SPRING 2015 SYLLABUS
ECO 405/590: SUSTAINABLE ENERGY ECONOMICS AND POLICY
Tues/Thurs 3:30-4:45pm
Neville Hall 227
INSTRUCTOR
Dr. Sharon Klein
School of Economics
Email: Please use the Blackboard (BB) email system
207-581-3174
Office Hours: By appointment
305 Winslow Hall
PREREQUISITES
ECO 120 and ECO 121, or ECO 410, or equivalent; or permission
REQUIRED TEXTS
There is no required text for this course. All required readings and videos will be available
through the course website in Blackboard.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course quantitatively and qualitatively examines tradeoffs associated with the economic,
environmental, and social implications of energy supply, distribution, and use in the context of
transitioning toward a sustainable energy future. We will examine a variety of energy options,
with a focus on renewable energy sources (solar, wind, biomass, hydro, and geothermal
power), energy efficiency and conservation, nuclear power, and natural gas. We will adopt a
systems thinking approach, considering options for electricity, heating and transportation and
the interplay between these options. We will assess sustainability indicators for greenhouse
gas (GHG) emissions and climate change, air and water quality, human health and safety,
energy security and economic development, wildlife and the environment, technological
efficiency and availability. We will use life cycle assessment (LCA), social benefit cost
analysis (SBCA), and multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) to examine tradeoffs associated
with policies to mitigate negative energy implications. Policies examined will include carbon
prices, emissions targets, efficiency requirements, renewable portfolio standards, and feed-in
tariffs. We will develop and assess alternative future energy paths consistent with
environmental stewardship, energy security, and sustainable economic growth and
development. This course uses a “flipped” classroom approach in which students watch most
lectures online and engage in active learning activities during class time. Students may be
required to participate in field trips.
COURSE LEARNING OBJECTIVE:
The main objective of this course is to expand your understanding and reasoning skills
related to energy choices, issues, and policies in the context of the varied social, economic
and environmental implications of energy production, distribution and use. This course meets
the University of Maine’s general education requirement for the areas of Population and the
Environment, and Quantitative Literacyi.
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COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
1. Distinguish between concepts of power and energy, and convert between power and
energy units across a wide range of energy resources, technologies and uses.
2. Define sustainability and sustainable energy.
3. Define “systems thinking”, and use it to evaluate sustainable energy options.
4. Compare current energy trends and markets in Maine, the U.S., and the world, and
identify the factors influencing these trends over time and space.
5. Define the “food-water-energy nexus” and “energy poverty”, and discuss their
implications in the context of systems thinking and sustainable energy.
6. Identify potential sustainable energy options and compare quantitative and qualitative
sustainability indicators associated with their production methods, development costs,
market characteristics, geographic availability, technological availability and efficiency,
environmental and human health impacts, social considerations, and other
sustainability issues.
7. Calculate the annual capacity factor, levelized cost of energy, net present value, and
payback period associated with sustainable energy options.
8. Quantitatively compare sustainability tradeoffs associated with different energy options
using LCA, SBCA, and MCDA.
9. Compare centralized and distributed energy approaches and explain how each might
be included in a sustainable energy path.
10. Assess and compare the implications of current and potential future energy policies
(including carbon prices, emissions targets, efficiency requirements, renewable
portfolio standards, and feed-in tariffs) on sustainable energy development.
11. Critique current visions for transitioning to sustainable paths in different geographic
regions.
12. Create a new vision for transitioning to a sustainable energy future based on systems
thinking, assessment of quantitative and qualitative sustainability indicators, and
analytical evaluation of sustainability tradeoffs.
13. Evaluate the role of civic engagement and service learning in creating and
implementing sustainable energy solutions.
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“FLIPPED” CLASSROOM
Implicit to every learning experience you engage in is a goal to develop professionally and
personally. Every college course you take is a professional learning/development experience.
You are not just learning a topic, you are learning to learn. Mastering communication and
participation skills, collaborative learning skills, and professional academic discourse, are
requirements of every profession in every field. More than ever before, the ability to
collaborate and learn with others is fundamental to your ongoing professional and academic
success.
