The Texas Imperative

The Texas Imperative is a set of focused multi-disciplinary studies of vital state resources including water, critical minerals, naturally occurring helium and hydrogen, and geothermal energy. These resources are being thoroughly researched and assessed statewide. The goal of The Texas Imperative is to inform state and local leaders, state agencies, industry, and the public about the location, quantity, and potential economic and environmental impact of these resources.

Water Systems and Drought Initiative

The Texas Imperative Water Systems and Drought Initiative takes a holistic approach to understanding the hydrological systems and water resources of the Texas Hill Country. It will gather a wide range of historical (2010–2024) hydrological data—groundwater, surface water, soil water, precipitation, evapotranspiration, etc.—and synthesize them together into a common spatial and temporal framework. It will take care to distill much of this data from existing state planning and permitting tools in order to transform them into more readily actionable and accessible information. That information will be integrated with the infrastructure data and planning processes that ultimately turn hydrological systems into water resources. The resultant web-based mapping and visualization product is intended to support stakeholders, policymakers, and resource managers in better understanding Texas’ water systems. Finally, the initiative will leverage the assembled water system information to improve understanding of how these systems respond to past and potential drought.

For more information, please contact Research Assistant Professor Justin Thompson.

Economic Mineral Resources Program

The goal of the Economic Mineral Resources Program is to provide information on mineral resources in Texas through a Report of Investigations (RI) and an online GIS-based database and map portal. The RI will serve as an introduction and backdrop to mineral resource topics and provide detailed geologic, mine and quarry location, and production information for specific resources up to the publication date. It will include sections on regulation, economic viability, and socio-environmental-economic impacts of mining, together with a section on new resource opportunities and their implications. The information is designed for stakeholders in government, the private sector, the general public, and academia. The database portal allows multiple parameters to be viewed together, and data may be downloaded. The scope of the project includes all industrial minerals and aggregates, critical minerals, uranium, as well as lithium from brines and rare earth elements from coal mining and processing waste.

For more information, please contact Research Associate Professor Brent Elliott.

Geothermal Initiative

The Texas Imperative Geothermal Initiative conducts geothermal resource mapping, quantification, and assessment of the Gulf Coast and East Texas. Geothermal energy refers to the heat stored in the Earth’s subsurface. It can provide clean, reliable, 24/7 firm baseload power as well as opportunities for direct use, such as heating and cooling. In recent years, the geothermal industry has gained significant momentum due to the advent of new technologies in well drilling and completions, and field pilot demonstrations. Several geothermal projects are brewing in Texas. The study will yield updated subsurface temperature and formation maps, including regional-scale play fairway maps for conventional and next-generation technologies, such as Enhanced Geothermal Systems, Closed-loop Systems, Reservoir Thermal Energy Storage, and co-production of hydrocarbons and minerals. Derived GIS maps and an accompanying Report of Investigations are expected to minimize risk in the subsurface and facilitate geothermal project development in Texas at scale.

For more information, please contact Research Associate Professor Shuvajit Bhattacharya.

Geologic Hydrogen and Helium

The impact of hydrogen and helium gas resources on the global economy is expected to grow substantially in the coming few decades. While helium has been extracted from the subsurface for several decades in association with natural gas fields, the idea of extracting hydrogen in its pure form from the subsurface (geologic hydrogen) is a relatively new concept that has generated considerable interest from the geoscience community in recent years. The Bureau’s research aims to estimate the state’s geologic hydrogen and helium resources and to map prospective regions within Texas for both gases. In the case of hydrogen, the research considers both natural and stimulated scenarios. The natural scenario is analogous to conventional oil and gas whereas the stimulated one involves engineered enhancement of certain subsurface hydrogen-generating reactions. In addition to regional-scale statewide prospectivity maps, the research focuses on a handful of specific areas within Texas where more detailed localized investigation can lead to sharper estimates of the resources.

For more information, please contact Research Consultant Saad Saleh.

Lithium Resources in the Smackover Formation of East Texas

This initiative evaluates the potential for lithium resources in subsurface brines of the Smackover Formation in East Texas. Lithium is a critical element for modern energy storage technologies, particularly lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles and grid-scale storage. The project integrates published geochemical data, produced-water analyses, and regional geologic information to develop a comprehensive database and resource estimate for lithium and associated critical minerals in Smackover brines. Building on this resource assessment, the study will examine the techno-economic feasibility of lithium extraction and evaluate potential market opportunities for Texas. The initiative will also review policy frameworks and value-chain structures that could support responsible development of a domestic lithium industry. The results are intended to provide stakeholders, industry, and policymakers with a clearer understanding of Texas’ lithium resource potential and the pathways for developing a sustainable lithium value chain.

For more information, please contact Research Scientist Associate Dallas Dunlap.

These studies summarize research conducted at the Bureau of Economic Geology at The University of Texas at Austin. As research, analyses contained in these reports (including, but not limited to, estimates of resource in place and economic outlooks) are prepared using a specific set of assumptions and are subject to continual change.