Research

The proposed Air Products Louisiana Clean Energy Complex, an $8 billion low-carbon hydrogen and ammonia facility in Ascension Parish with associated CO₂ transport and sequestration, would support about 8,800 jobs a year in Louisiana during pre-construction and construction, adding an estimated $4.5 billion to Gross State Product and $2.5 billion in labor income. Once operating, the complex would support roughly 900 jobs a year, $132 million in GSP, and $70 million in labor income. Sequestration beneath Lake Maurepas is estimated to generate about $24.7 million a year in injection fees, 30% of which is shared with the affected parishes under Louisiana law. Estimates use the Louisiana Economic Impact Model (LEIM). The analysis was commissioned by Air Products.

A large-scale U.S. geothermal buildout could reach 10 to 36 gigawatts of installed capacity by 2050, with capital spending of roughly $20 billion to $139 billion in 2025 dollars depending on the scenario. Construction would support 7,400 to 39,400 jobs a year over the next decade, and operations 6,500 to 24,200 jobs a year once complete. The analysis, produced with the Colorado School of Mines, projects three development scenarios through 2050 using the modeling framework described in the report. Funded by Third Way.

Thirteen announced Louisiana projects with a carbon capture component represent about $48 billion in investment, and 33 existing facilities employing roughly 4,200 workers are practically feasible for CO₂ capture. Together they would need enough pipeline and Class VI well capacity to sequester about 46 million metric tons of CO₂ a year. The report compiles investment, employment, and output estimates for these projects and their supporting infrastructure using publicly announced plans and the modeling framework described in the report.

Carbon capture and storage requires the right to use subsurface pore space, an area of law that is still developing and differs in key ways from oil and gas. This paper explains why CCS operators need pore-space rights, including the ad coelum doctrine and the risk of trespass if injected CO₂ migrates past a project boundary; reviews the agreements used to obtain those rights (leases, servitudes) and their compensation models; and covers the statutory tools, such as unitization and eminent domain, available when agreements with every landowner cannot be reached. Louisiana is the focus, with comparisons to practice elsewhere in the U.S.

The 2026 Gulf Coast Energy Outlook, released December 10, 2025, is the Institute's annual review of the region's energy landscape and its likely trajectory through the coming year, covering oil and gas production, LNG exports, announced investment, electricity demand, and employment.

Louisiana currently uses about 2.4 million metric tons of hydrogen a year, almost all in petrochemical production. Demand could grow to roughly 13 times that amount, driven mainly by energy exports, as the Section 45V production tax credit spurs interest in low-carbon “clean” hydrogen. The paper reviews the types of hydrogen, how each is produced, and current and prospective uses in the state. Commissioned by the Greater New Orleans Development Foundation through the H2theFuture initiative, a 25-organization partnership led by GNO, Inc. and GNODF and funded by the U.S. Economic Development Administration. GNODF reviewed a draft; the analysis and conclusions are the authors' own.

Louisiana leads the nation in renewable diesel production, and biofuels supply about 4.2% of the state's primary energy production; announced projects could raise that to about 9.2%. Sustainable aviation fuel is the fastest-growing segment, with several projects announced, and the state's biomass could meet 1 to 3% of the federal SAF Grand Challenge target of 35 billion gallons by 2050. Biofuels are likely to matter most in aviation, maritime, and long-haul trucking rather than in electricity. The paper assesses biomass types and availability using the U.S. Department of Energy's Billion-Ton 2023 report and closes with a SWOT analysis of the industry in Louisiana.

The Local Engagement, Assessment and Planning Model (LEAP) gives communities and companies a structured way to evaluate a proposed energy investment before it is built. It runs in four steps: structured listening through focus groups and workshops; project and community mapping in GIS; economic and tax impact modeling with the Louisiana Economic Impact Model; and communication of results back to the community. LSU acts as a neutral third party providing technical information rather than advocacy. LEAP was developed at LSU by the Center for Energy Studies and the Institute for Energy Innovation, both now part of the LSU Energy Institute, with faculty from Environmental Sciences and Sociology. It was designed around decarbonization projects but applies to other project types.

Plugging every orphan and idle oil and gas well in Louisiana would cost about $860 million, well beyond current funding. Of the state's 224,000-plus drilled wells, roughly 19,500 were idle and nearly 4,900 orphaned as of March 2025, and the orphan backlog is growing faster than plugging activity. Methane emissions vary widely from well to well. The initial $25 million in federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funding, with about $156 million more anticipated, has already supported roughly 120 jobs and $16.4 million in economic output through the Oilfield Site Restoration program. Commissioned by the Louisiana Department of Energy and Natural Resources.

Gulf Coast crude oil output is projected to rise from 9.8 million barrels a day in 2024 to 11.6 million by 2032, and natural gas from 55.4 to 63 billion cubic feet a day. Announced regional investment for 2025 totals about $60 billion, split nearly evenly between LNG ($27 billion) and energy transition projects such as hydrogen, ammonia, and carbon capture ($25 billion). Gulf Coast LNG exports grew from 6.5 to 11.6 billion cubic feet a day between 2020 and 2024. The 2025 Outlook, released December 6, 2024, reviews the region's role in global energy markets and how it is balancing traditional production with decarbonization.

A planned carbon capture and sequestration hub in Calcasieu Parish, the first in the U.S. designed to permanently store CO₂ from large industrial facilities, could avoid an estimated $11.3 billion in climate damages over its lifetime by sequestering 300 million tons of CO₂. Construction would generate about $698 million in U.S. worker earnings over five years and support more than 1,149 jobs nationally; operations would support roughly 375 jobs a year. The hub targets hard-to-abate emissions from an industrial corridor that employs about 150,000 workers in Texas and Louisiana. Prepared for Gulf Coast Sequestration.

A primer on carbon capture, utilization, and storage, written in response to questions about the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and the 45Q tax credit. It explains what CO₂ is, defines utilization and storage, lays out the risks in the process, and describes why the Gulf Coast is a candidate region for CCUS. Prepared by faculty from the LSU Energy Institute, the Department of Environmental Sciences, and the Cain Department of Chemical Engineering.

A primer on environmental justice and why it now matters for energy projects. Executive Order 14008 (2021) created the Justice40 Initiative, which directs 40 percent of the benefits of certain federal investments to disadvantaged communities, so federal grant-making agencies now weigh a project's community benefits. The paper explains what EJ means, how a project can demonstrate EJ benefits, and why the concept affects any business's social license to operate and its ability to make future investments.