Energy engineering

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
A concentrated solar power system
A concentrated solar power system
Solar panels
Wind turbines
Wind turbines
Transmission towers

Energy engineering is a broad field of

math, and chemistry
with economic and environmental engineering practices. Energy engineers apply their skills to increase efficiency and further develop renewable sources of energy. The main job of energy engineers is to find the most efficient and sustainable ways to operate buildings and manufacturing processes. Energy engineers audit the use of energy in those processes and suggest ways to improve the systems. This means suggesting advanced lighting, better insulation, more efficient heating and cooling properties of buildings.[1] Although an energy engineer is concerned about obtaining and using energy in the most environmentally friendly ways, their field is not limited to strictly renewable energy like hydro, solar, biomass, or geothermal. Energy engineers are also employed by the fields of oil and natural gas extraction.[1][2]

Purpose

Energy minimization is the purpose of this growing discipline. Often applied to building design, heavy consideration is given to

carbon reduction targets. Since buildings and houses consume over 40% of the United States energy, the services an energy engineer performs are in demand.[3]

History

Human beings have been transferring

energy crisis of 1979 brought to light the need to get more work out of less energy. The United States government passed several laws in the seventies to promote increased energy efficiency, such as United States public law 94-413, the Federal Clean Car Incentive Program.[4]

Power engineering

Considered a subdivision of energy engineering, power engineering applies math and physics to the movement and transfer of energy to work in a system.

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design

United States Green Building Council
(USGBC) in March 2000. LEED is a program that encourages green building and promotes sustainability in the construction of buildings and the efficiency of the utilities in the buildings.

In 2012 the United States Green Building Council asked the independent firm Booz Allen Hamilton to conduct a study on the effectiveness of LEED program. "This study confirmed that green buildings generate substantial energy savings. From 2000–2008, green construction and renovation generated $1.3 billion in energy savings. Of that $1.3 billion, LEED-certified buildings accounted for $281 million." The study also found the summation of all green construction supported 2.4 million jobs.[5]

Energy efficiency

Environmental Protection Agency stated that the United States produced 250 million tons of municipal waste in 2010. Of that 250 million tons roughly 54% gets thrown in land fills, 33% is recycled, and 13% goes to energy recovery plants.[7] In European countries who pay more for fuel, such as Denmark where the price of gas neared $2.6 per litre ($10/US gal) in 2010, have more fully developed waste-to energy facilities.[8] In 2010 Denmark sent 7% of waste to landfills, 69% was recycled, and 24% was sent to waste-to-energy facilities. There are several other developed Western European countries that also have taken energy engineering into consideration.[7] Germany's "Energiewende", a policy which set the goal by 2050 to meet 80% of electrical needs from renewable energy sources.[9]

Statistics

The median yearly salary for an energy engineer is $64,587 U.S. dollars. 83% of energy engineers are male while the remaining 17% are female. 65% of energy engineers have less than five years of experience in their profession.[10]

Education

A bachelor's degree is a primary requirement of becoming an energy engineer, while a student who wants to become an energy engineer does not directly need to get a degree in energy engineering, several universities across the world have established departments or centers offering energy engineering degrees, to better prepare future engineers for their career. One of those programs is the IEP PEM Certification which is offered at Virginia Tech University.[11] The Certified Professional Energy Manager (PEM) was created in conjunction by the Institute of Energy Professionals (IEP) and Energy University. Since 2009, Energy University has provided energy efficiency education to more than 130,000 professionals worldwide. The program offers more than 150 courses.[12]

Notable energy engineers

Notes

  1. ^ a b Berkeley Engineering (2013).
  2. ^ AGCAS editors (2011).
  3. ^ Science Buddies (2013).
  4. ^ Berman (2011).
  5. ^ Booz Allen Hamilton (2012).
  6. ^ Battles and Burns (1999).
  7. ^ a b Crawford (2013).
  8. ^ Thompson (2011).
  9. ^ Baake and Morgan (2013).
  10. ^ PayScale (June 12, 2013).
  11. ^ "Professional Energy Manager Certificate". Cpe.vt.edu. Retrieved 2020-04-26.
  12. ^ "Energy University Intros Online Energy Manager Certification". 12 November 2012.

References

External links