Sustainable Energy Systems Minor

Sustainable Energy Systems Minor

Offered collaboratively by the Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering, the Robert Frederick Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, and the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Contacts: curricular topics: Jeff Tester, Croll Professor of Sustainable Energy Systems, 2160 Snee Hall, (607) 254-7211; administrative or registrar topics: Carol Casler, undergraduate programs office of the Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, (607) 255-1489.

Individual faculty members in most units in the College of Engineering are involved in research and education intended to move society toward more sustainable solutions to our energy needs and are sources of guidance to students interested in the Energy minor. Many of these faculty members are in the College of Engineering: https://energy.cornell.edu/people/faculty%20experts. The minor is open to all undergraduate students.

Providing affordable energy to meet the demands of both developed and developing nations without further damaging the natural environment and the Earth’s climate system is a grand challenge for the 21st century. Our quality of life and the stability of nations ultimately depend on having accessible energy resources and an equitable and sustainable energy supply and distribution system. Achievement of these goals requires the participation, ingenuity, and hard work of people with a range of specialized backgrounds, working collaboratively. The minor is intended to emphasize the importance of viewing the challenge of meeting the world’s energy needs as a system of interacting themes. The requirements of the minor are designed to provide breadth across a range of energy resource types and conversion, transmission and storage technologies along with coverage of the environmental, economic, political, and social consequences of various options.

Academic standards: At least C– in each course or, for S–U only courses, S.