The University is considering the creation of an energy science concentration, according to Peter Weber P'12, dean of the Graduate School. The Academic Priorities Committee recommended increasing support for energy science in the October update to the Plan for Academic Enrichment.
Energy science is a broad and interdisciplinary field," encompassing chemistry, engineering, physics, computer science and geology, Weber said. The discipline brings a modern approach to emergent problems, such as finding more efficient power sources.
"As a society, we're facing an energy crisis," said Professor of Engineering Kenneth Breuer who teaches ENGN 1930U: "Renewable Energy Technologies."
"This is becoming more and more urgent," he added. "The immediate concern is the same as the longer-term goal, which is how do we procure cheap, reliable, predictable, environmentally friendly sources of energy to allow the world to grow."
These issues prompted Professor of Engineering Eric Suuberg — along with a group of faculty and undergraduate students — to make a presentation to the priorities committee calling for increased attention to energy science.
"We basically went to them and said that we've got a lot of people who are working on energy," Suuberg said. "They're in all kinds of different departments doing all kinds of different things, and what we should do is to begin to organize ourselves a little better so we can represent the broad range of things going on at Brown."
In the past year, a number of research projects in energy science have received federal funding. Wesley Bernskoetter, assistant professor of chemistry, received a $417,155 grant in September for research in chemical fixation of carbon dioxide and Christophe Rose-Petruck, professor of chemistry, received a grant of $62,714 to experiment with carbon capture.
Energy science is a collaborative field — not limited to a single department. "It includes people who are involved in solar energy conversion, in batteries, in fuel cells," Suuberg said. "It includes people who are interested in wind power. It includes researchers who are interested in carbon capture and sequestration, an option for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, and it includes people who are just generally concerned with the efficiency of conversion of energy in one form to another."
Faculty members are also interested in expanding undergraduate course offerings in the field, Weber said.
In geology, the study of energy resources is "a no-brainer," said Greg Hirth, professor of geological sciences. He said he teaches the science behind difference energy sources, allowing students to come to their own conclusions about the benefits of each alternative. "The foundation of the class is to lay out what some of the dilemmas are, but also to provide people some motivation to learn some of the basic science that goes into the debate," Hirth said.
Seminars on energy science are held about every week for interested students, Weber said. Though the School of Engineering and the Center for Environmental Studies also offer courses in energy science, demand for more classes remains strong.
"Students are interested in learning about it," Breuer said. "They're finding jobs in energy industries. ... We should be responding to the important issues of the day."
Discussions on a unique concentration program are ongoing, and Suuberg said courses could be integrated into existing departments. "There are certainly a lot of avenues that could be used now to explore different aspects of the energy question," he said. "For example, one could take any number of the engineering concentrations right now and weave into those enough energy-related topics that you'd have a pretty firm foundation on the technical side of energy."
"I think it's an exciting time in energy," Suuberg said. "I think the students should expect to see more in the way of course offerings in the future focused in this direction as well."
