Coordinator: Dr. Tim Volk

The development of sustainable sources of energy has become a critical national and global issue due to concerns about the quality and quantity of the different potential resources, energy security, and potential impacts of each on the environment and human health. It is essential that our society and energy professionals understand the production and conversion of different forms of energy, their current and future supplies, the markets and policy mechanisms that regulate their supply, and the associated impacts on the environment for each fuel. In the past both traditional and renewable energy sources have been studied one resource at a time and usually from the perspective of a single discipline. This minor provides students an opportunity to examine different sources of traditional and renewable energy simultaneously in the context of our total energy use using a systems perspective. Students are exposed to views from a variety of disciplines which allows them to consider a wide array of issues related to current and future energy supply and use.

The Renewable Energy minor is available to all ESF and Syracuse University undergraduate students (except students who are in the Sustainable Energy Management Major and Environmental Science’s Renewable Energy option) who have a GPA of 2.70 or better by the end of their sophomore year. The minor requires a minimum of 15 credits, 12 of which are required courses. The remaining 3 credits can be selected from a list of suggested courses.