Our Projects
About Duke Energy and Climate Club Projects
The Duke Undergraduate Energy and Climate Club aims to explore the real-world energy and climate sectors, engage with the greater energy and climate community, and help solve the critical energy, climate, and sustainability challenges of today.
Each semester, we collaborate with companies and organizations in the energy, climate, and sustainability fields to offer pro-bono consulting projects for students.
Through these projects, we connect students with industry professionals, helping students build real-world skills while also delivering results for our partners.
Fall 2024 Projects
This Fall, Duke Energy and Climate Club is excited to introduce a new cohort of projects in collaboration with the energy, climate, and sustainability industry. Being part of a DECC project team is an amazing opportunity to make a real-world impact, gain invaluable knowledge and perspectives, and have the experience of working with energy and climate industry leaders and enthusiastic peers.
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Undergraduate students are welcomed to apply as either project managers or project analysts.
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Project managers are responsible for devising and driving project execution plans, managing the project team, and leading communication with clients. For prospective project managers, applications are due Friday 9/13 at 11:59 PM.
Project analysts will take ownership of individual parts of a project, as one will develop in-depth learning on specific fronts and be responsible for specific work streams, while learning holistically from the project. For prospective project analysts, applications are due Friday 9/13 at 11:59 PM
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Please find descriptions of selected Fall 2024 projects below.
Decarbonizing Marine Transport and Sustainable Mining for Critical Energy Transition Materials
with Third Derivative
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Founded by RMI and New Energy Nexus, Third Derivative (D3) is accelerating the rate of climate innovation through an inclusive ecosystem approach, which rapidly finds, funds, and scales climate tech globally. By uniting and aligning committed investors, large corporates, and market and policy experts with the world’s most promising climate tech startups, D3 bridges finance and resource gaps to increase speed to market. Today D3’s collaborative ecosystem includes $4T market cap of corporate partners, $8B AUM of investor partners (across five continents), and over 100 startups addressing climate challenges across all major emissions sectors.
In this project, a team of students will gain the opportunity to dive into a sector of climate technology and present their findings on the market landscape, technology/business model solutions, and most promising areas of innovation. Recent topics covered by D3 include green hydrogen, carbon capture, waste management, low-carbon fuels, fast-charging batteries, nuclear fusion, aviation, green ammonia, and hydrogen infrastructure. In the fall, D3’s priority focus area is innovations in decarbonizing marine transport, as well as investigating lower energy and more sustainable mining practices for materials critical to the energy transition. The project scope of work includes desktop research into the space (reading journal articles, reports, etc.), interviewing stakeholders (startups, investors, etc.), building techno-economic or financial models that describe the unit economics of the innovations, and generating a slide deck to summarize key findings. This project is suited for students who have technical, financial, or entrepreneurial interests and want to learn about what types of innovations Third Derivative invests in to drive toward a climate-positive future.
North Carolina Energy Market Reform Study and Bill Drafting
with the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association and Duke Climate Coalition
The North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association (NCSEA) is a leading organization of individuals, businesses, government, and nonprofits interested in North Carolina's sustainable energy future. Their mission is to drive policy and market development to create clean energy jobs, economic opportunities, and affordable energy that benefits all of North Carolina, and envision a future where North Carolina’s clean energy economy leads the nation and serves as a model for other states.
This project aims to develop a set of legislative proposals for energy market reform in North Carolina by leveraging insights from South Carolina’s recent energy market reform efforts. Anticipated deliverables for this project include a 5-10 page research brief presenting a menu of market reform options in legislative language for North Carolina and an energy market reform bill or menu of bills ready to be filed for the 2025 NC General Assembly long session. Potential work streams include legislation drafting with bill writing staff of North Carolina’s General Assembly, attending lobby meetings with NC state legislators on sponsoring a bill or menu of bills, desktop research through publicly available reports, websites, filings, and academic papers.
Note: This project will be a first-of-its-kind collaboration with Duke Climate Coalition. Half of the team will come from DECC, while the other half will be composed of DCC members.
Assessing Load Forecast Projections and Renewable Capacity in Response to Data Center Growth in North Carolina
with the Center for Progressive Reform
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The Center for Progressive Reform is a nonprofit research and advocacy organization that conducts independent scholarly research and policy analysis, and advocates for effective, collective solutions to our most pressing societal challenges. They envision a government that uses the full force of its power to curb climate change and ensure a sustainable environment, economic justice, and healthy workplaces and communities for all.
