Chancellor’s Faculty Excellence Program

Sustainable Energy Systems and Policy

In 2011, NCSU launched the Chancellor’s Faculty Excellence Program (CFEP) to bring together the brightest minds in a range of academic disciplines and give them the support to tackle global issues.  Our new faculty clusters are adding more than 75 new faculty members in 20 select fields to enhance the breadth and depth of our solution-driven research and innovation. They build on our historic strengths in the sciences, engineering, math, design, textiles, humanities and social sciences, and education. And they take those strengths in bold new directions.

The Sustainable Energy Systems and Policy Cluster is designed to address energy issues in order to provide a strong foundation for future education and research in energy. This faculty cluster serves as a catalyst by filling four critical gaps in NCSU’s previously existing expertise: energy economics, energy and environmental policy, energy-focused life cycle assessment, and energy systems engineering.  This cluster provides the capability to assess technology and policy options through an assessment that considers relevant technical, economic, environmental and socio-political factors. In addition to exploring the broader implications of technology deployment, cluster faculty also analyze the potential effects of top-down energy policy. Comprehensive evaluation of competing policy alternatives is critical, as they may have divergent effects on the U.S. economy, technology deployment, and the environment. Such research is consistent with the NC State strategic plan, which focuses on addressing societal grand challenges.

Cluster Coordinators

Joe DeCarolis (Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering)
Laura Taylor (Agricultural and Resources Economics)

Cluster Colleges

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, College of Engineering (Lead College), Poole College of Management