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![Page 1: An Evolving Introductory-Level Energy Course that Combines Geology, Physics, and Public Policy Tim Schroeder Bennington College.](https://reader036.fdocuments.in/reader036/viewer/2022062518/56649ea15503460f94ba43ff/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
An Evolving Introductory-Level Energy Course that Combines Geology, Physics, and Public
Policy
Tim Schroeder
Bennington College
![Page 2: An Evolving Introductory-Level Energy Course that Combines Geology, Physics, and Public Policy Tim Schroeder Bennington College.](https://reader036.fdocuments.in/reader036/viewer/2022062518/56649ea15503460f94ba43ff/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
History of the Course…..
1st IterationEastern Connecticut State University, Environmental Earth Science 205, Energy and the Environment
• Developed by Fred Loxsom as the gateway into a Sustainable Energy Studies (SES) minor program
• I taught it later and added geology content, including:
• Fossil fuel formation, extraction and impacts
• Importance of glacial geology and geochemical cycles to climate change
![Page 3: An Evolving Introductory-Level Energy Course that Combines Geology, Physics, and Public Policy Tim Schroeder Bennington College.](https://reader036.fdocuments.in/reader036/viewer/2022062518/56649ea15503460f94ba43ff/html5/thumbnails/3.jpg)
1st Iteration:Environmental Earth Sciences 205, Energy and the Environment
• Focus was dominantly on science of energy
![Page 4: An Evolving Introductory-Level Energy Course that Combines Geology, Physics, and Public Policy Tim Schroeder Bennington College.](https://reader036.fdocuments.in/reader036/viewer/2022062518/56649ea15503460f94ba43ff/html5/thumbnails/4.jpg)
History of the Course…..1st Iteration:
How it fit into the curriculum:• Students from many majors took EES 205 to fulfill a gen-ed.
requirement; Several of these continued with the SES minor
• Several EES majors took the course and then added SES minor
• EES department is adding SES track to its major
Requirements for ECSU’s Sustainable Energy Studies Minor
![Page 5: An Evolving Introductory-Level Energy Course that Combines Geology, Physics, and Public Policy Tim Schroeder Bennington College.](https://reader036.fdocuments.in/reader036/viewer/2022062518/56649ea15503460f94ba43ff/html5/thumbnails/5.jpg)
History of the Course…..
2nd Iteration:
Eastern Connecticut State University, First Year Colloquium; “Energy in the 21st Century”
• I adapted EES 205 content to meet goals of the First Year Colloquium course required of all 2nd term freshmen
• Class format changed to discussion-based (with some lectures)
• Content focused more on policy, less on science
![Page 6: An Evolving Introductory-Level Energy Course that Combines Geology, Physics, and Public Policy Tim Schroeder Bennington College.](https://reader036.fdocuments.in/reader036/viewer/2022062518/56649ea15503460f94ba43ff/html5/thumbnails/6.jpg)
History of the Course…..2nd Iteration: First Year Colloquium; “Energy in the 21st Century”
![Page 7: An Evolving Introductory-Level Energy Course that Combines Geology, Physics, and Public Policy Tim Schroeder Bennington College.](https://reader036.fdocuments.in/reader036/viewer/2022062518/56649ea15503460f94ba43ff/html5/thumbnails/7.jpg)
History of the Course…..
Things that I learned in Iterations #1 and #2:
• Students need to understand science of energy to meaningfully discuss energy policy
• Physics and geology are both required to understand energy science
• A full understanding of energy and climate problems (both scientific and policy) is required to properly address solutions
• This does not leave time in a semester to fully cover both problems and solutions
![Page 8: An Evolving Introductory-Level Energy Course that Combines Geology, Physics, and Public Policy Tim Schroeder Bennington College.](https://reader036.fdocuments.in/reader036/viewer/2022062518/56649ea15503460f94ba43ff/html5/thumbnails/8.jpg)
The Current Course3rd Iteration:
Bennington CollegeEnergy and the Environment; What lies Ahead?
