The course aims to provide insights into the central role that energy plays in the sustainability debate. The course will adress the key challenges of energy use as well as the policies that have been developed to address them.
Upon completion of the course, the participants will be able to:
• Describe the main trends in energy supply and energy
• Understand the mechanims underlying climate change
• Understand the main policy responses to climate change
• Understand the influence of anthropogenic and natural emissions in the climate system as well as identify the main uncertainties and knowledge gaps
• Understand the impacts of energy use in the environment (e.g., air emissions, water acidification, toxicity )
• Specify the requirements of energy systems from a sustainability point of view (e.g, environment, reliability, security, accessibility) at different scales (local, national, regional and global)
• Understand the role of policies aimed at improving energy efficiency, stimulating the application of renewable energy, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions
• Explain the main mechanism underlying policy instruments and identify their main strenghts and weaknesses
• Evaluate the effectiveness of energy and climate policies in quantitative terms
|
 |
|
Energy is a strategic commodity, which is fundamental to all (economic) activities. The cost, availability and the clean and efficient utilization of energy are increasingly strong focal points in the strategies and policies of governments world-wide. Therefore, it is essential for energy experts to have a good overview of the energy trends, the consequences of energy use and the effectiveness of policies to optimize energy systems. In fact, energy is and will remain a major challenge both for developing and developed countries for the following reasons:
• Lack of access to diverse and affordable energy services means that the basic needs of millions of people are not being met;
• Energy services are needed to create jobs, develop industries, enhance value added activities and support income-earnings activities;
• The environmental effects of energy use can occur at many levels, from local to global and include consequences such as desertification, acidification, air pollution and climate change.
The course will offer a strong combination of the latest energy developments, detailed insights into the main challenges of energy use and the key principles of policy formulation. The course uses a combination of lectures, tutorials and seminars to provide students with balanced and integrated knowledge that will allow them to develop critical understanding of the aspects involved on promoting sustainable production and use of energy.
The course covers the following topics:
• Trends in energy production and use
• Physics of climate change
• Policy responses to climate change
• Environmental impacts of energy use
• Policy responses to air pollution
• Energy access and security
• Trends potentials and bottlenecks of renewable energy and energy efficiency
• Renewable and energy efficiency policies
• Sustainability paradigms
|
|
|