Overview

Many people see energy as a technical problem, but it is not—it is a social, policy, and business challenge with significant technical dimensions. ASU already envisions energy in these larger terms, and we have a powerful opportunity to define ASU as the world leader in the development and application of integrated assessment techniques, tools, and models for sustainable energy. ASU is already a leader in the development of a wide range of sophisticated, interdisciplinary, integrated assessment approaches. Building on these foundations, we are positioned to become a global leader in this critical field.

Most importantly, ASU can help guide the long-term societal, policy, industrial, and technological transformations required by a sustainable energy transition in Arizona over the next 50 years. ASU has built an exciting, new interdisciplinary capacity to provide long-term knowledge generation, expertise, and perspective to inform sustainable decision-making. ASU educates many of the state’s policy, law, science, engineering, civil society, and business leaders. ASU has a strong capacity for convening conversations among diverse stakeholders.

U.S. educational institutions have helped our country be a world leader for well over 100 years. Yet, now, as ASU President Michael Crow has consistently argued in his vision for ASU as a New American University, our educational institutions must change if the U.S. is to meet the energy challenges of the 21^st century. Scientists and engineers, business and policy leaders, and consumers will all need to learn new frameworks for understanding energy and its broader societal and environmental contexts to become effective partners in energy change. ASU is leading the way in this educational transformation, but we need a comprehensive energy education effort across many schools and colleges to prepare the state’s leaders, professionals, and citizens to meet its future energy challenges.