• Part of Bennington’s new Environmental Studies Program
• Focus a mixture of science (done with lectures) and policy (done with discussion
• I base discussions on assigned readings with specific questions
• The course is now based largely on the problems; This frustrates students
![Page 9: An Evolving Introductory-Level Energy Course that Combines Geology, Physics, and Public Policy Tim Schroeder Bennington College.](https://reader036.fdocuments.in/reader036/viewer/2022062518/56649ea15503460f94ba43ff/html5/thumbnails/9.jpg)
3rd Iteration: Energy and the Environment; What lies Ahead?
The Current Course
![Page 10: An Evolving Introductory-Level Energy Course that Combines Geology, Physics, and Public Policy Tim Schroeder Bennington College.](https://reader036.fdocuments.in/reader036/viewer/2022062518/56649ea15503460f94ba43ff/html5/thumbnails/10.jpg)
3rd Iteration: Bennington College
Energy and the Environment; What lies Ahead?
Course Goals:1. Understand links between daily life in industrial society and
energy/climate problems
The Current Course
![Page 11: An Evolving Introductory-Level Energy Course that Combines Geology, Physics, and Public Policy Tim Schroeder Bennington College.](https://reader036.fdocuments.in/reader036/viewer/2022062518/56649ea15503460f94ba43ff/html5/thumbnails/11.jpg)
Screen capture from www.myfootprint.org
Understanding personal responsibility:
A good exercise:The ecological footprint – quiz that determines how many biologically productive earth’s would be required to support your lifestyle (if everyone lived as you did)
What I want to get across: “Its not just the oil company’s fault”
![Page 12: An Evolving Introductory-Level Energy Course that Combines Geology, Physics, and Public Policy Tim Schroeder Bennington College.](https://reader036.fdocuments.in/reader036/viewer/2022062518/56649ea15503460f94ba43ff/html5/thumbnails/12.jpg)
3rd Iteration: Bennington College
Energy and the Environment; What lies Ahead?
Course Goals:1. Understand links between daily life in industrial society and
energy/climate problems2. Understand that solutions will not be quick and easy –
rebuilding energy infrastructure will take a lot of time and money
The Current Course
![Page 13: An Evolving Introductory-Level Energy Course that Combines Geology, Physics, and Public Policy Tim Schroeder Bennington College.](https://reader036.fdocuments.in/reader036/viewer/2022062518/56649ea15503460f94ba43ff/html5/thumbnails/13.jpg)
Understanding the full scope of the problems:
One thing I do:Watch the movie “The End of Suburbia”, which presents a very apocalyptic view of Peak Oil
I want the students to stop saying things like:
“we should just…” or
“why don’t we just run all of our cars on biodiesel?”
http://www.endofsuburbia.com/index.htm
![Page 14: An Evolving Introductory-Level Energy Course that Combines Geology, Physics, and Public Policy Tim Schroeder Bennington College.](https://reader036.fdocuments.in/reader036/viewer/2022062518/56649ea15503460f94ba43ff/html5/thumbnails/14.jpg)
3rd Iteration: Bennington College
Energy and the Environment; What lies Ahead?
