ENGINEERING TRIPOS PART IIB - 2012/2013

Module 4M15 - Sustainable Energy

AIMS

The aim of this course is to examine the sustainable production and use of energy. In order to provide sensible answers to questions such as "where is our future energy going to come from"?" and "how best to use energy?" Engineers need to be able to analyse systems, energy flows and their environmental impacts. This requires tools already familiar to engineers, such as the laws of thermodynamics, but also necessitates a holistic approach, i.e. looking at the impacts of a product or system over its entire lifecycle.

LECTURE SYLLABUS

1. Introduction: Issues surrounding energy use and production (1 Lecture)

• Sustainability, the carbon cycle, greenhouse gases, energy use patterns and the inequality in energy use.

2. Quantification of material and energy flows and the importance of thermodynamics (3 Lectures)

These lectures will use hydrogen production and fossil fuel technology as examples. Carbon separation and clean fossil fuel technologies (inc. advanced combustion technologies) will also be examined. This will include:

• Material and energy balances, i.e. being able to account for the all the energy and material flows, including when chemical reactions occur.
• The importance of the second law of thermodynamics. Irreversibilities and their quantification by Exergy analysis.
• Heat and power integration.

3. Making rational decisions based on sustainability (2 Lectures)

• Measuring sustainability
• Lifecycle analysis

4. Renewable Energy (3 Lectures)

The role of various renewable energy technologies (i.e. wind, wave, hydro, solar etc.) in meeting our future energy needs will be discussed. These lectures will look at the basic technologies and issues which these technologies must overcome if they are to replace fossil fuels.

5. Nuclear Energy (1 Lecture)

6. End Use: Technologies for the transportation sector (3 Lectures, Prof N. Collings)

7. Energy Policy (1 lecture)

Workshop on energy policy given by Bill Nuttall (Judge Business School).

OBJECTIVES

On completion of the course, students will:

• Analyse systems in terms of energy, material and exergy flows.
• Understand the principles of sustainability and life-cycle analysis.
• Have an understanding of renewable energy and other energy technologies, their limitations and possible contributions to future energy production.
• Understand the wider issues associated with the supply and use of energy, and the role of energy policy.

REFERENCES

Please see the Booklist for Group R Courses for references for this module.

Last updated: June 2012