The course provides a brief overview of how electricity markets function and the role of renewables in decarbonization. It also describes the costs of the energy transition and its impact on income distribution equity.
In the second part, the course introduces energy system models and optimization techniques used to analyze decarbonization pathways. It presents the tools for constructing and comparing energy scenarios, assessing the costs of reducing emissions, and understanding the role of investments in the transition. The goal is to provide a quantitative understanding of how policies, technologies, and economic constraints influence the evolution of the energy system.
The course is organized into two modules, each of which is divided into subtopics.
- Module 1 - Electricity markets, renewables, and the just transition
- Electricity markets: how they work, challenges, and solutions
- Renewables: incentives, intermittency, and flexibility
- Justice: the costs of the energy transition and who will pay for it
- Module 2 - Modeling, optimization, and scenarios for a just and sustainable energy transition
- Energy system modeling: how to represent the energy system, sectoral interactions, and technological characteristics
- Optimization and linear programming: decision variables, constraints, objective functions, and the structure of ESOMs
- Decarbonization costs: marginal and average abatement cost curves, sector-specific mitigation potential
- Finance and investment in the transition: hurdle rates, cost of capital, and their impact on technology deployment and system evolution
Each week includes several lessons, consisting of videos, written texts, infographics, and assessment quizzes.
Students will be able to take their first steps toward:
- identifying renewable energy sources and classifying them
discussing the limitations and advantages of intermittent renewable energy sources and proposing possible solutions to the main problems they create in the electricity market
assess how the energy transition may impact different income groups - interpret the structure of an energy model and explain the relationships between technologies, sectors, and energy flows within an energy system
- apply linear optimization methods to calculate solutions for energy systems subject to technological, economic, and environmental constraints
- Analyze alternative energy scenarios, select relevant assumptions, and compare the impacts on emissions, costs, and the technology mix.
- Assess the costs of reducing emissions and evaluate the role of different sectors in the effectiveness of decarbonization strategies.
- Create optimal configurations of energy systems and propose transition strategies based on models, economic metrics, and supportive policies.
Quiz Assessment
There will also be exercises and quizzes available to assess your progress and reinforce what you’ve learned.
None
Valeria Di Cosmo
Laura Savoldi
Matteo Nicoli
valeria.dicosmo@unito.it
laura.savoldi@polito.it
matteo.nicoli@unito.it
For technical issues:
edvancedeh@unito.it