Engineering a Net-Zero Carbon Future
Climate change is arguably the preeminent issue of our time. The transition to a clean energy society can help avoid the worst impacts of climate change. The energy systems engineer's role is to deeply understand the challenges and develop creative technical solutions. This course provides students with an introduction to the technical fundamentals of clean energy challenges and opportunities. Challenges include urbanization, renewable energy integration, and sectors that are difficult to decarbonize. Opportunities include clean energy generation technologies, energy storage, microgrids, and electrified transportation.
Topics
- This course focuses on the challenges facing a clean energy transition from the perspective of engineering, science, technology, and economics. Contents include climate change trends, electricity production, transportation, industrial processes, buildings, microgrids, renewables, economics and equity. The emphasis is on connecting technological concepts with scientific fundamentals. More specifically, the course examines the mathematics and physics of energy systems. Upon completion, students will be able to design and analyze energy system solutions, such as solar/wind/storage systems, microgrids, electrified transportation systems, net-zero buildings, and more.
- 1. Knowledge of anthropomorphic trends that motivate a clean energy transition 2. A fundamental understanding of the scientific principles underlying several key clean energy technologies 3. An ability to understand and communicate about clean energy systems.
Official catalogue course objectives and student learning outcomes
Prerequisites & course information
{'preRequisiteCourse': '1184911', 'concurrentPrerequisit': False}; {'preRequisiteCourse': '1145002', 'concurrentPrerequisit': False}; {'preRequisiteCourse': '1184921', 'concurrentPrerequisit': False}; {'preRequisiteCourse': '1184971', 'concurrentPrerequisit': False}; {'preRequisiteCourse': '1028901', 'concurrentPrerequisit': False}; {'preRequisiteCourse': '1144962', 'concurrentPrerequisit': False}; {'preRequisiteCourse': '1145001', 'concurrentPrerequisit': False}; {'preRequisiteCourse': '1184951', 'concurrentPrerequisit': False}; {'preRequisiteCourse': '1144961', 'concurrentPrerequisit': False}
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗2026-2027