In keeping with this implicit goal, this course will follow a “flipped” classroom approach to
increase opportunities for collaborative and active learning. A flipped classroom is different
from the traditional lecture-style approach in several ways. First, instead of sitting and
listening to me lecture to you for 75 minutes, you will be actively engaging in problem solving,
discussions, debates and other in-class assignments usually in small groups (but sometimes
individually) while I listen to you and provide guidance, feedback and mini-lectures on topics
that help you be successful in the activities. You will access most of my lecture content online
before you come to class, and lectures will be delivered in shorter chunks than traditional
lectures. That way, you can watch them at your speed, pause, rewind, take notes, and make
note of questions you have before coming to class. In class, you will apply what you have
learned under my guidance so if you are struggling with understanding some concepts
introduced in video lectures or readings, I will be there to help you understand. Sometimes, I
may teach directly to the whole class for a few minutes if it is clear there is a concept that
most people are struggling with, but most of the class time will involve you doing the work
while I roam the classroom, providing guidance, answering questions, teaching small groups,
and listening.
Because you will be doing so much work in class, these in-class assignments will comprise
the largest percentage of your final grade. This may or may not sound like an easy way to get
a good grade. On the one hand, it is easier if you do the work because you have more
opportunities to make mistakes and correct those mistakes than if you are only graded on a
few in-class exams. However, you may find it is more challenging than more traditional
approaches because you can’t just come to class, sit back and half listen. To earn full credit,
you must be engaged in class activities and come prepared, having done the readings and
watched the videos.
Also, it may seem like I am not giving you a direct answer to some questions but rather
encouraging you to find the answer on your own. This may seem frustrating and inefficient at
times, but this type of inquiry-based learning should help you understand concepts at a
deeper level and retain information better. Rest assured that I will give you direct answers
when necessary, and I will tell you when I am being indirect and why.
Research shows that “flipped” classrooms, inquiry-based learning, and other active and
collaborative learning approaches improve learning outcomes, problem-solving and critical
thinking skills, student confidence, retention of information, group collaboration, and many
other important aspects of learning. These approaches are especially appropriate in a course
focusing on energy sustainability because the most difficult energy challenges of our time will
require inventive thinking and collaboration between diverse stakeholders.
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Watch the following video (also posted on Blackboard) for more information about the benefits
of these approaches and why I have chosen to use them:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdymI61hLPY&list=PLE8C54256779B374D&index=3&fe
ature=plpp_video
GRADING
Graded Activities & Percentages:
25 In-Class Assignments
40%
3 Online Unit Exams
20%
1 Final Project
40%
In-Class Assignments (40%)
All students are expected to attend class each day and be prepared with a calculator (phone,
tablet or computer are acceptable substitutes), paper and pen/pencil.
Each day in class, there will be at least one in-class assignment, consisting of group
discussions, debates, games, problem-solving (often involving math – hence the calculator),
individual writing, quizzes, etc. Assignments will be posted on Blackboard at least a week in
advance (unless it’s a surprise quiz). For some of these assignments, you will work
collaboratively in learning teams, which will be identified at the beginning of the semester
and remain constant throughout the semester.
Depending on the specific assignment, problem-solving assignments usually will be graded
on whether the student (or group) obtained the correct answer and/or used the appropriate
procedure to arrive at the correct answer.
Discussions, debates, and individual writing assignments will be graded using the rubrics
presented on Blackboard.
Games will be graded in a similar fashion to a quiz – the grade will depend on getting the
correct answer, providing the correct explanation, etc.
At the end of the semester, the total earned points for each type of In-Class Assignment (i.e.,
homework, group discussions, self & peer evaluations, etc) will be divided by the total points
possible for that type of assignment to obtain a semester score for that assignment type.
Then, all of the semester scores for each assignment type will be averaged together to
calculate your In-Class Assignment grade for the semester, which will be multiplied by 0.6 to
represent 60% of your semester grade (for ECO 405 students). For example, pretend you
earned 1100 out of 1400 total possible points for HW assignments and 600 out of 700
possible points for group discussions. Your HW score for the semester would be 1100/1400 =
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0.79, and your group discussion score would be 600/700 = 0.86. If those were the only 2
graded activities you did all semester for your In-Class Assignments (they won't be - you will
have many other types of activities), then your final In-Class Assignment semester grade
would be (0.79+0.86)/2 = 0.83, which would be multiplied by 0.6 and added to your Exam and
Final Project grades to calculate your final semester grade. I will drop the equivalent of the
lowest 3 class days worth of in-class activities at the end of the semester before doing the
final semester grade calculation.
