Alternative Energy Forums

I am interested in the field of Hydrogen Fuel. I think it is going to be the fuel of the future, but I am unsure on what degree to take that will lead to this field. I was thinking of going for Mechanical Engineering as it seem to have the closest field of study for it.

Can any of you guys help me out on this matter?

Thank you,

Constantine

Mechanical engineering would probably be your best bet though chemical engineering could be a possibility if you only want to deal with hydrogen. In the more advanced classes the subjects tend to blend together anyway - physics, chemistry, engineering. I am a mechanical engineer and took quite a few sustainable energy and power production classes so I would recommend that for a more well-rounded education. What schools are you looking at?

Yeti

There is a possibility that I might move to Vancouver so I was looking for colleges there. I am currently taking core classes in a community college to help with the costs and then just transferring to a University.

Do you have any recommendations?

Constantine

I was actually going to ask you the same question - what are you expecting to get from a degree concentrating on hydrogen technology? I am in the US so I don’t know exactly how your college system differs, but I wouldn’t expect to get too specialized with just a bachelors degree. You could focus on energy sciences (thermo, fluids, heat transfer) and maybe sustainable energy, but I would doubt you could get specifically into hydrogen. For a masters degree or PhD you could seek out professors working on hydrogen related research and go from there.

As far as what colleges, again I’m in the US so I don’t know your schools very well, but if you can find a school that has the Future Energy Challenge and/or the ChallengeX competitions you would definitely have an advantage.

Yeti

RES - The School for Renewable Energy offers an 11 month M.Sc. program in Renewable Energy Sciences in Iceland. While RES is an private school, it is affiliated with and located at the University of Akureyri, Iceland.

http://www.res.is/

David Stefansson

I have spoken to a college in Adelaide, Australia. They seem to have a program there that doesn’t directly relate to Hydrogen Technology directly but they do have an Energy Conservation Degree program and know a Professor there.

Anyone in here have experience about the Australia school system? I am quite new to this. I apologize if I seem jumping around. I am still in the process of finding what is best for me and the right school.

I do not speak Icelandic so that would be a big problem for me and I have no interest in living in Iceland, but thank you for the suggestion.

Thank you,

Constantine

Mid-State Technical College in Wisconsin will be offering three green technology degree programs this fall:

Biorefinery Technology
Renewable Electricity Technician
Renewable Thermal Energy Technician

Oregon institute of technology in Klamath Falls and in Portland offer bachelors in renewable energy systems. Their program is modeled after the Renewable energy bachelors then masters of Murdoch University in Perth, Australia.

http://www.oit.edu

I have been a alternative fuels (CNG, LNG, LPG) and electric truck mechanic for several years. I have no formal degree. I have been looking for a degree program / direction that would keep me in this area but get me off the creeper. Hydrogen, wind and solar are also big interests. Distance learning would be best but i would like to hear about any programs or suggestions. I have been considering electrical or mechanical engineering or even some programming or CAD.

Any thoughts? Thanks

gearhead

Green Collar Job Board:
http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/jobs/

I think the best way to get cheap commercial hydrogen is either from producer gas or water gas.

Damon

Considering the cost and affordability of education it seems education needs to be migrated to a less expensive media. Digital maybe something like an expanded Wikipedia? Chemistry is the field of study for understand reactions that can be used to create hydrogen but there is the electrical engineering concepts that also need to be applied in order to actually build a hydrolyser / hydrogen generator.