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Calendar

The section contains table of topics for the two parts of course: Part A - IAP 2007 (week 1) (week 2) and Part B - Spring 2007.

Part A - IAP 2007

The following presenters appear: Anup Bandivadekar, Gregg Beckham, Elisabeth Drake, Leora Friedberg, Leon Glicksman, Michael Golay, Jim Gordon, Marija Ilic, Frank Incropera, Henry Jacoby, Edward Kern, Ronald Prinn, Donald Sadoway, Jeff Tester, and Greg Watson.

Week 1

SES # TIMES TOPICS KEY DATES
Day 1  
A1 9 - 10:15 am Introduction: How energy is supplied and used, resources, depletion rates, U.S. and global energy consumption and demand (Golay)  
A2 10:15 - 10:30 am Course organization and format  
A3 11 - 12:30 pm Energy sustainability Issues: Security, availability, environmental impacts, poverty - complex trade-off systems (Drake)  
A4 1:30 - 2:30 pm Environmental footprint exercise; discussion of sustainability frameworks (Drake)  
A5 3 - 4:30 pm

Homework 1: Energy sustainability (Drake)

(work in class - submit next morning)

  
Day 2  
B1 9 - 10:30 am Energy supply portfolio - U.S. and global: Past, present, and future; Hubbert curves, exponential versus linear growth (Tester) Problem set 1 due
B2 11 - 12:30 pm Energy resource availability (Tester)  
B3 1:30 - 2:30 pm Global change science; energy use issues (Prinn)  
B4 3 - 4:30 pm

Review Homework 1

Additional example problems

General discussion

  
Day 3  
C1 9 - 10:30 am Toolbox Lecture 1: Energy analysis and basics of thermodynamics (Tester)  
C2 11 - 12:00 pm

Toolbox Lecture 1 (cont.) (Tester)

Introduction to energy storage and distribution, issues, energy chains

Examples worked with the class

  
C3 1:00 - 2:30 pm

Toolbox Lecture 2: Economic analysis of energy technologies and systems - discount rates, net present value, externalities (Golay)

  
C4 3 - 4:30 pm Homework 2: Energy system thermodynamics and economics (Tester and Golay) (work in class - submit next morning)  
Day 4  
D1 9 - 10:30 am Future auto technologies: Fuel cells, electric vehicles (Sadoway) Problem set 2 due
D2 11 - 12:30 pm Electricity supply and distribution systems (Golay)  
D3 1:30 - 2:30 pm

Toolbox Lecture 3a: Systems analysis methodologies (Drake):

  • Types of models
  • Life cycle analysis
  • Simulation models
  
D4 3 - 4 pm Review homework 2 (Drake, Golay, and Tester)  

Week 2

SES # TIMES TOPICS KEY DATES
Day 5  
E1 9 - 10:30 am Electric transmission and distribution system; transition from centralized supply to more distributed supply; reliability; deregulation implications (Ilic)  
E2 11 - 12:30 pm Building sector - energy use and conservation opportunities in the U.S. and at MIT (Glicksman)  
E3 1:30 - 2:30 pm Building developments in growing new economies - e.g. China (Glicksman)  
E4 3 - 4:30 pm

Homework 3: Energy analysis tools

(Drake, Beckham)

(work in class - submit next morning)

  
Day 6  
F1 9 - 10:30 am Energy transmission, distribution, storage (Tester) Problem set 3 due
F2 11 - 12:30 pm Transportation sector: Fuels and vehicle technologies (Bandivadekar)  
F3 1:30 - 2:30 pm

Toolbox Lecture 3b: Systems analysis methodologies (cont.) (Drake):

  • Decision models
  • Global models
  • Wedge game
  
F4 3 - 4:30 pm

Review Homework 3 (Drake and Tester)

General discussion

  
Day 7  
G1 9 - 10:30 am Fossil fuels and carbon management (Incropera)  
G2 11 - 12:30 pm Nuclear energy (Golay)  
G3 1:30 - 3 pm Renewable energy overview (Tester)  
G4 3:30 - 4:30 pm Introduction to energy technology modules - biomass and geothermal, in addition to fossil and nuclear above  
Day 8  
H1 9 - 10:00 am Wind energy fundamentals (Tester)  
H2 10:30 am - 12:00 noon Cape wind project (Gordon and Watson)  
H3 1:00- 2:30 pm Solar energy technologies (Kern)  
H4 3 - 4:30 pm

