ENVS 21 Transforming the Energy System: Keeping the Lights on While Saving the Planet

This course will explore how transitioning to renewable energy systems is a necessary leverage point for addressing human-caused climate change, with a specific focus on how energy for electricity and heat is generated and used in New England. Through the collaboration of instructors from the Environmental Studies Program, the Irving Institute for Energy and Society, the Department of Earth Sciences and the Sustainability Office, students will gain an interdisciplinary perspective on New England energy systems and human-caused climate change, including 1) the economic, policy, and regulatory management and distribution of energy, 2) the environment al and societal benefits and impacts of these systems on people and the environment, 3) a scientific understanding of fossil fuel resource formation, extraction, refining and use, and 4) climate change attribution and predictions of future human-caused climate change. The course will culminate in a discussion of Dartmouth’s own energy transition as well as regional- and national scale solutions for resolving the urgency of climate action with the current political, economic, and technological constraints governing the renewable energy transition.

Degree Requirement Attributes

Dist:TLA

The Timetable of Class Meetings contains the most up-to-date information about a course. It includes not only the meeting time and instructor, but also its official distributive and/or world culture designation. This information supersedes any information you may see elsewhere, to include what may appear in this ORC/Catalog or on a department/program website. Note that course attributes may change term to term therefore those in effect are those (only) during the term in which you enroll in the course.

Department-Specific Course Categories

Environmental Studies Program