MEC 4874 - Renewable and Sustainable Energy Systems

• Describe the current challenges facing the world’s energy supply
• Qualitatively discuss the links between energy consumption, the environment, and quality of life
• Evaluate the limitations of existing energy systems for long term human energy needs
• Perform economic analysis of power systems and explain the role of energy economics on the current status of renewable energy deployment
• Apply energy, mass, and force balances to determine the energy potential of a hydroelectric system
• Evaluate runner dynamics and non-dimensional analysis and resource characteristics to select turbine style
• Analyze the energy potential of biofuels and the technology of biofuel production, the environmental, social, economic, and net energy impacts of the biomass life cycle
• Predict the solar flux at any location on the earth based on the time of year
• Conduct energy balances on solar collectors  
• Apply f-chart methods in the design of solar thermal heating systems
• Apply engineering design principles to solar photovoltaic installations
• Evaluate wind turbine power using actuator disk theory and blade element theory
• Apply energy and force balances to determine the maximum performance of a wind turbine
• Apply statistical approaches to evaluate the wind resource
• Estimate geothermal resource potential based on reservoir characteristics and type of power cycle
• Evaluate the need for energy storage systems for electrical grid scale energy balances when implementing high amounts of variable renewable energy systems

• First and second laws of thermodynamics
• Energy, entropy, mass, and momentum balances
• Dimensional analysis/Buckingham pi theorem
• Heat transfer mechanisms including conduction, convection, and radiation

• Current energy use, energy resource availability
• Energy usage and environmental impacts: carbon emissions and climate change
• Combustion: stoichiometric and energy balances
• Energy economics: depreciation, levelized cost of electricity, levelized avoid cost of electricity
• The energy grid, real-time distribution and management of energy flow
• Hydroelectric applications: global energy balances, hydroelectric turbine considerations
• Biofuel applications: resource considerations, conversion technologies, net energy balance ratios
• Solar resource evaluation (clear sky model)
• Solar thermal applications: flat plate collectors, solar concentrators, solar towers, solar ponds
• Solar photovoltaic fundamentals
• Wind resource evaluation
• Wind turbine fundamentals
• Geothermal energy: classification of geothermal resources and geothermal power plant designs
• Impact of public policy and the development of renewable energy
• Design report: feasibility study of how renewable energy can be developed at a location; including resource characterization, economics, emissions, and local policies