Final exam - in class (2 in-class problems) and a take home essay problem due 1 day after day 9

 Final exam in class
Day 9  
I1 9 - 10:30 am International efforts to abate global change (Jacoby)  
I2 11 - 12:30 pm

New energy frontiers:

  • Hydrogen (Tester)
  • Fusion (Friedberg)
  
I3 2 - 4 pm Open forum - pathways to sustainability (Drake, Incropera, Tester, Golay)  
I4 4 pm Course feedback and wrap-up Final exam take home essay due 1 day after day 9

Part B - Spring 2007

SES # TOPICS KEY DATES
I. Biomass energy
1

Introduction to biomass resource (Jeff Tester)

Resource assessment - biomass types and magnitudes (Jeff Tester)

Overview of chemical, thermal, and bio-conversion technologies (Jeff Tester)

 Biomass problem set out
2

Thermochemical and hydrothermal conversion technology - gasification and liquefaction (Andy Peterson)

Discussion of example and homework problems (Jeff Tester and Gregg Beckham)

  
3

Ethanol as a fuel (Jeff Tester)

Ethanol production across its full life cycle (Jeremy Johnson)

Discussion of homework problem set (Jeff Tester and Gregg Beckham)

 Biomass problem set due
4

Advanced technologies and opportunities:

  • Green fuel - Engineered algae for NOx and CO2 removal (Isaac Berzin)
  • Biological Hydrogen (Peter Weigele)
  • Agrivida - Bioengineering biomass feedstocks (Michael Raab)
  
5

Special Lecture: "Biomass to ethanol and evolving story of expectations and opportunities." (Dr. Michael Pacheco, Director national Bioenergy Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory)

  
II. Future of fossil fuels and carbon management
6

Origins and characterization of fossil fuels

Consumption and production trends

Metrics for assessing fuel production options

Reserves and resources:

What's left; how long will it last?

A supply-side model: Hubbert's Peak

 Fossil fuels problem set out
7

Thermodynamics of fossil fuels:

  • The nature of energy
  • Heat engines: First and second las considerations
  • Steam and gas turbine power plants

Clean coal technology options: Super-critical, oxy-combustion and IGCC systems

There is no free lunch: The costs of clean coal

  
8

Radiation transfer and the global energy balance

Radiative forcings and the greenhouse effect

Carbon dioxide emissions: Past and future trends

An approximate carbon cycle model

  
9

Trends in the Earth's average temperature and sea level

Effects of ice melting

Strategies for stabilizing atmospheric CO2 concentrations at 450 to 550 ppmv

The Future of Coal. Results of a special MIT study (Howard Herzog)

The Future of Tar Sands. A special lecture (Murray Gray)

  
III. Geothermal energy
10

General overview of the geothermal resource (Jeff Tester)

Worldwide production of geothermal electricity and heat (Ron DiPippo)

Drilling - gaining access to the resource for exploration and production (Jeff Tester)

 Fossil fuels problem set due
11

Reservoir engineering and characterization (Jeff Tester and Nafi Toksoz)

Energy conversion systems and power plant fundamentals (Ron DiPippo)

Assign and discuss example and homework problems (Ron DiPippo)

 Term paper topic assignments distributed
12

Environmental impacts of geothermal uses (Ron DiPippo)

Review of power plant homework problems (Ron DiPippo)

GPP problem 5.3 due

GPP problem 6.1 due
13

Economic modeling (Jeff Tester)

Enhanced/engineered systems - HDR technology (Jeff Tester)

Prognosis: "The future of geothermal energy" (Jeff Tester and Ron DiPippo)

Term paper outline due

Supplementary problems 8.1 and 8.4 due 2 days after Ses #13
IV. Nuclear power
14

Nuclear power prospects and technologies (Michael Golay)

Advanced reactors (Michael Golay)

Nuclear power problem set out
15 Nuclear fuel cycle, proliferation, and waste disposal (Michael Golay and Andrew Kadak)  
16 Nuclear energy and global warming (Michael Golay)  
17

Non-electrical nuclear energy products:

  • Hydrogen production
  • Hydrogen transport
  • Hydrogen storage
  • Water
  • Heat (Mujid Kazimi)

Nuclear power problem set due 1 week after Ses #17

Final term paper due 19 days after Ses #17

Term paper oral presentations due 29 to 30 days after Ses #17