This is a directed research course on topics related to energy policy and energy markets. Students will be assigned to small (4 or 5 students) groups that are tasked with writing a white paper on one of several topics related to energy markets and policy. Each group will choose a topic from a list of suggestions provided by the instructors, or it may design its own topic with the instructors’ approval. Class sessions will be of two types. Five of the weekly meetings will have formal lectures on specific energy issues or markets, such as the economics of energy policy, the future of nuclear power, climate change, the prospects for expanded use of renewable energy sources, and the impact of fracking on oil and gas markets. Other sessions will consist of consist primarily of (a) small group conversations between the instructors and each group and (b) intermediate presentations of results, progress and problems given by each group to the entire class. In the final two sessions (weeks 10 & 11) each group will present their completed analysis in a 45-minute presentation to the class, the course instructors and the course’s review committee, which consists of additional faculty members or others with expertise on the topic. Satisfactory papers may be published online as white papers through the Energy Policy Institute at Chicago (EPIC). Publication will require one or more members of the group to edit and/or revise the final paper after the end of the quarter so as to address remaining comments from the instructors and review committee.
Mon 1:30PM-4:30PM
Harper Center C01