This project aims to evaluate North Carolina's energy infrastructure needs in light of projected load growth driven by the recent and anticipated future influx of data centers and AI facilities. Duke Energy’s January 2024 Carbon Plan update highlights a substantial rise in load growth as a consequence of data center construction and predicates a need for increased natural gas plant capacity to handle the increase in projected demand. This project seeks to determine if additional methane gas is truly necessary or if renewable energy sources could effectively meet the projected demand. Additionally, the project will analyze the economic impact of natural gas plants in terms of tax revenue for Person and Catawba counties compared to renewable energy alternatives. Anticipated deliverables include advanced modeling of load growth from planned data centers in North Carolina and a scenario analysis comparing this growth against existing and proposed methane gas resources versus renewable energy resources. The analysis will additionally incorporate IRA funding impacts on renewable energy costs and provide a detailed comparison of tax revenue generated by methane gas infrastructure versus renewable solutions in Catawba and Person counties. Potential work streams include desktop research, interviewing stakeholders, and technical and economic modeling.
Failure Mode and Effects Analysis for Aging Renewables (Continuation of Spring ‘24 Project)
with Strata Clean Energy
Strata Clean Energy specializes in developing and providing utility-scale solar and energy storage solutions. The company operates as a vertically integrated entity, encompassing the entire development process including engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) services. Their focus is on delivering large-scale solar energy projects, complemented by energy storage capabilities, to a wide range of clients.
An increasingly critical area of concern in the global transition toward renewable energy is how to address the challenges of aging renewable infrastructure. This project is the continuation of a DECC project last spring to investigate how renewable owners and stakeholders can utilize decision methodology to determine and put forth the best strategies in responding to aging renewable technology (e.g. repowering, decommissioning the site and repurposing the land, etc.). This semester, a team of students will conduct a Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Delphi Study to identify and address critical failure risks in photovoltaic (PV) systems. The project will culminate in conducting case studies of North Carolina solar farms, applying insights from the FMEA and Delphi Study to inform and guide owners and asset managers in managing and mitigating identified risks. Applicants with a background in engineering and/or policy are encouraged to apply.
Techno-economic Analysis of Advanced Desalination Membrane Solutions
with NALA Membranes
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NALA Membranes develops next-generation chlorine durable reverse osmosis membranes in a drop-in form factor for the growing number of reverse osmosis systems being used to produce clean water around the world. The team at NALA Membranes has created a new membrane platform based on a class of patented materials and proprietary processes that will dramatically reduce the cost and negative impacts of reverse osmosis operations by reducing clogging, cleaning, and energy.
This project aims to define and quantify the impact of NALA’s reverse osmosis membranes (e.g. GHG emissions avoided, efficiency gains, etc.). Anticipated deliverables for this project include a research report summarizing key impact metrics and conclusions. Potential work streams include academic research, DOE (design of experiments), and building techno-economic models to analyze various impact metrics of the technology.
Note: Given the more technical nature of this project, students with a background in engineering and/or chemistry are highly encouraged to apply and will be preferred in the selection process.
Market Analysis of Methane Mitigation Solutions in Oil and Gas Production
with Capwell
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Capwell develops cost-effective, modular, and easily transportable systems designed to capture methane emissions across the oil and gas industry, with a specialization in addressing low and intermittent flow vents and leaks. Founded three years ago, Capwell is currently in the process of commercializing their methane mitigation technology.
This project aims to define and quantify the potential customer base for Capwell, focusing on companies exposed to the IRA Methane Fee. The project will involve detailed research within state and federal databases to identify wells and their owners, as well as quantification of leak and vent sources from identified producers. The goal is to produce a comprehensive market landscape analysis, identifying key candidates that could benefit from Capwell’s technology. Potential work streams include database research, customer segmentation, and market quantification, along with building profiles for potential customers.​​​​​
Past Partners
Climate Adaptive
Infrastructure Fund
Development Analysis
& Policy Research
2022 Spring
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Varea Energy
Market Research
& Financing Research
2022 Spring
Terrafuse AI
Policy Research
& Market Research
2022 Spring
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Case Studies
Looking to partner?
Please see this document for a detailed introduction on project organization and application process. Don't hesitate to reach out to us to discuss potential collaborations!