The EMS Energy Institute was officially established in 1997 by the dean of the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, John Dutton. However, the Institute’s true beginning started in 1949 with the formation of The Combustion Laboratory. The Laboratory’s initial research focused on coal/carbon science and utilization well into the 1980s, at which time several energy-related research laboratories were established with the research focus expanding from coal and carbon-based activities. Dean Dutton then established the Energy Institute within the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences by integrating the multiple research laboratories which included The Combustion Laboratory, Energy and Fuels Research Center, Laboratory for Hydrocarbon Process Chemistry, and the Penn State Coal Sample Bank.
Over the last forty years, the research areas within the Institute have changed to reflect pressing energy issues and funding sources, and currently research funding is reported as twenty different research areas (see Slide 12 in our 2023 presentation). Research funding at the Institute starting in fiscal year 1997/1988 historically has been in the range of $4-13 million per year with an average of $8 million per year (see Slide 13 in our 2023 presentation).
A more detailed synopsis of the Institute can be found in the Self-Study Report for External Review of the EMS Energy Institute (April 22-25, 2024) and the Overview of the EMS Energy Institute Open House presentation (September 27, 2023).
Note: Events prior to the 1990s are documented in earlier historical publications (see “The College of Earth and Mineral Sciences at Penn State” book by E. Willard Miller) and are intentionally not repeated here.
