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New study programme focusing on a sustainable future

Energy
‘Design of Sustainable Energy Systems’ to educate engineers who can create tomorrow’s energy systems.

Sustainable energy is an essential component in safeguarding the welfare society of the future. The entire world’s energy system is transitioning from fossil to renewable energy, which is a huge technological challenge requiring new technological solutions. It may be anything from efficient use of green solar and wind power, analysis of big data, control of home energy consumption to the design of smart devices.

“Basing the energy of the future exclusively on renewables means that new solutions must be found throughout the energy system with the electrical grid as the supporting element,” says Professor Joachim Holbøll, Head of Studies for DTU’s new ‘Sustainable Energy Design’ BSc Eng programme.

“Our goal is to educate engineers who can develop these solutions in a way that makes them financially, environmentally, and socially viable."

The students on the programme will learn to design innovative solutions for energy systems and the many elements included in, for example, wind turbines, solar cells, electric cars, and storage. But the study programme also focuses on the new role of consumers as active players in the energy system, where solutions that break fundamentally with those we have become accustomed to for many years are becoming pressing.

“It’s important that the future engineers who work with energy are geared to thinking about dynamic systems with many units, both large and small, that must be able to interact. The students learn which tools can be used to develop solutions that ensure a stable and sustainable energy supply. And—unlike previously—many solutions now have to be found at the consumers themselves,” Joachim Holbøll emphasizes.

The study programme is based on classical science subjects such as mathematics, physics, and programming, complemented by discipline-specific subjects in the field of energy, where the electrical system is the key element that ties everything together. Innovative thinking is a common thread throughout the programme, which means the students are in ‘solution mode’ from day one.