Back in the day when the entire economy was booming, giant banking and consulting firms used to round up graduating college seniors by the hundreds, throw big salaries at them, and truck them off to shining office towers where the rookies would show up for work with sunglasses on because the future was so bright.
Things are a bit cloudier in the economy these days, but there’s still reason for young folk to keep those shades on anyway. The renewable energy industry is booming, with solar jobs lighting the way. With the aid of increased investment in clean technologies and growing political support for a massive overhaul of the power grid, now is the time to consider a career path through greener fields. Check out these five schools to see how you (or your high schooler) might one day fit in to the new energy economy.
1. University of California – Berkeley
Cal is home to both the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab – perhaps the leading think-tank for renewable energy research – and the Energy Biosciences Institute (in partnership with the University of Illinois). EBI has an emphasis on biofuels, and Lawrence has its finger on the pulse of multiple areas of technological research, including solar (which I’m a little partial to), and receive big bucks from the US Department of Energy to fund its research. With hundreds of millions of dollars in funding, these hotbeds for renewable energy research are leading the way towards our clean energy future.
2. Stanford University
Earlier this year, Stanford announced a $100 million dollar initiative to tackle climate change through increased research into alternative energy and energy efficiency. The money will be used to beef up the ranks of energy-focused faculty and also devote dollars to student research. Given Stanford’s Silicon Valley location at the nexus of high-tech development and venture capital investment, incoming Cardinals can expect to be surrounded by various resources to help them join the cleantech revolution.
3. Rice University
While most people associate Houston with Big Oil, the winds of change are a-blowin’ at Texas’s most prestigious school. Rice’s Energy & Environmental Systems Institute has the mission to advance understanding of energy and environmental issues, facilitate development of technologies, and contribute to policymaking. Given that Texas produces more wind power (by far)than any other state, choosing Rice for school would be a great place to learn the ropes (and turbines) of this blustery industry.
4. University of Delaware
While the nation’s First State might not immediately jump to mind as a hot bed of energy progressivism, UD faculty have done more research into offshore wind development in North America than any other school in the country. Though offshore wind power has become increasing mainstream in Europe over the last ten years, Delaware is close to becoming the first US state to site wind turbines off its coast to make electricity, and when this happens, others will look to Delaware as a model for developing this resource. Some argue that offshore wind power has many times the potential for powering our cities than wind farms on land, and if that’s true, you can expect UD research to be buoy up this nascent industry.
5. University of Washington and Oregon State University
Head to the Pacific Northwest if you want a future in ocean energy, where underwater turbines harness the power of ocean currents to make electricity. The US Department of Energy recently partnered with U-Dub and OSU to form the Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center, which is bound to attract attention from cleantech backers and energy industry bigwigs alike – not to mention the US Navy.
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It is great to know five leading universities are promoting renewable energy education. In fact looking at need of the hour all universities should include renewable energy education in their schedule.
I was looking for Australian solar related notes this was great
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