DENSYS Curriculum

Foreword

How the program is structured

Year 1

Year 2

Partners

Explore

Breadth courses (mandatory)

Energy resources [820730]

Teaching Unit (for year 2): Breadth courses (mandatory)

Face-to-face time

⁠
`40`
⁠
hours

Student workload

⁠
`85`
⁠
hours

ECTS

⁠
`5`
⁠
⁠

Responsible Teacher

Lluis BATET

Universistat Politecnica de Catalunya

CTTC - Thermal engines department

⁠

Aims of the teaching

The course intends to provide an overarching outlook of the energy systems from different standing points. In order to do so, during the course, transversal concepts complementing and synthesising the contents of other courses will be introduced. Moreover, the analyses will encompass a broad spectrum of disciplines, from science and technology to economics, and to other social sciences and humanities.

The course is structured around a series of conferences and practical sessions, which provide the skeleton supporting the other course activities. The conferences will equip the students with elements of thought and reflection about several aspects of the energy systems. A number of "practical" sessions will be programmed, which will be of two types. In some sessions students (working in teams) will try to solve a set of exercises related to the contents of the course, under the guidance of the teacher. In other sessions, students will participate in workshops, discussions, and debates related to some Social Sciences and Humanties aspects of Energy (this part of the course is aligned with the TEACHENER project, http://www.teachener.eu/, an ERASMUS+ project partnered by UPC).

Upon the completion of the course, the student should be able to:

Explain the need for energy and its relationship to sustainable human development.

Describe all the transformations that energy suffers from its state as "energy source" to its use as "energy service".

Highlight the multiple implications (for society, environment, economy, etc.) of an energy system's structure.

Perform basic calculations about the performance of different energy systems: energy balances (input-output), environmental impact, economic cost, energy storage needs, etc.

To raise students' awareness of aspects such as energy efficiency, environmental impact minimization, security of supply, etc.

To raise students' awareness of social aspects of energy use.

Intended Learning outcomes (measured by the assessment)

The course evaluation is based in the student self-learning activities (40%), in the tutored course team project (30%), in small activities done in the classroom (10%) and in a final exam (20%).

The self-learning activities are split into exercises (10% - 20%) and other (20% - 30%). There will be a validation exam of these activities and of the course team project. Only after positive validation the mark obtained for the activity will be considered definitive.

In summary:

20% Final exam

30% Tutored course project

40% Other individual or team activities along the semester

10% Attendance and participation in theoretical and practical sessions

Learning activities and approach

E-learning (online)

Lectures (onsite)

30h

Tutorials (onsite)

10h

Useful information

Location

-Escola Tècnica Superior d’Enginyeries Industrials de Barcelona (ETSEIB)

Practical work equipment

Other information

Assessment method

Practical work group, proposed exercises, written exam (the percentage distribution is detailed in UPC courses guides

⁠

https://estudis.etseib.upc.edu/ca/degree/1387⁠

)

Prerequisites

Fundamentals of thermodynamics, fluid mechanics and heat transfer necessary to understand the operation of the motor thermal machines.

Related literature

Smil, Vaclav. Energy at the crossroads: global perspectives and uncertainties. Cambridge, Massachusetts; London: The MIT Press, cop. 2003. ISBN 0262194929.

Smil, Vaclav. Power Density: A Key to Understanding Energy Sources and Uses. Boston: The MIT Press, 2015. ISBN 9780262029148.

Rifkin, Jeremy. The Third Industrial Revolution: How Lateral Power Is Transforming Energy, the Economy, and the World. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2013. ISBN 9780230341975.

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