Energy Industry Applications of GIS

Catalog description

Roles of geographic information systems in energy siting decisions focusing on electric energy transmission networks. GEOG 469 Energy Industry Applications of GI S (3) Over 2 million miles of oil and gas pipeline and nearly 200,000 miles of electric transmission grid currently traverse the U.S. Geographic information systems (GI S) are used to help maintain these far-flung and extremely expensive energy infrastructures. GI S is also used to help determine optimal routes for pipelines and transmission lines as energy demand and production increase, and as the grid is extended to connect to new energy sources and consumers. GEOG 469 provides students with an in-depth exploration of the complexities of siting decisions. The course introduces a variety of siting challenges that confront the energy industry and its customers and neighbors, but focuses on the siting of electrical transmission lines. The course also provides hands-on experience with a common decision support technology, and considers how the technology may be used to facilitate public participation in siting decisions. Students will undertake a term-length project in which they must propose, research, develop and implement a siting recommendation for an electrical transmission line. They will utilize activities from each lesson to develop primary and alternative routes. Using GI S, students will develop overlays, weights and rankings to determine the most suitable location for a proposed transmission line. Students' final product will be maps showing proposed routes based on the siting criteria and rankings developed to minimize the impacts associated with the various siting criteria used. To help students develop the critical thinking skills needed in the energy industry, students will learn to critique their peers' analyses systematically from the perspective of local stakeholders who are most affected by siting decisions. GEOG 469 is designed to help students achieve two of the programmatic educational objectives established for the Energy and Sustainability Policy degree. It fosters energy industry knowledge by illuminating the difficulties intrinsic to facilities siting decisions. And it nurtures analytical skills by familiarizing students with GI S methodology, and by teaching them how to critique GI S analyses systematically.