Online Unit Exams (20%)
There will be three online Unit Exams during the semester. Exams will be based on readings,
videos, and in-class assignments. Each exam will be semi-cumulative (i.e., you will be
expected to build on the knowledge from the previous unit(s)). Exams will consist of 20
multiple-choice questions. You may use any course materials to help you answer exam
questions, but you may not discuss your answers with anyone else. Exams 1 & 2 will be
available online beginning on Thursday mornings at 8am until the exam deadline on Monday
nights at 11:59 pm. Exam 3 will be available for the complete final exam week as listed on the
university calendar. However, you will be required to finish the exam within 1.5 hour, so it is
advisable that you study the Unit material before starting the exam - i.e., there won't be time
during the exam to sift through all of the Unit material if you haven't prepared ahead of time.
At the end of the semester, the ratio of the total exam points you earned to the points possible
will be multiplied by 0.2 to represent 20% of your Final Grade.
Final Project (40%)
You will work on the final project throughout the semester with your learning team. Specific
instructions are included in a separate document that will be available on Blackboard.
Final Semester Grade
Your final semester grade will be the sum of your weighted total In-Class Assignment, Exam,
and Final Project grades and will be assigned as follows:
A (90 or above)
B+ (87-89.9)
B (82-86.9)
B- (80-81.9)
C+ (77-79.9)
C (72-76.9)
C- (70-71.9)
D (62-66.9)
D- (60-69.9)
F (59.9 or less)
D+ (67-69.9)
Extra Credit
A limited number of extra credit opportunities will be available at different times throughout the
course – I will announce in class when they are available. Please see me prior to April 1, if
you would like to propose an extra credit assignment that I have not yet made available.
Late/Missed Assignments
Due to the policy of dropping the 3 lowest in-class assignments and the fact that all exams
will be administered online, allowing you plenty of freedom in choosing the timing to fit in your
schedule, and due to the Extra Credit opportunities, there will be NO opportunities to makeup
missed work, and late assignments will NOT be accepted. The only exception to this rule is if
the University has granted you a leave from course duties for some reason - in this case, the
proper documentation would be required to makeup missed or late assignments within the
appropriate timeframe specified on the University documentation.
Communication Policy & Extra Help
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Check BB regularly for announcements, assignments and other communication from me. To
access BB, go to: www.courses.maine.edu. Enter your Mainestreet username and password.
Select this course from the list on the welcome page.
If you have a question or need extra help, please do the following in order:
1) Review the course materials on BB (i.e., syllabus, instructions on BB, announcements,
readings, videos, etc.) and see if there are already answers available in these
materials.
2) Check the Question Forum to see if your question has already been asked and
answered.
3) If your question has not been asked yet in the forum, but it may apply to other
students, please post your question to the Question Forum and/or ask your question in
class so all students can benefit.
4) If your question is more individual in nature and/or you have not found an answer after
completing steps 1-3, please email me through BB email. There may be time to ask a
quick question before or after class, but for some questions – especially where I may
need to look something up – email works better. Please send email requests for
meetings at least 48 hours ahead of time – depending on my travel and research
schedule, I may need more time than this.
I expect emails from students to me (and vice versa) to be composed professionally with
complete sentences and proper English writing style with no spelling mistakes or cryptic
abbreviations (i.e, an email is not a text message), a CLEAR subject line that includes the
course designator (ECO 405 or ECO 590) and a clear, concise question. I reserve the right
not to respond to emails that don’t meet these qualifications. Please see Netiquette
Guidelines in BB for more information.
During the weekdays, I will try to respond to emails within a 36-hour turnaround time. I will try
to respond to emails sent on weekends/holidays within 60 hours. I teach other courses, do
research, and have a personal life, so please be patient and respectful.
University Disabilities Policy
Students with disabilities who may need services or accommodations to fully participate in
this class should contact Ann Smith, Director Disability Services in 121 East Annex, (voice)
581-2319, (TTY) 581-2325 as early as possible in the semester.
University Academic Integrity Policy
Academic honesty is very important. It is dishonest to cheat on exams, to copy term papers,
to submit papers written by another person, to fake experimental results, or to copy or reword
parts of books or articles into your own papers without appropriately citing the
source. Students committing or aiding in any of these violations may be given failing grades
for an assignment or for an entire course, at the discretion of the instructor. In addition to any
academic action taken by an instructor, these violations are also subject to action under the
University of Maine Student Conduct Code. The maximum possible sanction under the
student conduct code is dismissal from the University.
