EnergyEnvironmnt:China

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

China’s energy rise has global implications—for foreign policy and international relations, international trade and competitiveness, the rise of emerging powers, the build out of fossil and low carbon energy systems, and for energy and environmental policy design. In this course we will examine China’s key energy challenges in terms of security, sustainability, and innovation. Beginning with the premise that an understanding of China’s energy system is crucial to understanding its economic and environmental limitations, the first section of the course examines China’s energy industry in detail. The middle section turns to the examination of the impact of China’s energy use on China’s natural environment, the current energy technology and policy options available to reduce this impact, and the strategies the government is promoting to develop new clean energy industries for use at home and abroad. The final section shifts to looking at China in a global context, examining the internationalization of China’s policymaking with respect to the environment and particularly China’s crucial role in the international climate change negotiations, global trade and global energy markets. As both a STIA Senior Seminar, upper-level STIA elective and a graduate elective, students will complete weekly problem-driven, interactive labs that are designed to teach interdisciplinary research skills and relevant software and tools for data analysis.