Future energy needs and sustainable energy applications for the Colorado School of Mines (CSM) campus: needs for the year 2020 and beyond "a capstone senior design project"

As an integral part of the undergraduate engineering degree program requirements at Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado, all students are required to complete a two-semester long (7 credits) capstone senior design class that is multi-disciplinary in nature. The senior design "team" (consisting of eight students from electrical and mechanical specialty) was given the opportunity to investigate the CSM campus overall total energy needs for the year 2020 and beyond, and perform an economic feasibility study that should include the applications of renewable energy and address the issue of sustainability. It was also expected that a preliminary design and recommendations be included as apart of the project. This project was conceived from the CSM Summer 2004 electrical field session class (EGGN 334) in which the campus' existing electrical power distribution system and overall energy needs was studied in a week-long session. Based on the existing data, future growth projections, and the advancement in renewable energy applications, a simplified economical and technical feasibility study is performed for the sustainable energy applications including the needs for a reliable infrastructure (both short term and long term). This paper expands on the findings and is prepared as an integral part of the senior design project.