An Evolving Introductory-Level Energy Course that Combines Geology, Physics, and Public

Policy

Tim Schroeder

Bennington College

History of the Course…..

1st IterationEastern Connecticut State University, Environmental Earth Science 205, Energy and the Environment

• Developed by Fred Loxsom as the gateway into a Sustainable Energy Studies (SES) minor program

• I taught it later and added geology content, including:

• Fossil fuel formation, extraction and impacts

• Importance of glacial geology and geochemical cycles to climate change

1st Iteration:Environmental Earth Sciences 205, Energy and the Environment

• Focus was dominantly on science of energy

History of the Course…..1st Iteration:

How it fit into the curriculum:• Students from many majors took EES 205 to fulfill a gen-ed.

requirement; Several of these continued with the SES minor

• Several EES majors took the course and then added SES minor

• EES department is adding SES track to its major

Requirements for ECSU’s Sustainable Energy Studies Minor

History of the Course…..

2nd Iteration:

Eastern Connecticut State University, First Year Colloquium; “Energy in the 21st Century”

• I adapted EES 205 content to meet goals of the First Year Colloquium course required of all 2nd term freshmen

• Class format changed to discussion-based (with some lectures)

• Content focused more on policy, less on science

History of the Course…..2nd Iteration: First Year Colloquium; “Energy in the 21st Century”

History of the Course…..

Things that I learned in Iterations #1 and #2:

• Students need to understand science of energy to meaningfully discuss energy policy

• Physics and geology are both required to understand energy science

• A full understanding of energy and climate problems (both scientific and policy) is required to properly address solutions

• This does not leave time in a semester to fully cover both problems and solutions

The Current Course3rd Iteration:

Bennington CollegeEnergy and the Environment; What lies Ahead?

• Part of Bennington’s new Environmental Studies Program

• Focus a mixture of science (done with lectures) and policy (done with discussion

• I base discussions on assigned readings with specific questions

• The course is now based largely on the problems; This frustrates students

3rd Iteration: Energy and the Environment; What lies Ahead?

The Current Course

3rd Iteration: Bennington College

Energy and the Environment; What lies Ahead?

Course Goals:1. Understand links between daily life in industrial society and

energy/climate problems

The Current Course

Screen capture from www.myfootprint.org

Understanding personal responsibility:

A good exercise:The ecological footprint – quiz that determines how many biologically productive earth’s would be required to support your lifestyle (if everyone lived as you did)

What I want to get across: “Its not just the oil company’s fault”

3rd Iteration: Bennington College

Energy and the Environment; What lies Ahead?

Course Goals:1. Understand links between daily life in industrial society and

energy/climate problems2. Understand that solutions will not be quick and easy –

rebuilding energy infrastructure will take a lot of time and money

The Current Course

Understanding the full scope of the problems:

One thing I do:Watch the movie “The End of Suburbia”, which presents a very apocalyptic view of Peak Oil

I want the students to stop saying things like:

“we should just…” or

“why don’t we just run all of our cars on biodiesel?”

http://www.endofsuburbia.com/index.htm

3rd Iteration: Bennington College

Energy and the Environment; What lies Ahead?

Course Goals:1. Understand links between daily life in industrial society and

energy/climate problems2. Understand that solutions will not be quick and easy – rebuilding

energy infrastructure will take a lot of time and money3. Understand what climate change is, why it is a problem, and

that energy and climate are linked problems

The Current Course

Understanding climate change:

Things I do:

Web-based climate modeling exercises:

http://www.sciencecourseware.com/eec/GlobalWarming/

This “Future Climate Change” applet is a good exercise that allows users to analyze prediction scenarios from the previous IPCC report Screen capture from sciencecourseware.com

Understanding climate change:

Things I do:Web-based climate modeling exercises:

The Java Climate Model:

http://chooseclimate.org/jcm/jcm4/

Allows users to manipulate climate model input and see effects

Screen capture from chooseclimate.org

Understanding climate change:

Things I do:Discuss in depth how issues such as per-capita carbon emissions and energy intensity will influence international climate agreements

Do mock climate agreement negotiation summit where students take the roles of various nations

3rd Iteration: Bennington College

Energy and the Environment; What lies Ahead?

Course Goals:1. Understand links between daily life in industrial society and

energy/climate problems2. Understand that solutions will not be quick and easy – rebuilding

energy infrastructure will take a lot of time and money3. Understand what climate change is, why it is a problem, and that

energy and climate are linked problems4. Develop the view that the US should lead by example, and

start now

The Current Course

Things I do:

Exercise with the “climate wedge model”

Guide to activities available at:

http://www.princeton.edu/~cmi/resources/stabwedge.htm

Ideas are also detailed in the Sept. 2006 issue of Scientific American

Develop a strategy for action:

Image from the Sept. 2006 Scientific American, “A Plan to Keep Carbon in Check”

3rd Iteration: Bennington College

Energy and the Environment; What lies Ahead?

How does this Class Fit into Bennington’s Curriculum?• What Bennington Curriculum?

• No Departments

• No Majors

• Students each plan his/her own course of study

• Many of our students are budding activists; most want to work with NGO’s and non-profits

• This course allows students to actually understand the full nature and scope of the problems that they want to solve (or so I like to think)

The Current Course

The Next CourseBecause the course is now focused on the problems, my students want a course on solutions:

This fall I’m teaching “Climate and Energy Solution Analysis”

• Will be based on campus Greenhouse Gas Audit currently being performed

• Will be project based; Each student will develop and analyze a project to address one part of the greenhouse gas audit

• Students will be required to do cost benefit analysis and life cycle cost analysis of their proposed ideas