This course explores the global transition to a sustainable global energy system. We will formulate and program simple models for future energy system pathways. We will explore the drivers of global energy demand and carbon emissions, as well as the technologies that can help us meet this demand sustainably. We will consider constraints on the large-scale deployment of technology and difficulties of a transition at large scales and over long time periods. Assignments will focus on building models of key aspects of the energy transition, including global, regional and sectoral energy demand and emissions as well as economics of change. Prerequisites: students should be comfortable with calculus and linear algebra (e.g. Math 20, Math 51) and be familiar with computer programming (e.g. CS106A, CS106B). We will use the Python programming language to build our models.

Instructors: Benson, S. (PI); de Chalendar, J. (PI)