of DevvStream, Inc., a company that helps organizations and municipalities generate carbon credits through technologies that improves energy efficiency, reduce or sequester greenhouse gas emissions, or provide renewable energy. Sunny also serves as the Chief Digital Alchemist for Devvio Inc., where he utilized their leading edge blockchain technology to develop solutions and new business models in the ESG, sustainability and carbon markets. Prior to Devvio, Sunny led innovation as VP of Strategic Partnerships and Cool Stuff at Avnet, Inc., a Fortune 200 semiconductor distributor. He was also the Chief Operating Officer for Jooster, a technology company focused on health and wellness and VP of Sales for Arrow Electronics. During this time, he led the engineering team that re-designed a Corvette Stingray that was driven by a quadriplegic. Sunny also co-founded and served as CEO for 9:Fish Surfboards and was an adjunct professor for Cal Lutheran University’s MBA program where he started the school’s technology track.

Sunny holds a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Engineering from Harvey Mudd College and a Master’s in Business Administration from Cal Lutheran University.

Sunny also holds several patents on electronic accessories for cell phones.

A couple of fun facts on Sunny include surfing 20ft waves on the north shore of Hawaii and competing in ballroom dancing in college.

Abstract:

Global climate change is a massive problem. It’s estimated that we emit over 40 Gigatons of CO2 and equivalent gases annually. In order for us to meet our global goals to prevent further damage to the planet, we will need to reduce this amount by 23 Gigatons annually by 2030. In order to have any chance of success, we need to tie economic incentives to carbon reducing activities. If used properly, carbon credits can be this incentive. We believe that the technology necessary to meet these emission reduction goals exists in the world today. The biggest challenge with many of these technologies is the added costs to implement them. Carbon credits can provide a financial bridge to help offset the additional costs and advance them further.