Dr. Hon Chung Lau is an adjunct professor and lecturer at the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department at Rice University.  He is also founder and president of Low Carbon Energies, LLC, a consulting company that conducts research and provides training and consultation on the ongoing energy transition.  Prior to his current positions, Dr. Lau worked 35 years (1981-2016) for Shell Oil Company and has held various positions including discipline lead in Production Technology in North America.  He was professor of practice in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at the National University of Singapore from 2016-2021.  He has published over 100 journal and conference papers and is author to two dozen US and international patents on energy transition, production engineering, reservoir engineering, intelligent wells, enhanced oil recovery and career development.

In the last five years, Dr. Lau’s research has focused on the ongoing energy transition.  He has published over 30 research papers in the areas of carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS), decarbonization, and a novel way to store CO₂ in the subsurface as CO₂-hydrate.  His research has covered decarbonization of countries, (e.g. Vietnam, India, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Canada, China and Norway) as well as specific industries (steelmaking, cement, power, heavy oil). He is developing a general theory of energy transition which can be used to advise policymakers, scientists and engineers on energy transition pathways. He was nominated to be the Society of Petroleum Engineers Distinguished Lecturer on Energy Transition in 2022-2023.