Our certificate program equips undergraduates with the knowledge and skills to excel in energy-related fields, preparing them for advanced studies and leadership. Students must complete the requirements of a Yale College major alongside this certificate, as Yale does not offer a major in Energy Studies.
Energy Studies
About the Certificate
To earn the Certificate, students must complete six courses selected from a list approved by the faculty advisory committee. These courses are distributed across three tracks:
Energy Science and Technology (Track 1),
Energy and Environment (Track 2), and
Energy and Society: Social, Political, and Economic Impacts (Track 3).
Why Energy Studies?
Understand Your World: Think about how energy powers your daily life—from turning on the lights to charging your cell phone. It’s fascinating to learn how we use energy in so many ways. Despite advances in renewable energy like wind and solar, most of our energy still comes from fossil fuels—coal, oil, and natural gas. This presents a big challenge: how do we transition to cleaner energy sources?
Environmental Focus: Are you interested in protecting the planet? In Energy Studies, you’ll learn about the impact of energy production on air and water quality, and how it affects climate change. A major goal is reducing greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050. How can we develop new technologies to help make this a reality? It’s an important question—and there are solutions waiting to be discovered.
Social and Economic Perspective: The transition away from fossil fuels is also about providing energy access to everyone around the world. Many people still don’t have modern energy services like electricity or clean cooking options. How can we ensure that moving to cleaner energy is fair and helps everyone? This challenge requires smart, innovative solutions that consider both sustainability and equity.
Innovate for a Better Future: Energy Studies is not just about understanding today’s energy systems—it’s about finding new ways to power our world sustainably. What new technologies can help us move away from fossil fuels? Join us in exploring solutions that make energy affordable, accessible, and green for everyone.
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80%
of the world’s primary energy still comes from fossil fuels
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500 million
people today have no access to electricity
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2.5 billion
have no access to modern energy for cooking or heating
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February 2023
The faculty approved Energy Studies as one of the new Interdiscipllinary Certficate programs
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30
graduates in the Class of 2023 completed the program’s requirements
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375
2024 total number of Yale Energy Scholars
Enrollment
Students can declare their candidacy to complete the Energy Studies Interdisciplinary Certificate by filling out a form on the Registrar’s Office website (before the second semester of senior year). Submitting an application to the program is no longer required. Completing the form will register a student in Energy Studies with Yale College, generate an email to the program director, and put Energy Studies into the student’s degree audit.
Requirements
Starting with the Class of 2024, students wishing to complete the Energy Studies Interdisciplinary Certificate are required to complete two course credits in each of the three tracks of Energy Studies:
- Energy Science & Technology
- Energy & Environment
- Energy & Society
One of the six courses can be taken Credit/D/Fail or Pass/Fail.
Program of Study and Courses
The following courses, which are normally part of the regular curriculum in their respective departments but are not offered every year, are recommended as introductory courses in the three tracks of Energy Studies:
TRACK 1 - Energy Science & Technology
APHY 100, Energy Technology and Society
EPS 274, Fossil Fuels and World Energy
TRACK 2 - Energy & Environment
ENVE 120, Introduction to Environmental Engineering
EPS 101, Climate Change
EPS 140, Atmosphere, Ocean, and Climate Change
TRACK 3 - Energy & Society
EVST 123, You, Your Planet, and a Sustainable Future
EVST 212, Democracy and Sustainability
Students or faculty members wishing to have a particular course approved for Energy Studies should send an e-mail to the director (michael.oristaglio@yale.edu), ideally with a copy of the course syllabus.
Starting with the Fall 2023 term, courses approved for Energy Studies are searchable in Yale Course Search using the following course attributes accessible in the dropdown menu under ADVANCED SEARCH:
- YC ENRG: Energy Science & Tech
- YC ENRG: Energy & Environment
- YC ENRG: Energy & Society
COURSE INFORMATION returned by Yale Course Search for any course counting towards Energy Studies (again, going forward from the Fall 2023 term) should include one or more of the attributes listed above. Notify the Energy Studies director by email (michael.oristaglio@yale.edu) if you believe that a course listing should include one of the ENRG attributes but currently does not.
Energy Studies offers two seminars for students enrolled in Energy Studies. ENR 300 is normally required to complete the program and can be taken in either junior or senior year. This requirement can be waived by the program director at the request of the student, if there are conflicts with a student’s major.
- ENRG 300, Multidisciplinary Topics in World Energy, which is taught in the Fall semester, is normally required to complete Energy Studies (exceptions can be granted by the Certificate director). ENRG 300 takes a multidisciplinary took at a series of international, regional, and local topics related to the world’s energy transition and normally counts toward the Energy & Society track.
- Seniors are encouraged to take ENRG 400, Senior Capstone Project, which is taught in the Spring semester. ENRG 400 is a convenient vehicle for seniors to complete an energy-related project in a credited Yale College Course. ENRG 400 can count as one of the six course credits required for the Interdisiplinary Certificate, in any one of the three tracks of Energy Studies, depending on the project’s topics. See the program’s home page for a list of projects completed by the Class of 2024. ENRG 400 also features guest lectures from energy and climate experts around the world with an emphasis on sustainable finance.
More information about both courses can be found on Yale course search and on canvas.
A new course was added to the ENRG classification in the 2021-22 Academic Year and will continue going forward.
- MENG 320/ENVE 320/ENRG 320, Energy, Engines, and Climate. The course aims to cover the fundamentals of a field central to the future of the world, emphasizing fundamentals from a physics perspective. Topics include key concepts of climate change; a shift in energy supply and technologies to wean humanity off fossil fuels; and carbon-free energy sources, with primary focus on solar, wind and associated needs for energy storage and grid upgrades.
No more than two course credits fulfilling the requirements of the Energy Studies certificate may overlap with a major, a simultaneous degree, a multidisciplinary academic program, or another certificate. Additionally, no course credit may be applied toward the requirements of more than two curricular programs. For example, the same course credit may not be used to fulfill the requirements of two certificates and a major.
Courses taken as pre-requisites for a major do NOT come under these restrictions.
Many courses with broad themes touching on science, technology, and society can count in Energy Studies, provided that the student does substantive work in the course on energy-related topics. “Substantive work” generally means assignments counting for at least 50% of the course’s standard requirements, such as in-term essays or problem sets or a final essay or presentation. Students are normally required to notify the director in advance of their intention to use a provisional course for Energy Studies and receive approval.
Courses taken outside of Yale College—for example, in summer schools or during a year abroad—and accepted by Yale College for full course credit towards a degree can count towards satisfying Energy Studies requirements. All such courses are considered provisional and acceptance for credit in Energy Studies should be approved in advance by the program director. Approved courses taken in the Yale College Summer Term count for Energy Studies.
Many courses in the graduate and professional schools (500 level or higher) qualify for Energy Studies, provided that the course is accepted for full course credit in Yale College. Questions about whether a course’s content qualifies for Energy Studies can be submitted via e-mail to the program director, ideally with a copy of the course syllabus.
