F1IE 4000 - Dilemmas of Energy Transitions

The global energy system has evolved continuously since the beginning of the XIX century. The growing urgency to tackle climate change means that the world cannot simply meet rising demand without factoring in the emissions footprint of supplies. Energy consumption structures are changing in developed economies while demand is rising in emerging economies. There is a transition in fuel sources, but also in demand centres. Contemporary transitions pursue three core goals: energy security, affordability and sustainability. Different countries rank these priorities differently. There are often trade-offs between these priorities with the balance shifting based on countries’ resource endowments, political priorities and the geopolitical environment, among other factors. Hence energy transitions are plural and present multiple dilemmas. The course aims at providing students with the critical knowledge and skills to understand the difficult decisions that need to be made, providing them basic knowledge about the energy system, the key actors, the technology and policy choices as well as the dilemmas associated with both policy and corporate choices.

There are no pre-requisites; this is the introductory course to the International Energy Master. All students in the Master or wishing to take the International Energy Minor must take this course.

Flipped class format. This is an introductory course aiming at providing students with basic background knowledge. The course combines live lectures with a MOOC and videos of past lectures online; students will be required to participate in debates.

A midterm and a final: these are take-home exams, handled remotely by email. You will need to write a short essay (500 words) responding to one out of three or four questions that will be proposed. There will also be a final exercise in class.

The final grade will also reflect class participation. This will be measured through postings of relevant materials taken from the web and participation in discussion groups, and subjected to peer grading. Details to be explained in class.

Students are required to take prof. Luciani's MOOC on Coursera and independently watch and absorb the content of lectures that are recorded and made available online.

The course earns you 6 ECTS. Each ECTS represents a minimum of 25 hours of work, so the course requires a minimum total of 150 hours of work, including 24 hours of class time. The remaining 126 hours are devoted to the MOOC, watching lectures on line, preparing presentations and exams. Over the 12 weeks of the course you should work on average another 10.5 hours per week individually.