Unit name | Sustainable Energy Technologies, Economics and Impacts |
---|---|
Unit code | MENGM0045 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | M/7 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24) |
Unit director | Professor. Joe Quarini |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
None |
Co-requisites |
None |
School/department | Department of Mechanical Engineering |
Faculty | Faculty of Engineering |
Energy resources, energy use, power generation and distribution are vital infrastructure elements of any modern society. Traditional energy resources (coal, oil and gas deposits) had enormous impacts on the pace of industrialisation and still have significant effects on geopolitical stability of the world. ‘New’ energy resources (solar, wind, hydro and biomass) are rapidly shifting the way societies obtain power and are beginning to have significant beneficial effects on the environment. The detrimental effects of using hydrocarbon fuels to power our societies is generally accepted as real. These include poor air quality and unpredictable climate change effects (increased temperatures, disruption in weather patterns leading to desertification, flooding, disappearing low lying land masses). The need to move away from hydrocarbons to sustainable energy sources has now been almost universally accepted; at international levels with agreements such as the Paris agreement on climate change, at national levels, with countries putting into law dates by which they will become carbon neutral and at personal levels, with individuals installing solar PV, replacing conventional with electric cars. This unit will introduce the energy landscape, as it is and what it is moving towards. The unit will also provide an insight to how energy affects geopolitics, local politics, has commercial impact on lifestyles and quality of life and the environment. The aim of the unit is to provide an overview of energy, the need to move to sustainable energy use and to prepare the student for the more in-depth technical units which follow.
The unit will be structured into seven topics as follows:
1. The energy landscape
2. The detrimental effects of current energy use
3. Economic, commercial and political pressures on current energy delivery models
4. Methods of reducing the impact of energy consumption
5. Sustainable energy, magnitude, availability and geographical location
6. Renewable energy harvesting and power generation
7. Costs of a sustainable energy future
On successful engagement with the unit the participants should be able to:
Together with other units in the teaching block this unit will contribute to the ability of participants to:
AHEP Learning Objectives: SM1m, SM2m, SM3m, SM4m, EA1m, EA2m, EA6m, D1, D6, EL1m, EL2, EL4, EL5m, EL7m, P1, P2, P9m, P10m, G1
The unit will be delivered through a combination of classroom lectures taught by academic staff and invited guest speakers (subject experts). Learning materials will be made available to students in advance via Blackboard.
E Boeker & R Van Grondelle, Environmental Physics., J Wiley & Son, ISBN:0471 997803, 1999
G Boyle, Energy Systems & Sustainability. Oxford University Press, ISBN10: 0199261792, 2003
R Ristinen & J Krausharr, Energy & the Environment. J Wiley & Son ISBN10 0471739898, 2006
J Andrews & N Jelley, Energy Science: Principles, Technology and Impacts, Oxford University Press, ISBN:978 0 19 875581 1, 20017