ENE467 Energy and Climate Policy

• Topics

  ENE467 consists of lectures and assignments based on the course topics. The assignments will be both analytical and simple modeling exercises, or estimation exercises in Excel.

  The following topics will be covered:

  • Fossil fuels, CO2 emissions and economic growth in a historical perspective
  • The trade-off: Economic growth versus reductions in CO2 emissions
  • Renewable energy versus fossil fuels
  • Near term costs versus long term benefits: the role of the discount rate
  • Climate change in a historical perspective
  • The free rider problem: climate as a global public good versus climate policy as an undertaking of individual countries

• Learning outcome

  Knowledge

  Upon successful completion the student knows

  • Development of fossil fuels and CO2 emissions in a historical perspective.
  • Recent developments in renewable energy.
  • The interdependence of economic growth and energy use, especially for developing countries.
  • How to evaluate long term future benefits and compare them to immediate costs.
  • How climate has varied in a historical perspective.
  • The importance of fossil fuels for economic development.
  • The potential and limits of renewable energy.
  • Why it is difficult to obtain comprehensive international agreements on climate policy.

  Skills

  Upon successful completion the student

  • Will be able to discuss issues of climate change in relation to energy requirements, especially of developing countries.
  • Is able to support arguments by simple analytical and numerical models.
  • Will be able to formulate simple economic models in Excel.

  General competences

  Upon successful completion the student will have improved his/her

  • Analytical skills.
  • Ability to formulate and solve simple numerical models to deal with practical issues.

• Teaching

  One week long intensive course with lectures and solution of exercises.

• Recommended prerequisites

  Knowledge of basic calculus, basic statistics and simple modeling in Excel.

• Required prerequisites

  Knowledge of basic calculus, basic statistics and simple modeling in Excel.

• Credit reduction due to overlap

  None.

• Compulsory Activity

  None.

• Assessment

  Submission of five written assignments. Students can deliver answers individually or in groups of maximum five.

• Grading Scale

  Pass-Fail

• Computer tools

  Excel

• Literature

  Lecture notes are meant to be largely sufficient, but supplementary literature will be provided.