Download 680-SP14-Felder-20140127-095727

Jan. 21, 2013
E.J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, Rutgers University
Energy Sustainability and Policy
34:970:620 Cross Listed with 34:833:620 Energy Policy and Planning
Cross-listed with:
Integrated Energy Challenges and Opportunities-II (IECO-II), 16:335:502
Thursdays 9:50 to 12:30
Spring 2014
Classroom: Civic Square Building (CSB), Room 113
Instructor: Frank Felder, PhD
Instructor Contact Information
Civic Square Building, Room 249
Telephone: 848 932 2750
Email: [email protected]
http://www.policy.rutgers.edu/ceeep/
Office hours: Thurs 9-9:50 and 12:30-1:30 and by appointment
Course Objectives
Familiarize students with the major issues associated with sustainable energy policy and
planning and develop their abilities to conduct and assess energy related studies and their
economic, environmental and social implications. This course is directed to Bloustein
planning and policy students and students in the Nanotechnology for Clean Energy NSF
IGERT and Sustainable Fuels Solutions for the 21st Century NSF IGERT.
Course Description
Energy sustainability and policy are critical components of state, national and international
public policy. Issues surrounding the reliability and security of energy supplies directly
affect national domestic and foreign policy, as well as environmental, economic
development and land use concerns. Moreover, the policies, strategies, and programs
adopted by both the public and private sectors will directly impact upon our lives as
professionals, members of a community, and our families. This graduate seminar course
will examine energy sustainability and policy through a timely, critical and practical
approach designed to give students an insight into the factors that shape energy policy.
This class will be conducted as a mixture of lectures, classroom discussion, and individual
meetings with the instructor. Major topic areas include energy technologies, the nature and
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operation of energy markets, environmental issues, energy planning, and the components of a
holistic energy policy.
Required Video Lectures
Students will be required to view the following lectures available at
http://web.mit.edu/mitei/news/video.html
1. Meeting US Energy and Climate Challenges With Rational Policy, Severin
Borenstein
2. Whales to Wood, Wood to Coal/Oil— What's Next?, Daniel Nocera
3. Why Bad Things Happen to Good Technologies, John Sterman
4. Uncertainties in Climate Forecasts: Causes, Magnitudes and Policy Implications,
Stephen H. Schneider
Required and Recommended Readings
Required and recommended readings are either available on the internet or on the
course’s Sakai website https://sakai.rutgers.edu/portal
The primary text for the seminar is Sustainable Energy – without the hot air by David JC
MacKay (hereafter MacKay) available for free at:
http://www.withouthotair.com/download.html
Academic Integrity
All members of our community must be confident that each person's work has been
responsibly and honorably acquired, developed, and presented. Any effort to gain
advantage not given to all students is dishonest, whether or not the effort is successful. A
violation of academic honesty is a breach of trust, and will result in penalties, including
possible suspension or expulsion. When in doubt about plagiarism, paraphrasing,
quoting, or collaboration, consult the course instructors. Please see:
http://academicintegrity.rutgers.edu/students.shtml for further information.
Schedule of Classes and Assignments
ALL ASSIGNMENTS ARE DUE AT THE BEGINNING OF CLASS
January 23
Class overview and introduction to energy policy and planning
KEY WORD: OBJECTIVES
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1. What are different objectives that energy policy and planning
try to accomplish?
2. How are these various objectives measured?
3. What are the values underlying these objectives?
4. Can these different objectives be combined into a single
objective? Why or why not?
5. What is the difference between a substantive objective and a
process one?
January 30
Energy Trends, Technologies and Implications, part 1
KEY WORD: SCALE
1. What is meant by scale?
2. Why is scale important in energy policy?
3. What are some major units of energy production/consumption?
4. Which units measure a stock versus a flow?
DUE:
1. READING MacKay: Part I. Numbers, Not Adjectives,
Sections 1-2, pp. 1-28
2. WATCH Video #1
February 6
Energy Trends, Technologies and Implications, part 2
KEY WORD: UNITS
1. How do you convert from one unit to another?
2. What are the units for oil, natural gas, electricity, and coal?
3. How many barrels of oil does the world use a day? The U.S.?
4. How much carbon dioxide does the world release a year?
5. What is the concentration of greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere?
DUE:
3. READING MacKay: Part I. Numbers, Not Adjectives,
Sections 1-10, pp. 29-67
4. WATCH Video #2
5. REVIEW MIT Energy Conversion list on Sakai
6. MEMO #1: Write 800 word memo to the next President of the
United States making your recommendations on the objectives
that his/her administration should use in the evaluation of
energy policy. Use a memo format and make sure it is written
clearly, concisely, and with no grammatical errors.
February 13
Energy Trends, Technologies and Implications, part 3
KEY WORD: TECHNOLOGIES
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1. What are the major fuel sources that the world uses?
2. Which fuel sources are used for which energy uses and sectors
(electricity, transportation, heating, residential, commercial,
industrial)?
3. What is an energy flow diagram
4. Which technologies can be used to make electricity?
5. What are the pro’s and con’s of each of the technologies that
make electricity?
6. What is meant by the statement that electricity is an energy
carrier not an energy source?
