An introduction to alternative energy sources such as solar, geothermal, wind, biomass, and hydro energy. Students will examine the technical , economic and political issues related to the use of these energy sources.
Tentative Syllabus:
Week 1: Introduction (Chapters 1 and 2)
Week 2: Solar Energy (Ch. 3)
Week 3: Wind Energy (Ch. 4)
Week 4: Biomass (coal gassification) and Hydro (Ch. 5 and 6)
Week 5: Geothermal Energy (Ch. 7)
Week 6: Energy Storage (hydrogen, fuel cells, fly wheels) , Policies, and other issues (Ch. 8 and 9)
Week 7: Student presentations
Week 8: Student presentations
Students with a disability who require accommodations must provide a letter of accommodation from Supplemental Services (MH 132, 262-3065) within the first two weeks of the semester.
textbook: Cool Energy: Renewable Solutions to Environmental Problems, Michael Brower, MIT Press, 1992
books on reserve (3 day):
1. Weekly email discussion of the readings. - Students will raise questions, answer one another's questions and discuss issues relating to that week's reading.
2. WWW assignment - We will develop a WWW site on alternative energy. Students will find and write brief reviews of other WWW sites of interest. Students will also write brief introductions (a few paragraphs) to each topic area on our site.
3. Students will do two major projects on different topic areas during the course. These could be a paper (15 - 20 pages, double spaced), a computer model, a laboratory experiment, a mathematical model or anything else agreed to by the instructors. One of these projects will be presented to the class in a 30 minute talk at the end of the semester.
last updated: June 10, 1997