Environment General Courses (ENVIRON)

graduate level, taught in Durham

ENV 131.01 / ENV 298.76. World Trade in Energy Resources
MW 2:50 – 4:05 pm, Rm XXX LSRC

Instructor:         Lincoln Pratson
lincoln.pratson@duke.edu
681-8077
Rm 206 Old Chemistry

Course Description

The purpose of this course is to give students a basic understanding of how world trade in energy resources currently works and in what ways the system is evolving as changes occur in the availability of these resources, the demand for them, and how they are used. The course is a follow on to Energy & Environment (ENV 130.1/298.18), but can be taken independently of it. Energy & Environment is a broad survey course, introducing students to the societal importance of energy, the major energy sectors (oil & gas, coal, renewables and electricity), energy economics and policy, and the environmental impacts of energy use. In contrast, this course focuses down more on what are currently the most important sources of energy, fossil fuels, and how they are physically, economically and geopolitically moved about the world. Renewable resources are also considered, but primarily in the context of their current deployment by major users of energy to offset possible future shortfalls in traditional fuels and/or reduce CO2 emissions.

The course is intended for advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate students. It is meant to impart these students with deeper insight as to the happenings behind current and developing news headlines on energy. To accomplish this, the course is subdivided into four main modules. Module one presents the geologic, economic, political and societal context for world trade in energy resources. Module two highlights the major players involved in energy trading, the suppliers and consumers and their motivations. Module three examines the energy value chain, i.e. how energy resources are recovered, upgraded for use in society, and distributed nationally and internationally. And module four introduces energy markets; how energy resources are priced and traded, and how this trade is regulated. The fifth module is a class exercise, which is addressed under assignments and grading.

There are two additional points of note. A number of the lecture topics, like deregulation and globalization, are the subjects of whole courses. As such, this course will not delve into the theoretical underpinnings of these topics but instead serve as a practical guide to them as they relate to energy, an approach in keeping with the scope of the course. Secondly, modules two through four contain lectures that will seek to illustrate energy issues through case studies. These will generally contrast how an energy issue is being dealt with by one or more countries facing different needs.

full syllabus >