Prospects of Research and Careers in Green Energy for Multidisciplinary Engineering Students
With the global urge to act upon climate change, it has become necessary to switch from over-dependence on fossil fuels; green energy, therefore, is growing under those needs. Indeed, such growth avails multiple opportunities for students at multifarious levels of engineering in research and career development. Attempts to lower human beings’ carbon footprint in green energy are new technologies towards sustainable development, such as solar, wind, hydropower, bioenergy, and energy storage systems. Engineering being a multidisciplinary course makes it a perfect course for exploring avenues of green energy. Within this field, one finds mechanical, electrical, chemical, and environmental engineering, among others.
In this blog, we’ll study the most relevant areas of research in green energy and how they directly translate into career opportunities for engineering students.
The Importance of Green Energy
Green energy is energy derived from natural resources that are renewable, with less environmental impact compared with conventional energy sources. Driving reasons for green energy use on a global scale include:
- Climate Change: Mitigation of carbon emissions is urgently needed in order to combat global warming. Renewable energy technologies offer a means of powering our world without contributing to the greenhouse effect.
- Energy Security: The reliability of energy sources and their sustainability increasingly require attention, as the stock of fossil fuels is depleted.
- Employment Opportunities: The green energy sector is creating jobs in research, development manufacturing, and installation.
With these driving forces, governments invest in the research and innovation of green energy, along with private companies and educational institutions.
Main Research Areas in Green Energy
Green energy indeed presents a broad research landscape to the multidisciplinary engineering student, who thus gets the chance to delve into diverse fields. The key areas of focus are:
- Solar Energy
Probably the most promising of the new types of renewable energies is that generated from the sun. Research in this field is carried out on the improvement of the effectiveness of the PV cell, new materials for the elaboration of helioplanes, and connectivity with networks. In this context, two students could work together: a student in materials sciences would contribute knowledge in the areas of semiconductors, electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering in order to design efficient, durable, and less expensive solar cells.
Some of the key topics of research include:
- Perovskite solar cells: These cells have great potential owing to the fact that their efficiency is high, yet the production cost is low.
- Solar thermal systems: Utilising solar energy for heating purposes in industrial applications or residential buildings.
- Grid Integration: This is the study of how solar energy can be incorporated into the prevailing energy grid without causing instability.
- Wind Energy
Another area of green energy that is fast developing involves wind energy. It may be that students in mechanical and aerospace engineering will be expected to perfect the design of turbines, while civil engineers examine ways of building wind farms in challenging environments.
Key research areas include:
- Energy conversion efficiency in the turbines: Improvement in the aerodynamic design of the turbine blades for improved capture of energy from the wind.
- Offshore wind farms: In researching the logistics and technologies that will be needed, the installation of turbines is to be made in ocean environments where wind speeds are higher and steadier.
- Energy Storage and Grid Balancing: Since the wind is a fluctuating source, the conservation of the energy produced at any instant in time for further utilisation is another major research challenge.
- Hydropower
Hydropower is one of the oldest renewable sources of energy, based on harnessing the energy of moving water. The possible research areas for an engineer in this field include turbine design to maximise efficiency, reduction of environmental impact due to the dam, and finding ways to capture energy from smaller sources such as rivers or ocean tides.
Key research areas include:
- Fish-friendly turbines: Designs for turbines that generate electricity while being minimally harmful to aquatic life.
- Tidal and wave energy: The utilisation of energy from the currents and waves of the oceans is a developing sub-segment of the hydropower category.
- Bioenergy
It involves the energy conversion of organic material, mainly from plants and waste materials. In fact, this area is of most interest to chemical and environmental engineers, who can contribute much to the development of biofuel production and waste-to-energy technologies.
The key research areas are:
- Biomass conversion technologies: Studying new methods of plant material conversion into biofuels or biogas.
- Waste-to-energy systems include the development of various processes for converting waste products into usable energy sources.
- Algae biofuels: Study of algae as a conflicting yet sustainable biofuel alternative—not only does it require additional biochemical engineering expertise.
- Energy Storage Systems
Most of those intermittencies in solar and wind energies can be overcome by energy storage systems. These batteries and supercapacitors are two major parts of this technology that could be developed by mechanical, electrical, and chemical engineers working together.
The key research areas include:
- Battery technologies: Exploring ways to improve battery efficiency, reduce costs, and increase lifespan.
- Hydrogen for Energy Storage: Hydrogen as a renewable energy carrier; exploring its potential by understanding the functions of fuel cells in energy storage systems.
- Thermal storage involves storing excess energy in thermal form, which can then be converted into electrical energy.
Career Opportunities in Green Energy
The multidisciplinarity of green energy means that a significant number of engineering students from any engineering branch get a lot of career opportunities in it. Green energy has a range of jobs that involve research, project management, design, or routine maintenance.
Some of the career prospects include:
- Renewable Energy Engineer
This role includes the operations of design, development, and installation supervision for renewable energy systems such as solar, wind, and hydropower projects. The professionals working within this engineering category should have strong problem-solving skills, and they should be able to work between various disciplines. - Energy Analyst
Energy analysts study consumption patterns and make recommendations to achieve better savings and sustainability of energy. That should be a quite important role when considering the integration of renewable energy sources into existing infrastructure with minimal energy loss. - Environmental Engineer
An environmental engineer is usually involved in green energy to eliminate unnecessarily harmful environmental impacts from energy projects, such as wind farms or hydropower plants. They may be tasked with designing systems that protect the ecosystems or reduce potential pollution from energy production. - Research Scientist
Green energy opens a wide door for students interested in academic or industrial research. In this respect, research scientists may work on the development of new materials for solar cells, monitor improvements in the technological process of producing biofuel, or design energy storage systems. This job is perfect for people eager to create something new and contribute to technological development. - Renewable Energy Project Manager
Project managers develop and implement renewable energy projects, including commissioning. They liaise with engineers, contractors, and regulatory agencies to ensure that projects are completed on schedule, within budget, and to environmental specifications. - Policy Advisor
Careers related to green energy policy are a good fit for students interested in the nexus between engineering and public policy. Working with governments, NGOs, and industry leaders, policy advisors develop policies that incentivise attempts towards the adoption of renewable energy technologies.
Conclusion
Students of multidisciplinary engineering can look out for a plethora of prospects in research and careers related to green energy. We find ourselves in a time of sound and fury as climate change and energy security accelerate the pace of innovation in renewable energy technologies, of which engineers from every discipline are at the forefront. Whether you are passionate about research, design, or policy, the field of green energy offers an exciting and rewarding career path in which any changes will have a real impact. With the increase in demand for sustainable energy, opportunities for engineers to play a role in this vital industry will also increase, ensuring a cleaner, greener future for generations to come.
Authored By
Dr. Roshan Raman
Assistant Professor (Sel.Grade)
Department of Multidisciplinary Engineering
The NorthCap University, Gurugram, Haryana-122017