Intro to Renewable Energy

Catalog description

This course provides an introduction to Renewable Energy: the scientific principles behind different approaches (solar, wind, hydropower, nuclear, biomass, geothermal, etc.), advantages and disadvantages of these approaches, and the different technological and socio-economic barriers to implementation. The course will also discuss energy storage, carbon capture, sequestration and utilization, climate change, renewable energy policy and economics of the carbon marketplace, and environmental justice After taking the course, students will be literate with terminology associated with renewable energy approaches, climate change, sustainability, energy auditing, energy storage and energy microgrids. The class will employ a mixture of assigned readings, class discussions, and presentation of case studies in poster sessions. The class has a required experiential/laboratory component, PHY125L.