Energy engineering is a broad field of engineering dealing with energy efficiency, energy services, facility management, plant engineering, environmental compliance and alternative energy technologies. Domain of Energy Engineering expertise combines selective subjects from the fields Chemical, Mechanical and Electrical Engineering. It is an interdisciplinary program which has relativity with electrical, mechanical and chemical engineering.
This B.S. degree is a first of its kind in the country and only offered at Penn State University with the curriculum addressing the call for the development of alternative sources of energy and conventional fossil fuels at the undergraduate level. It is currently seeking accreditation by ABET.
More specifically, the program incorporates elements of the old Fuel Science undergraduate program with the addition of courses focused on renewable energy and electrochemical engineering as well as professional electives on business, finance, and management. Graduates of the program will be able to understand engineering fundamentals and apply that knowledge to solving problems in the production, processing, storage, distribution, and utilization of energy using multiple techniques such as synthesis, analysis, design, and case studies.
Energy minimization is the purpose of this growing discipline. Often applied to building design, heavy consideration is given to HVAC, lighting, refrigeration, to both reduce energy loads and increase efficiency of current systems. Energy Engineering is increasingly seen as a major step forward in meeting carbon reduction targets.
Energy Technology refers to the knowledge, skills, and equipment required for the production, conversion, transference, distribution, and utilization of energy. This leads to the mastering of technology based on the laws of nature, as a result of which different forms of energy can be used to serve the needs of mankind in such a way that nature is spared and the economic resources of society are taken into consideration.
Energy and its relation to the environment is a new and rapidly growing field of sustainability.
Energy engineering is a combination between the abstract of science and the beauty of art (Martin Bercovici).