7. What is geoengineering and what are several examples?
DUE:
7. READING MacKay: Part I. Numbers, Not Adjectives,
Sections 1-10, pp. 68-112
8. READING Felder and Haut Balancing Energy Alternatives on
Sakai
9. ENERGY LOG: Submit DRAFT energy log of your direct use
of energy. Your log should be legible, self-explanatory, define
all abbreviations, provide key formulas and assumptions, and
contain references/explanations for each assumption.
February 20
Energy Analysis, part 1
KEY WORD: SYSTEMS
1. What is a definition of a system?
2. Why is the concept of systems important in energy policy and
planning?
3. What are examples of energy systems?
4. What is feedback?
5. What does time step or time scale mean?
6. Why is the definition of system boundary important for energy
planning and policy? What is an example?
7. How do stocks and flow interact in a system? What is an
example?
DUE:
10. READING MacKay: Part II. Making a Difference, Sections
19-24, pp. 68-176
11. WATCH Video #3
February 27
Energy Analysis, part 2
KEY WORD: UNCERTAINTIES
1. What are the major uncertainties associated with energy policy
and planning?
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2. What are the various analytical tools that can be used to
address uncertainty in energy planning and policy?
3. How can energy policies and plans address uncertainty?
DUE:
12. READING MacKay: Part II. Making a Difference, Sections
25-32, pp. 177-250
13. WATCH Video #4
14. ENERGY LOG: Submit final energy log of your direct use of
energy
March 6
Climate Change I
KEY WORD: SCIENCE
1. What is greenhouse effect?
2. What are the categories of evidence that supports climate
change?
3. What evidence questions or contradicts climate change?
4. What is the role of models in analyzing climate change?
DUE:
15. John Holdren, Meeting the Climate Change Challenge,
available on Sakai
16. READING IPCC Technical Summary on Sakai, Chapters 1-6
March 13
Climate Change II
KEY WORD: EQUITY
1. How can equity be measured in the context of energy policy
and planning?
2. How is the quantification of greenhouse gases by country
versus by person used to advance equity claims?
3. Which countries and regions of the world are most likely to be
the most adversely affected by climate change and how does
that affect discussions about equity?
DUE:
17. READING IPCC Technical Summary on Sakai, Chapters 7-14
18. Robert Pindyck, “Climate Change Policy: What Do the
Models Tell Us?”, Journal of Economic Literature 2013, 51(3),
860-872
March 27
Energy Economics and Markets I
KEY WORD: ECONOMICS
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DUE:
19. READING Executive Summary of Nicolas Stern’s report on
Sakai
20. MEMO #2: Submit 1200 word memo on uncertainty in energy
policies and plans. As an energy policy and planning analyst,
what are the major uncertainties in energy policy and planning
and how should they be addressed in energy policies and
plans?
April 3
Nuclear Power Plant Field Trip (details to be provided in class
several weeks prior to the trip). We will leave around 6:45 am and
return to campus approximately at 1 pm.
KEY WORD: INFRASTRUCTURE
1. What is meant by energy density?
2. How much electricity does the world generation from nuclear
power?
3. How much electricity does the U.S. generation from nuclear
power?
4. What are the major pro’s and con’s of nuclear power?
5. What are the implications of capital intensive sources of
electricity such as nuclear power?
6. How does a nuclear power plant work?
7. What is the different between fission and fusion?
April 10
Energy Economics and Markets II
KEY WORD: EFFICIENCY
1. How does engineering efficiency differ from economic
efficiency?
2. What do supply and demand curves look like on a graph?
3. What is a negative externality? What are several examples in
the context of energy policy and planning?
4. What is a positive externality and what is an example in the
context of energy policy and planning?
5. What is the difference between private and social costs?
6. What is a market failure?
7. What is the difference between economic efficiency and
equity?
8. How does cap and trade work?
9. Why do economists emphasize putting a price on greenhouse
gases and what are the two major ways to do that?
10. How does a renewable portfolio standard work?
DUE:
21. READ Felder paper on price suppression available on Sakai
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22. READ Felder and Loxley paper on solar vertical demand
curve available on Sakai
23. READ Felder paper on energy accidents available on Sakai
April 17
Case Study #1: Keystone Pipeline. More details including
readings will be provided in advance of this class.
April 24
Case Study #2: Shale Oil and Natural Gas. More details including
readings will be provided in advance of this class.
May 2
Final Exam; Three hour, in class exam. See below for more
information.
Grading
Energy Log (20%)
A 1-2 page summary of your direct energy usage over a one week period of time.
The log should be organized, clear, contain appropriate units, and all calculations should
be transparent and supported with references and key assumptions. Students will submit
a draft energy log and then a final one. Comments will be provided on the draft log but
only the final log will be graded.
Memos (2 memos, 10% each for a total of 20%)
Each memo should be in professional memo format, carefully written without any
grammatical errors, direct, to the point, and key points supported with data and solid
reasoning. Late memos will not be accepted. Memos must be handed in at the start of
class (no emails or electronic copies).
Case Studies (15% each for a total of 30%)
More details will be provided as the date approaches.
Final Exam (25%)
Cumulative exam based upon the readings, lectures and class discussions.
Questions listed in the syllabus are a good starting point for preparing for the exam.
Class Participation and Attendance (5%)
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