University Sexual Discrimination Reporting Policy
The University of Maine is committed to making campus a safe place for students. Because
of this commitment, if you tell a teacher about an experience of sexual assault, sexual
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harassment, stalking, relationship abuse (dating violence and domestic violence), sexual
misconduct or any form of gender discrimination involving members of the campus, your
teacher is required to report this information to the campus Office of Sexual Assault &
Violence Prevention or the Office of Equal Opportunity.
If you want to talk in confidence to someone about an experience of sexual discrimination,
please contact these resources:
For confidential resources on campus:
Counseling Center: 207-581-1392
Cutler Health Center: at 207-581-4000.
For confidential resources off campus:
Rape Response Services: 1-800-310-0000
Spruce Run: 1-800-863-9909.
Other on-campus resources (can offer support but may have to report the incident to others
who can help):
Office of Sexual Assault & Violence Prevention: 207-581-1406
Office of Community Standards: 207-581-1409
University of Maine Police: 207-581-4040 or 911
Or see the OSAVP website for a complete list of services at http://www.umaine.edu/osavp/
ECO 590 Students
ECO 590 students will be receiving credit for a graduate level course. Therefore, more will be
expected of them in terms of workload and quality of work. The following changes to the
information listed above apply to all ECO 590 students:
1) ECO 590 students must complete all “optional” readings/videos listed on BB.
2) Exams for ECO 590 students may be different from exams for ECO 405 students in
any or all of the following ways:
a. Additional questions based on readings that are optional for ECO 405 students.
b. More difficult questions.
c. Different types of questions (i.e., other than multiple choice)
3) ECO 590 students will be required to write an individual research paper for their final
project in addition to the poster presentation and other group writing assignments.
a. The paper may use collaborative work completed by the learning team (as long
as teammates are included as authors), but also must add more detail, greater
depth in examining the issues, and it must include both an SBCA and MCDA
calculation.
b. In addition, ECO 590 students must identify 3 academic journals, which may be
appropriate for submitting this paper for publication, and explain why these
journals may be appropriate, with specific references to the journal description.
ECO 590 students do not actually have to submit their paper for publication,
rather this portion of the assignment is included because graduate students
need to gain experience in selecting academic journals for publication of a
variety of topic areas.
c. The ECO 590 research paper will be due during the final exam period as an
online submission to Blackboard.
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d. Further instructions and a grading rubric for the ECO 590 final paper will be
available on Blackboard in advance of the due date. The ECO 590 final paper
will be due at the end of the final exam period.
4) The grading distribution for ECO 590 students will be as follows:
25 In-Class Assignments
30%
3 Online Unit Exams
20%
1 Final Project
50%
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TENTATIVE COURSE OUTLINE*
Unit
1. Defining
and
measuring
sustainable
energy
Week
1
2
3
4
5
2.
Evaluating
Sustainabilit
y Tradeoffs
6
7
Day of
the
Week
Tuesday
Thursday
Date
1/13/15
1/15/15
Tuesday
1/20/15
Thursday
1/22/15
Tuesday
1/27/15
Thursday
1/29/15
Tuesday
2/3/15
Thursday
2/5/15
Tuesday
2/10/15
Thursday
2/12/15
Tuesday
Thursday
Tuesday
2/17/15
2/19/15
2/24/15
Topic
Learning
outcomes
Introduction
What is sustainable energy, and why
1,2,3,5,9
is it important?
Which energy options should we
2,3,6,9
include in our assessments of
sustainable energy? PART I: Electricity
& heating
Which energy options should we
2,3,6,9
include in our assessments of
sustainable energy? PART I: Electricity
& heating
Which energy options should we
1,2,3,6
include in our assessments of
sustainable energy? PART II:
Transportation
Which energy options should we
1,2,3,6
include in our assessments of
sustainable energy? PART II:
Transportation
Which technical indicators should we
1,2,3,6,7
include in our sustainable energy
assessments and how do we measure
them?
Which technical indicators should we
1,2,3,5,6,8
include in our sustainable energy
assessments and how do we measure
them?
Which environmental indicators
1,2,3,5,6,7,8
should we include in our sustainable
energy assessments and how do we
measure them?
What is Life Cycle Assessment, and
1,2,3,5,6,7,8
how can we use it to measure
environmental sustainability?
