(196c) A Sustainability and Alternative Energy Course As a Bridge between Disciplines

Knowledge of sustainability, climate change, and environmental impact is far more important now than when the chemical engineering curriculum was created and refined in the early 20^th century. Making room for these essential topics is going to be an important part of how chemical engineering as a course of study (and as a profession) survives as we navigate our current global pollution epidemic.

Our work here aims to help fill this gap by providing students with an introduction to sustainability and sustainable development, then teaching them ways that we are attempting to reimagine our energy system in our future near-zero carbon world. The course then moves to the technique of life cycle assessment as an important (but approachable) concept for applying the laws of conservation of mass and energy to products and processes to estimate their relative merits. As the problems we face are interdisciplinary, we tried as much as possible for a diverse cohort of students from all schools at The Cooper Union (Architecture, Art, and Engineering) to inspire discussion and different ways of thinking around the important political, cultural, and technical issues that must be navigated. Course content and structure was aimed to be as interactive as possible, including extensive in-class discussion activities as well as two large group projects where students presented their findings to the class.

We hope to demonstrate that our students gained an increased understanding of both the science and technology in energy system choices and an appreciation for the ethical trade-offs. Our course was offered in an entirely remote format, offering additional challenges for a subject requiring discussion and project work.