National Workshop on
Clean Energy Education
October 2011
www.CleanEnergy.Illinois.edu
Energy Education:
It’s a Business Proposition
• Customer with a Need
• Provider
• Products
• Business Model
• Supply Chain
• Quality and Certification
National Workshop on CEE
• Breakout sessions in six areas:
– Energy-literate citizenry
– K-12 education
– Workforce development
– Business & industry
– Interdisciplinary & inter-institutional education
– International engagement
• Identified four crucial issues:
– Stakeholder alignment
– Systems thinking
– Multiple literacies
– Need for institutional transformation
Crucial Issues
1. A systems thinking approach
– Demands a skill set that is difficult to teach and learn.
Simulations, professional role-playing and mentoring from multiple
disciplines are essential.
– Crosses between disciplines and vertical strata in organizations.
2. Active stakeholder networks
– Need alignment around both immediate needs (such as job creation)
and long term goals (such as energy literacy and public policy).
– Need to represent all scales – local, regional, national,
international, inter-institutional.
– Stakeholder relationships do not just happen by themselves!
Incentives must be aligned, appropriate forums and communication
mechanisms must be established, and barriers must be overcome.
Crucial Issues, contd.
3.
Define multiple literacies.
There are multiple energy literacies that differ in content
depending on the needs of the constituency.
– Recognize and embrace different knowledge (epistemic)
frameworks and sets of values.
– Translate the perspectives and understanding from one domain
to another (the classroom, the board room, the living room).
4.
Facilitate institutional transformation.
– Institutions must establish a long term basis for stakeholder
engagement and program development within the fabric of the
operation.
Educational Competencies
Mastery
MS
Major
Proficiency
Certificate
Literacy
Conversancy
Interdisciplinary Core:
Physics - Engineering - Earth - Economics - Policy…
Energy & Sustainability Engineering (EaSE)
MS or PhD students can earn a certificate. Requires:
– EaSE Seminar and Theory and Methods course
– 2 courses in a specialization
– 1 breadth course
The specializations:
– Biomass Energy Resources (15 courses)
– Geologic Energy Resources (25 courses)
– Energy Markets (20 courses)
– Energy Conversion & Transmission (31 courses)
– Energy Safety & Security (20 courses)
– Sustainable Environmental Systems (29 courses)
– Energy & Sustainability in the Built Environment (16 courses)
http://EaSE.Illinois.edu
Workshop Report:
www.CleanEnergy.Illinois.edu
Speakers at CEE Workshop
Federal Address
Carl Wieman
Associate Director for Science, OSTP (by video link)
Panel Discussion
Theresa Maldonado
Paul Ritter
William Goran
Jeff Walk
David Schejbal
Director, EEC, NSF
President, Illinois Science Teachers Association &
National Environmental Science Teacher of the Year
Director, Center for the Advancement of Sustainability
Innovations, US Army CERL
Director of Science, the Nature Conservancy in Illinois
Dean of Continuing Education, Outreach and ELearning, U. Wisconsin-Extension
EU Perspectives
Jürgen Scheffran
Professor of Climate Change & Security, Institute of
Geog. and KlimaCampus, U. Hamburg, Germany
DOE Energy Literacy
Mathew Inman
Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow, DOE
CEE Workshop Organizers
John Abelson
Chair and co-Director of EaSE, U. Illinois
Jeff Brawn
Head of NRES, U. Illinois
Bridget Calendo
Director of Operations, ISEN, Northwestern University
George Crabtree
Senior Scientist, ANL and Energy Council Chair, UIC
Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld Dean of LER, U. Illinois
Brian Deal
Professor of UP, U. Illinois and Director of SEDAC
Julie Elzanati
Director of IL Green Economy Network
Tim Lindsey
Business Innovation Services, U. Illinois
Liz Moyer
Professor of AC&T, U. Chicago
Aida Sefic-Williams
Business Innovation Services, U. Illinois
Tod Treat
VP of Academic Services, Richland Community College
Starting Point Strategies
ENERGY-LITERATE CITIZENRY
• Provide systematic and collaborative education in energy systems and
technologies using a clear, common definition of “clean energy.”
K-12 EDUCATION
• Include CEE in the standards for science education as a core topic in STEM
instruction and expand the educational and training opportunities for K-12
teachers in CEE.
MULTIDISCIPLINARY EDUCATION
• Form authentic, creative, and inclusive partnerships among diverse
disciplines through integrated and creative pedagogic strategies that identify
and assess benchmarks for CEE competency, certification, and desired skillset outcomes.