UNIT 1 EXAM (on Blackboard)
Project Work - No Class
Project Work - No Class
Which economic indicators should we 1,2,3,5,6,7,8,
include in our sustainable energy
9
9
Thursday
2/26/15
3/2-3/13/15
Tuesday
8
Thursday
Tuesday
9
Thursday
Tuesday
3. Creating a
sustainable
energy
future
10
Thursday
Tuesday
11
Thursday
Tuesday
12
Thursday
Tuesday
assessments and how do we measure
them?
Which economic indicators should we
include in our sustainable energy
assessments and how do we measure
them?
******SPRING BREAK******
1,2,3,5,6,7,8,
9
3/17/15
Which social indicators should we
1,2,3,6,8
include in our sustainable energy
assessments, and how do we measure
them?
PART 1 of FINAL PROJECT DUE: Design & Plan (online)
3/19/15 What is an Integrated Sustainability
1,2,3,6,8
Assessment (ISA), and what is Social
Benefit Cost Analysis (SBCA)?
3/24/15 How can we use SBCA to evaluate
1,2,3,6,8
tradeoffs associated with different
sustainability options?
3/26/15 What is Multi-Criteria Decision
1,2,3,6,8
Analysis (MCDA)?
3/31/15 How can we use MCDA to evaluate
1,2,3,6,8
tradeoffs associated with different
sustainability options?
4/2/15 What are the pros and cons of using
9,11,12,13
different ISA approaches?
UNIT 2 EXAM (on Blackboard)
4/7/15 What does a sustainable energy
4,9,10
future look like?
4/9/15 How do energy markets currently
2,4,9,10
operate?
PART 2 of FINAL PROJECT DUE: Analysis Paper (online)
4/14/15 What are the pros & cons of using
2,4,9,10
regulations to achieve a sustainable
energy future?
4/16/15 What are the pros & cons of using
2,3,5,9,10,13
market-based strategies to achieve a
sustainable energy future?
4/21/15 How do people think and behave in
2,3,5,9,10,13
relation to energy?
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Thursday
14
Tuesday
4/23/15
PART 3 of FINAL PROJECT DUE: Poster
Presentations; location TBD
4/28/15 What are the pros and cons of using
strategies to change human behavior
ALL
ALL
10
to achieve a sustainable energy
future?
Thursday 4/30/15 What are you going to do to achieve a
sustainable energy future?
Final Exam Week: UNIT 3 EXAM (on Blackboard, 5/4 8am – 5/8 3:30pm)
ECO 590 research paper due 5/8 3:30pm
TBD
TBD = to be determined (check for updated on blackboard)
*This course outline is subject to change as the course progresses – updated versions can be
found on blackboard throughout the semester
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(1) The stated objectives and outcomes address the learning outcome goals for the University of Maine’s general education requirement for
the area of Population and the Environment, which state (in brief):
Courses included in the Population and Environment sub-category help students to understand how humankind interacts with our finite
physical and biological environment by addressing:
(a) The role of both local and global environmental change on the quality of human life;
(b) The pervasive role of human population growth on environmental quality and the quality of life, both in industrial and developing
countries;
(c) The influence of cultural, religious, economic, educational and political factors on population growth and environmental quality; and
(d) Possible solutions to the population/environmental problems, which may include the role of technological advancements, a reexamination of educational and political institutions, enlightened reassessment of traditional religious and economic conceptions, and
rethinking contemporary Western conception of “the good life”
(2) The stated objectives and outcomes address the learning outcome goals for the University of Maine’s general education requirement for
the area of Quantitative Literacy, which state (in brief):
Quantitative literacy is the ability to formulate, evaluate, and communicate conclusions and inferences from quantitative information. Upon
completion of general education study in quantitative literacy, students will understand the role that mathematics and quantitative thinking
plays in solving and communicating information about real world problems and relationships. Students will be able to:
1. Translate problems from everyday spoken and written language to appropriate quantitative questions.
2. Interpret quantitative information from formulas, graphs, tables, schematics, simulations, and visualizations, and draw inferences from that
information.
3. Solve problems using arithmetical, algebraic, geometrical, statistical, or computational methods.
4. Analyze answers to quantitative problems in order to determine reasonableness. Suggest alternative approaches if necessary.
5. Represent quantitative information symbolically, visually, and numerically.
6. Present quantitative results in context using everyday spoken and written language as well as using formulas, graphs, tables, schematics,
simulations, and visualizations.
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