ECONOMICS OF ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT
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- Versione italiana
- Academic year
- 2022/2023
- Teacher
- ROBERTO FAZIOLI
- Credits
- 8
- Didactic period
- Secondo Semestre
- SSD
- SECS-P/03
Training objectives
- The course of "Energy and Environmental Economics" has the aim to provide awareness about fundamental relationships between each economics acts and, first of all, their need for energy sources other than, this environmental impacts.
As a consequence, this course is split in two striclty interrelated parts.
Firt part start with an introduction to the history of energy and to the impact of the energy sources and related technology transitions on the economic and geopolitical systems.
The energy/technology relation is analysed so as to help the understanding of the issues related to the transition from fossil fuels to other energy sources.
Second part will be focused on "sustainability's aspects" of each human energy consumption and specificated for each source of energy production. Particular attention will be dedicated to the concept of "environmenteal trace" in relation to the "Energy&Environmental balance Sheet". Prerequisites
- None
Course programme
- Section I
1.1. Energy sources and history developments
• Introduction. Energy as the capacity for doing work
• From food to slaves. Energy and the agricultural revolution
• From sun to fossil formation. Energy revolution v. Industrial revolution
• Source and machinery. Technology and the evolution of prime movers
• English coal and American oil. Source availability as a lever of development and supremacy.
1.2. The geopolitics of hydrocarbons
• The American Century (1859-1959). Domestic production and its influence on foreign policy
• Balancing needs. The producer-consumer relation from “property” to “market”
• Interlude. On how petroleum is born and why some we call “”unconventional”.
• “Conventional” v. “Unconventional”. The different production model, and therefore time to market. The “shale revolution” and the role of the independent producers in the US
• Conventional hydrocarbons and the Rentier State model. The role of energy resources rent for the socio-political stability of the producing countries
• Refining capacity and the world market interexchange of crude and its products
• Natural gas under the weight of its infrastructure. The difficult transition from a regional to a “liquid” market
• From paucity to abundance. How hydrocarbons demand has and will likely evolve
• On energy security. Independence, diversification, overcapacity
1.3. Living without fossil fuels
• The energy basket and its evolution
• The power griud
• Renewable sources. Intermittency and energy storage
• The economics of being renewable. Market, externalities, grid parity
• Transition policies. Carbon taxation v. renewable incentives.
• On planning and discount rates Didactic methods
- lectures, wherein a strong students-teacher interaction is expected.
Learning assessment procedures
- Until the end of Covid19's emergence, students have to face a Verbal Speech both on the entire "Programme" and on a predefined focused Item, the so-called "Tesina", chosen and written (Word or Power Point) by student but after my acceptation.
Reference texts
-
Reference books will be supplemented with on line materials
ESSENTIAL REFERENCES
1. “Obiettivo Sostenibilità: il difficile cammino della transizione energetica” di Roberto Fazioli, TAB Edizioni, Roma, marzo 2021.
2. "Appunti di Economia dell'Energia", di Roberto Fazioli e Donato Lenza, Ed. VoltaLaCarta, Ferrara, marzo 2021.
FURTHER IMPORTANT REFERENCES
“The Economic History of World Population”, Cipolla C.M., Londra, 1962. Trad. It. “Uomini, Tecniche, Economie”, IlMulino Ed., Bologna, 2013.
“Il Prezzo del Petrolio”, Nicolazzi M., Boroli Ed., Milano 2009.
