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Undergraduate Courses

Undergraduate degrees and courses in energy-related topics are offered by several colleges within the university. Students may pursue energy-related degrees in sustainability, technology and innovation. To review a complete list of degrees, visit http://www.asu.edu/programs/. To review a complete list of available courses, visit the course catalog at https://webapp4.asu.edu/catalog/.

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

GCU 194: Thread of Energy

This course follows the thread of energy through every aspect of our lives. It discusses the social, legal, technical, and policy contexts of all energy resources, including present and unconventional fossil fuels, nuclear power, and renewable resources. This course has a Social and Behavioral Sciences (SB) general studies designation. Students in the School of Sustainability B.S. degree program can use this course as a challenge area/track elective for the Sustainable Energy, Materials, and Technology track. Learn more about Fall 2012 class offering here; next available class to be in Fall 2013.

AGB 494: Development of Energy Economics

NEW! This course applies economic theories and empirical tools to understand energy resources and markets, including coal, electricity, oil, natural gas, renewable energy and energy efficiency industries, as well as the influence of energy resources on climate change and the role of government policies. The course will examine the supply and demand, market structure, game theory, environmental issues, energy policy, energy regulation, and dynamic optimization of energy resources. The emphasis in the course is on the development of appropriate economic models and their application to current issues in energy industry and energy policy. Learn more about Spring 2013 class offering here.

College of Technology and Innovation

Undergraduate degree: Bachelor of Science in Electronics Engineering Technology
Concentration: Alternative Energy
Courses associated with degree

  • ALT 360: Alternative Energy Technology
  • ALT 401: Hydrogen Generation, Storage and Distribution
  • ALT 405: Power Conditioning
  • ALT 410: Solar Cells and Modules
  • ALT 420: Electrochemical Energy
  • ALT 435: Applied Photovoltaics
  • ALT 445: Automotive and Stationary Fuel Cells

Undergraduate degree: Bachelor of Applied Science
Concentration: Electronic and Energy Systems
Courses associated with degree

  • ALT 360: Alternative Energy Technologies
  • ALT 401: Hydrogen Generation, Storage and Distribution
  • ALT 405: Power Conditioning
  • ALT 410: Solar Cells and Modules
  • ALT 435: Applied Photovoltaics
  • ALT 445: Automotive and Stationary Fuel Cells

Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering

Name of the undergraduate degree: B.S.E Mechanical Engineering
Concentration: energy and environment
Courses associated with degree

  • PUP 190: Sustainable Cities
  • MAE 446: Energy Systems Design
  • PHI 310: Environmental Ethics
  • GCU 364: Energy in the Global Arena

Name of the undergraduate degree: B.S.E Electrical Engineering
Concentration: electrical power and energy systems
Courses associated with degree

  • EEE 360: Energy Systems and Power Electronics
  • EEE 460: Nuclear Concepts for the 21st Century
  • EEE 463: Electrical Power Plant
  • EEE 470: Electric Power Devices
  • EEE 471: Power System Analysis
  • GCU 364: Energy in the Global Arena
  • EEE 498: Pro-Seminar (Solar Energy)

School of Sustainability

Undergraduate degree: Bachelor of Arts in Sustainability
Undergraduate degree: Bachelor of Science in Sustainability

SOS 320: Society and Sustainability

Establishes an understanding of the human, social, and cultural dimensions of sustainability from multi- and interdisciplinary perspectives and at a variety of spatial and temporal scales.

SOS 321: Policy and Governance in Sustainable Systems

Explores the wide array of political questions that are raised when we view the Earth's environment as an integrated, global system.

SOS 322: International Development and Sustainability

Historical roots of the idea of development; economic theories of growth and their implications for sustainability; interrelationship among population growth, food security, poverty, inequality, urbanization, technological change, international trade, and environmental change at local, regional and global scale.

SOS 323: Sustainable Urban Dynamics

Human and physical processes shaping urban ecologies and environments; human-environment interactions in the context of an urban region; effect of the institution and regulatory framework on the ability of social and urban-ecological systems to be resilient and sustainable; urban design, materials, transport, planning, and regulation.

SOS 324: Sustainable Energy and Material Use

Sustainable engineering; overall energy needs and impacts; thermodynamics, heat transfer, and fluid mechanisms; atmospheric energy systems; field investigation; current and future urban energy systems.

SOS 325: The Economics of Sustainability

Application of economic principles to the allocation of environmental goods and services, external environmental effects, and environmental public goods; decision-making under uncertainty, adaptation to and mitigation of environmental change.

SOS 326: Sustainable Ecosystems

How human activities and management practices alter biodiversity, ecosystem functioning, and the provisioning of ecosystem services; use of economic and other social science perspectives to estimate the value of ecosystem services; evaluation of options for achieving the sustainable flow of services from ecosystems.

SOS 494: Renewable Energy Systems

This course is meant to provide an introduction to various renewable energy sources. Special emphasis will be placed on solar energy, Arizona's most plentiful energy resource.