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EG506W: FUNDAMENTALS OF ENERGY TRANSITION (2024-2025)

Last modified: 29 Jul 2024 12:46


Course Overview

The course will provide students an overview of the energy transition, opportunities, and key challenges to reach net-zero carbon societies. It will introduce concepts and ideas useful in more advanced courses involving energy systems based on renewable sources. These will include fundamentals of renewable technologies, economic parameters, basic legal regulations, and societal implications of implementing energy transition projects.

Course Details

Study Type Postgraduate Level 5
Term First Term Credit Points 0 credits (0 ECTS credits)
Campus Aberdeen Sustained Study No
Co-ordinators
  • Dr Alfonso Martinez-felipe

What courses & programmes must have been taken before this course?

  • Any Postgraduate Programme (Studied)
  • Distance Learning

What other courses must be taken with this course?

None.

What courses cannot be taken with this course?

None.

Are there a limited number of places available?

No

Course Description

Course Aims
The course will provide students with an overview of the energy transition, opportunities, and key challenges to reach net-zero carbon societies. It will introduce concepts and ideas that will be useful in more advanced courses involving energy systems based on renewable sources. These will include fundamentals of renewable technologies, economic parameters, basic legal regulations, and societal implications of implementing energy transition projects.
It will introduce the concept of energy transition towards net-zero carbon societies within the framework of climate change, including key technical terminology relevant to renewable energies. The course will describe the main renewable energy technologies, including hydro, wind, waves, geothermal, bioenergy, solar, hydrogen, and carbon capture, storage and utilisation. It will provide tools to evaluate the impacts that renewable energy technologies have on the economy, environment and societies, introducing the concept of Just Transition, and analyse the importance of systems integration as an enabler of energy transition.

Course Content
The course consists of the following five parts:
Part 1. Course introduction and relevance
Background and motivation of the course, including learning outcomes, resources available and contact points.
Part 2. Sustainability, energy and environment, and decarbonisation
Energy consumption profiles; human development and energy consumption; sustainability; main technological avenues for energy transition; emissions reductions; energy quadrilemma; energy security and resilience; social inequalities; levelized cost of energy.
Part 3. Energy types
Primary, secondary, and final use of energy; energy sources, vectors and carriers; energy efficiency; system integration and optimisation; power and energy terminology (units, basic calculations).
Part 4. Characteristics of different renewable energy sources
Variability in time and space; advantages and disadvantages; pillars for future of energy.
Part 5. Renewable energy sources and technologies
Wind; waves; solar; run-of-river (hydro energy); bioenergy; geothermal; hydrogen; carbon capture, storage & utilisation.


Details, including assessments, may be subject to change until 30 August 2024 for 1st term courses and 20 December 2024 for 2nd term courses.

Summative Assessments

Class Test - Multiple Choice Questions

Assessment Type Summative Weighting 100
Assessment Weeks 9 Feedback Weeks 13

Look up Week Numbers

Feedback

The course will have one multiple-choice test, which will be accessible to students once they have completed all parts of the learning materials.

Students will receive a formative score between 0 and 100 for attempting the test. Students will be allowed unlimited attempts to improve their grade.

Feedback will be communicated via MyAberdeen. 

The deadline for completing the test will be Week 4 of the term.

Learning Outcomes
Knowledge LevelThinking SkillOutcome
ConceptualUnderstandFamiliarisation with key technical terminology and concepts relevant to renewable energies
ConceptualUnderstandAppreciation of importance of systems integration as an enabler of energy transition
ConceptualUnderstandUnderstanding the impacts that renewable energy technologies on economy, environment and societies, and appreciating the concept of Just Transition
ConceptualUnderstandUnderstanding the concept of, and need for, energy transition towards net-zero carbon societies within the framework of climate change
FactualRememberFamiliarization with main renewable energy technologies

Formative Assessment

There are no assessments for this course.

Course Learning Outcomes

Knowledge LevelThinking SkillOutcome
ConceptualUnderstandUnderstanding the impacts that renewable energy technologies on economy, environment and societies, and appreciating the concept of Just Transition
ConceptualUnderstandAppreciation of importance of systems integration as an enabler of energy transition
ConceptualUnderstandUnderstanding the concept of, and need for, energy transition towards net-zero carbon societies within the framework of climate change
ConceptualUnderstandFamiliarisation with key technical terminology and concepts relevant to renewable energies
FactualRememberFamiliarization with main renewable energy technologies

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