Starting Point Strategies
WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
• Develop and widely disseminate clean energy career pathways using
comprehensive, cross-departmental governmental collaborations to identify
and educate for different kinds of energy literacies related to workforce
development.
BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY
• Educate and engage all members of the business community in clean energy
systems and provide significant economic incentives that promote action
through public and private partnerships.
INTERNATIONAL ENGAGEMENT
• Create international partnerships between universities with a focus on
regionally-based energy education and establish international energy studies
as a new field of academic research and teaching as a mechanism to identify
and propagate best practices.
Educational Competencies
Mastery
(grad degree)
Proficiency
(major)
Leadership in a discipline
Employment and career growth
Literacy
(3 to 4 courses)
Understand the mechanisms and methods of a field
Conversancy
(1 to 2 courses)
Understand the concepts and terminology of a field
Entry point for contributions across disciplines
Entry point for collaborations with experts
Energy & Sustainability Education at Illinois
Existing:
• Graduate Certificate in Energy & Sustainability Engineering
• Professional Science Masters in Bioenergy
• Masters in Energy Systems (undergoing approval)
• Online Masters in Natural Resources & Environmental Systems
• Undergraduate Environmental Minor
• Bachelors in Earth, Society & Environment
Planned:
• A Campus Center for Sustainable Environment
• Undergraduate Minor in Energy & Sustainability
• Overlay Masters Degree in Clean Energy
EaSE Seminar Series
Global Challenges
Future Energy Demand
Geologic Sources of Energy
Climate Change
Energy-Water Nexus
Energy, Security and Nuclear power
George Gross (Electrical)
Steve Marshak (Geology)
Don Wuebbles (Atmospheric Science)
Praveen Kumar (Civil & Enviro.)
Rizwan Uddin (Nuclear)
Markets, Policies and Systems
Economic Markets
Legal Perspectives
System Analyses
Hadi Esfahani (Economics / CGS)
Jody Endres (Law / EBI)
Luis Rodriguez (Ag. Engr.)
Opportunities for Change
CO2 Sequestration
Photovoltaic and Wind Power
Bioenergy Feedstocks
Biofuels for Transportation
Energy Use in Buildings
Electrical Power Conversion
The Smart Grid
Rob Finley (Geology)
Angus Rockett (Materials Science)
Hans Blaschek (Food Sciences)
Alan Hansen (Ag. Engr.)
Brian Deal (Urban Planning)
Phil Krein (Electrical)
Tom Overbye (Electrical)
Programs & Centers at Illinois
Center for Advanced Bioenergy Research
Energy Biosciences Institute
Institutes of Natural Resource Sustainability
School of Earth, Society & Environment
Smart Energy Design Assistance Center
Student Sustainability Committee
Entrepreneurial Learning in Science and Technology
Math, Science, Technology Education
Agricultural Sustainability Agronomy Program
Center of Advanced Materials for the Purification of Water
Data Center Energy Efficiency Research
Environmental & Resource Economics program
Social Dimensions of Environmental Policy
Sustainable Subsistence Marketplaces Initiative
Energy Courses at Illinois
NPRE 101 †
Introduction to Energy Sources
Prof. David Ruzic
NPRE 201
Energy Systems
Prof. Cliff Singer
ENSU 310 *†
Renewable & Alternative Energy
Prof. Jon Tomkin
ACES 409
Bioenergy Systems
Dr. Eric Anderson
ABE 436 †
Renewable Energy Systems
Prof. Xinlei Wang
UP 446 †
Sustainable Planning Seminar
Prof. Brian Deal
MechSE 498
Fund. of Modern Photovoltaics
Prof. Elif Ertekin
ACES 501
Advanced Bioenergy Topics
Prof. Hans Blaschek
ACES 509
Advanced Bioenergy Systems
Dr. Eric Anderson
ENG 471 *
Seminar in Energy & Sustain. Engr. Prof. John Abelson
ENG 571
Theory of Energy & Sustain. Engr.
Prof. John Abelson
† = section for non-science majors; * = available online
ATMS 140
Phys 150
ATMS 447
MSE 489
NRES 426
LAW 798
OLLI
Climate & Global Change
Physics of Societal Issues
Climate Change Assessment
Materials for Energy Sustainability
Renewable Energy Policy
The Law of Renewable Energy
Understanding the Energy Challenge
Prof. Michael Schlesinger
Prof. Scott Willenbrock
Prof. Atul Jain
Prof. John Abelson
Prof. Jody Endres
Prof. Jay Kesan
Prof. Paul Debevec