Electrification and Decarbonization

Catalog description

Decarbonization depends on electrification coupled with conversion to renewable sources of electricity generation. Students will learn the fundamentals of the electrical grid in the U.S. including its history, ownership and regulatory structure, physics, and economics. Emphasis is on how the traditional and risk-averse focus on reliability and low cost can evolve in the decarbonization transition, expanding to target a smarter, more resilient, and more equitable set of societal goods. Hands-on skills will be gained through several open-source modeling tools applied to grid modernization projects and case studies. Major topics include optimization in energy systems; the physics of the electric grid; centralized power transmission and distribution systems; distributed energy resources, including storage and microgrids; reliability, resilience, energy burden, and equity; and evolving power system business models and electricity market issues. Open to Seniors who have taken ENGN 0510 and ENGN 0520 .