June 8, 2007

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COLLEGE STATION – A $2 million endowment agreement between the Texas A&M Foundation and the Zeros Energy & Water Alliance was signed last week.

This endowment will be used "to support the enhancement and development of the teaching, research and extension mission of the Texas Water Resources Institute," according to the gift agreement. The water resources institute is a unit of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station and Texas Cooperative Extension.

The Zeros Energy & Water Alliance is associated the Zero-emission Energy Recycling Oxidation System, which uses high temperatures to completely oxidize organic wastes in energy remediation processes. It was developed to clean up oil field waste without polluting air or water, said Steve Clark, trustee, Zeros Energy & Water Alliance and the system's developer.

"We understand that we can't have energy without water," he said, "and it is often energy (production) that contaminates and pollutes water."

Once funded, endowment will annually provide resources for education, research and outreach activities, Clark said. The gift will honor Clark's long-time friend and business partner, William A. McKenzie, a former chairman of the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents.

"This is the beginning of a relationship that will help us conceive and develop ways to efficiently utilize water, which is the new oil," said Dr. Elsa Murano, vice chancellor and dean of agriculture and life sciences for the A&M System. "There's no resource more precious than water."