Energy Within Environmental Constraints
Humanity faces an immense challenge: providing abundant energy to everyone without wrecking the planet. If we want a high-energy future while protecting the natural world for our children, we must consider the environmental consequences of energy production and use. But money matters too: energy solutions that ignore economic costs are not realistic, particularly in a world where billions of people currently can’t afford access to basic energy services. How can we proceed?
Energy Within Environmental Constraints won’t give you the answer. Instead, we will teach you how to ask the right questions and estimate the consequences of different choices.
This course isrich in details of real devices and light on theory. You won’t find any electrodynamics here, but you will find enough about modern commercial solar panels to estimate if they would be profitable to install in a given location. We emphasizes costs: the cascade of capital and operating costs from energy extraction all the way through end uses. We also emphasize quantitative comparisons and tradeoffs: how much more expensive is electricity from solar panels than from coal plants, and how much pollution does it prevent? Is solar power as cost-effective an environmental investment as nuclear power or energy efficiency? And how do we include considerations other than cost?
This course is intended for a diverse audience. Whether you are a student, an activist, a policymaker, a business owner, or a concerned citizen, this course will help you start to think carefully about our current energy system and how we can improve its environmental performance.
Photo credits:
Solar Farm CC-BY Michael Mees on flickr
Smokestack CC-BY Patrick on flickr
What you'll learn
- The basic engineering, environmental science, and economics of our energy system.
- Aworking understanding of energy technologies.
- Environmental impacts of the energy system, focusing on air pollution, climate change, and land use.
- Techniques for estimating monetary costs andcarbon impacts.
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Rating | 4.7★ based on 4 ratings |
---|---|
Length | 10 weeks |
Effort | 10 weeks, 3–5 hours per week |
Starts | On Demand (Start anytime) |
Cost | $179 |
From | Harvard University, HarvardX via edX |
Instructors | David Keith, Daniel Thorpe |
Download Videos | On all desktop and mobile devices |
Language | English |
Subjects | Business Science Social Sciences |
Tags | Economics & Finance Engineering Energy & Earth Sciences Environmental Studies |
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What people are saying
subject matter deeply through
I learned the subject matter deeply through the exercises.
anyone wanting to learn
I highly recommend this course to anyone wanting to learn about energy.
fantastic course and teacher
Fantastic course and teacher.
highly recommend this course
gives an idea
A really comprehensive course, which gives an idea of the global energy status.
global energy status
really comprehensive
which gives
about energy
Careers
An overview of related careers and their average salaries in the US. Bars indicate income percentile.
Adjunct Professor of Photovoltaics / Solar Electric Systems $28k
Solar Specialist Expert $43k
Inside Solar Advisor $46k
Community Solar Specialist $57k
Architecture Project Manager for ISU Solar Decathlon $59k
Trader - Panels $60k
TMP IT Analyst - Solar Turbines $65k
Solar PV Instructor $70k
Senior Solar Advisor Consultant $70k
Commercial Solar Technician $76k
Mechanical Technologist-Solar Power ( Fabrication/Welding) (Early/Mid Career) $78k
Festival Panels Producer $82k
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Rating | 4.7★ based on 4 ratings |
---|---|
Length | 10 weeks |
Effort | 10 weeks, 3–5 hours per week |
Starts | On Demand (Start anytime) |
Cost | $179 |
From | Harvard University, HarvardX via edX |
Instructors | David Keith, Daniel Thorpe |
Download Videos | On all desktop and mobile devices |
Language | English |
Subjects | Business Science Social Sciences |
Tags | Economics & Finance Engineering Energy & Earth Sciences Environmental Studies |
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