Courses
Energy sustainability
Course overview
Students learn about fundamental aspects of the energy sector. They are introduced to various forms and technologies of energy production and use, followed by the environmental impact of these activities. We will address problems and solutions with regard to sustainable energy.
In addition, students learn about European and national energy policy and its connection to the environment and sustainability. Based on this knowledge, they analyse energy production from a technical and economic perspective and engage in management projects and case studies. The course concludes with the development of a sustainability vision for the energy sector.
Course content
- Concepts and basic principles:
- production, processing and use of energy
- yield, efficiency, average and marginal consumption
- Sankey diagrams
- primary, final, useful, and productive energy
- applications
- Renewable Energy and Non-renewables energy
- oil, natural gas, coal
- wind, hydro, solar, geothermal, tides and waves
- biomass
- main biofuels
- Energy and environment
- climate change
- greenhouse gases (GHG)
- environmental impacts
- limits of natural resources
- treatment of waste from industrial activities linked to energy production and management
- technologies of sequestration and storage of carbon dioxide
- The energetic certification system in Portugal
- concepts, methodologies, and applications
- case studies
- Energy policies
- EU energy policy and national energy policy
- objectives, targets, and instruments
- national energy system
- Technical and economic analysis of projects of energy management and use
- Case studies.
- Case studies.
Assessment
The teaching methodology includes classroom lectures, the analysis and discussion of themes and autonomous assignments by students, with teachers’ supervision. The assignment will be presented and discussed by the pupils.
Continuous evaluation consists of two components:
- oral presentations and discussions, corresponding the arithmetic average to 40% of the final grade.
- written exam corresponding to 60% of the final grade.
The final classification is the weighted average of the marks obtained in the two components, and it is necessary to obtain a minimum of 9.5 in any one of them.
Learning outcomes
At the end of the course students will:
- understand key issues and challenges (technological, environmental, and economic) of the energy sector in the various spheres of analysis: global, European, national and enterprise.
- be able to make simplified technical and economic analysis of energy production and management projects.
- be aware of key aspects of the production, transformation, and energy use technologies, enough to examine its applicability to specific situations.
- be able to develop and implement the concept of energy sustainability including renewable generation and the rational use of energy.
- know the regulatory framework and key energy policy instruments at European and national level.