Center for Energy and Environmental Sustainability

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The CREST Center for Energy and Environmental Sustainability (CEES) at Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) brings together faculty and researchers from 2 colleges and 6 academic departments to focus on three broad areas of energy research: 1) Biofuels, 2) Wind Energy, and 3) Energy and the Environment. The research in biofuels and wind energy will address the need to curtail green house gases (GHG) by advancing bio-renewable and wind substitutes for depleting fossil based hydrocarbons. Basic research will address technological problems associated with the optimal conversion of biomass into biofuels and wind into wind energy. The Energy and Environment subproject will focus on improvements in the nuclear and fossil fuel utilization to support environmentally responsible energy production and consumption from these energy sources. The research outcomes from CEES are expected to fill some important technological gaps in the biofuel production yields, wind turbine designs and advanced nuclear reactors. The first overarching goal of the Center is to build a nationally recognized energy research program at PVAMU in energy engineering. This will be accomplished by leveraging currently-funded research, education and outreach activities across the campus; improving research infrastructure at PVAMU; building external research collaborations; and enhancing energy engineering research in areas of strength at PVAMU. The second overarching goal of CEES is to significantly increase the number of students from underrepresented groups who successfully complete BS, MS and PhD degrees in STEM fields. CEES will strive to encourage students to pursue careers in industry, academia or national labs, particularly in the cutting-edge engineering fields of renewable energy, environmental and nuclear engineering. CEES will build a multi-disciplinary education and research community centered on energy engineering to provide new curricula, research experiences, multi-level mentoring and a host of professional development experiences for undergraduate and graduate students. Intellectual MeritThe proposed Center will involve collaborations with several universities, industrial partners, and national laboratories to conduct research on transitional and transformative global energy systems research. The research subprojects will focus on optimization of biofuels production yields, development of optimization tools applied to wind turbine research, cogeneration involving nuclear and wind power systems, life cycle assessment of conventional, nuclear and renewable energy systems; and fuel cycle analysis for next generation nuclear reactors. CEES will help to establish a multi-disciplinary education and research community of students and faculty, with national partnerships, in the area of energy engineering.Broader ImpactPVAMU is a Historically Black University (HBCU) with a strong record of preparing underrepresented minority students, particularly African Americans, for STEM careers, including advanced degree education. The proposed CREST will strengthen that capability by establishing an Energy Engineering Learning Community, and undergraduate minor in Energy Engineering, and a Master?s degree focused on the subject area. New curricular materials will result from the project. The project will develop a wide variety of educational and outreach experiences, with emphasis on partnerships with other research universities, industries, and national laboratories, to provide opportunities for students at PVAMU and for developing the pipeline of students from K-12 and community colleges. The Center will establish beneficial collaborations with two other, related CREST projects (at California State University-Los Angeles and at Texas A&M University at Kingsville).