Course Goals:1. Understand links between daily life in industrial society and
energy/climate problems2. Understand that solutions will not be quick and easy – rebuilding
energy infrastructure will take a lot of time and money3. Understand what climate change is, why it is a problem, and
that energy and climate are linked problems
The Current Course
![Page 15: An Evolving Introductory-Level Energy Course that Combines Geology, Physics, and Public Policy Tim Schroeder Bennington College.](https://reader036.fdocuments.in/reader036/viewer/2022062518/56649ea15503460f94ba43ff/html5/thumbnails/15.jpg)
Understanding climate change:
Things I do:
Web-based climate modeling exercises:
http://www.sciencecourseware.com/eec/GlobalWarming/
This “Future Climate Change” applet is a good exercise that allows users to analyze prediction scenarios from the previous IPCC report Screen capture from sciencecourseware.com
![Page 16: An Evolving Introductory-Level Energy Course that Combines Geology, Physics, and Public Policy Tim Schroeder Bennington College.](https://reader036.fdocuments.in/reader036/viewer/2022062518/56649ea15503460f94ba43ff/html5/thumbnails/16.jpg)
Understanding climate change:
Things I do:Web-based climate modeling exercises:
The Java Climate Model:
http://chooseclimate.org/jcm/jcm4/
Allows users to manipulate climate model input and see effects
Screen capture from chooseclimate.org
![Page 17: An Evolving Introductory-Level Energy Course that Combines Geology, Physics, and Public Policy Tim Schroeder Bennington College.](https://reader036.fdocuments.in/reader036/viewer/2022062518/56649ea15503460f94ba43ff/html5/thumbnails/17.jpg)
Understanding climate change:
Things I do:Discuss in depth how issues such as per-capita carbon emissions and energy intensity will influence international climate agreements
Do mock climate agreement negotiation summit where students take the roles of various nations
![Page 18: An Evolving Introductory-Level Energy Course that Combines Geology, Physics, and Public Policy Tim Schroeder Bennington College.](https://reader036.fdocuments.in/reader036/viewer/2022062518/56649ea15503460f94ba43ff/html5/thumbnails/18.jpg)
![Page 19: An Evolving Introductory-Level Energy Course that Combines Geology, Physics, and Public Policy Tim Schroeder Bennington College.](https://reader036.fdocuments.in/reader036/viewer/2022062518/56649ea15503460f94ba43ff/html5/thumbnails/19.jpg)
3rd Iteration: Bennington College
Energy and the Environment; What lies Ahead?
Course Goals:1. Understand links between daily life in industrial society and
energy/climate problems2. Understand that solutions will not be quick and easy – rebuilding
energy infrastructure will take a lot of time and money3. Understand what climate change is, why it is a problem, and that
energy and climate are linked problems4. Develop the view that the US should lead by example, and
start now
The Current Course
![Page 20: An Evolving Introductory-Level Energy Course that Combines Geology, Physics, and Public Policy Tim Schroeder Bennington College.](https://reader036.fdocuments.in/reader036/viewer/2022062518/56649ea15503460f94ba43ff/html5/thumbnails/20.jpg)
Things I do:
Exercise with the “climate wedge model”
Guide to activities available at:
http://www.princeton.edu/~cmi/resources/stabwedge.htm
Ideas are also detailed in the Sept. 2006 issue of Scientific American
Develop a strategy for action:
Image from the Sept. 2006 Scientific American, “A Plan to Keep Carbon in Check”
![Page 21: An Evolving Introductory-Level Energy Course that Combines Geology, Physics, and Public Policy Tim Schroeder Bennington College.](https://reader036.fdocuments.in/reader036/viewer/2022062518/56649ea15503460f94ba43ff/html5/thumbnails/21.jpg)
3rd Iteration: Bennington College
Energy and the Environment; What lies Ahead?
How does this Class Fit into Bennington’s Curriculum?• What Bennington Curriculum?
• No Departments
• No Majors
• Students each plan his/her own course of study
• Many of our students are budding activists; most want to work with NGO’s and non-profits
• This course allows students to actually understand the full nature and scope of the problems that they want to solve (or so I like to think)
The Current Course
![Page 22: An Evolving Introductory-Level Energy Course that Combines Geology, Physics, and Public Policy Tim Schroeder Bennington College.](https://reader036.fdocuments.in/reader036/viewer/2022062518/56649ea15503460f94ba43ff/html5/thumbnails/22.jpg)
The Next CourseBecause the course is now focused on the problems, my students want a course on solutions:
This fall I’m teaching “Climate and Energy Solution Analysis”
• Will be based on campus Greenhouse Gas Audit currently being performed
• Will be project based; Each student will develop and analyze a project to address one part of the greenhouse gas audit
• Students will be required to do cost benefit analysis and life cycle cost analysis of their proposed ideas