Pratson Helps Teach Weeklong Short Course on Renewable Energy and Sustainable Urban Development

July 25, 2007

DURHAM, N.C. – Lincoln Pratson, associate professor of sedimentary geology and faculty director of the Nicholas School’s Energy and Environment Master of Environmental Management program, is helping teach courses on energy and the environment at the 2007 Sustainable Energy Fellowship short course program, July 21-28, at Arizona State University.

The weeklong program brings together students and faculty from Duke, Arizona State, Cornell University and the University of Michigan to explore the role of renewable energy in sustainable development.

Working with Pratson and the other faculty members, the students explore the scientific and engineering principles behind solar energy, biological renewable systems, hydroelectric and geothermal systems, carbon sequestration, wind energy and other alternative energy systems.  They also examine the economic and environmental pros and cons of the systems. .

For the first time in history, more than half of the planet's population lives in cities and are served primarily by non-renewable energy sources, Pratson noted.  The Sustainable Energy Fellowship program can help educate the next generation of environmental leaders about strategies and technologies to reduce urban consumption of non-renewable resources and promote greater energy efficiency.