The United States military is the world’s single largest energy consumer, with an energy budget of over $10 billion each year. In this role, there is both a great responsibility and great opportunity for renewable and alternative energy stewardship on the national and global stage. Perhaps not well known to the public, is that the U.S. military is taking action to reduce energy consumption via widespread conservation programs, while at the same time supporting research and development of alternative energy technologies. However, the most effective measure to deviate from the conventional energy path is to educate the future decision makers, the future general officers of the Army, of the growing energy crisis and of the available and developing alternative energy options. This paper discusses the evolving education of engineering students at the United States Military Academy to include a greater awareness of renewable and alternative energy. Similar to several civilian engineering programs, West Point offers a course on Energy Conversion Systems which covers conventional topics of fossil fuel utilization, combustion, advanced power and refrigeration cycles, direct energy conversion, chemical equilibrium, and so on. However, the course has evolved to reflect current energy issues, by including lessons on national and global energy usage, climate change, nuclear power, hydrogen, and renewable and alternative energy. In addition to this course, there are senior capstone projects and cadet independent studies that are connected to alternative energy research and development. The goals are to provide a broad overview to the cadets, such that the cadets are excited to continue the pursuit of energy alternatives as graduates and future leaders.
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