The hard deadline for quizzes for Certificate is 8 April.

Sun 7 Apr 2013 9:35 PM CEST

As we announced last week the hard deadline for quizzes to receive a Certificate-of-Completion is Monday 8 May.

I will miss our interaction discussing important energy facts and issues. We have covered many aspects of energy - how energy is coupled to society and economy to the different forms of energy to energy independence to energy conversion to power technologies to carbon emissions and electric cars and finally to energy prices.

There are certainly many more important topics, as you have indicated. I am hoping to offer a follow up course later but the time and exact form is yet to be decided.

If you are interested, I will be sending tweets out on @energy_gt regarding timely energy issues as they appear in the news. It would be great to continue to interact with you. It was a pleasure having all of you enrolled in my course and participating in the online forums. I hope you became better informed and I wish you the very best.

Regards,
Sam V Shelton, PhD
Strategic Energy Institute
Georgia Institute of Technology
sam.shelton@energy.gatech.edu
@energy_gt

Sat 6 Apr 2013 11:57 PM CEST

I wanted to let you know that the hard deadline for all the quizzes is a week from the closure of the course. You will be able to finish any of your remaining quizzes until April 8th after which the quizzes will not be graded. Everyone who has scored above 70% in the quizzes is eligible for a certificate. Certificates will be issued within a month from the last day of quiz.

Regards,
Sam V Shelton

Sun 31 Mar 2013 4:00 PM CEST

The course comes to a close this week with an assortment of important energy topics of current interest. We have not had much time to discuss the important topic of the cost of energy and we will look at the biggest driver, fossil fuel prices. The price of oil, coal, and natural gas supplies about 85% of our total energy and therefore is the backdrop for any new energy technologies and their deployment. It is therefore prudent for us to understand how these fossil fuel prices are determined.

Low natural gas prices and high gasoline prices are in the news with lots of questions being asked. The first module this week discusses the price relationship between these two as well as coal. The next module looks at what determines the price of the most expensive of the three, oil, and why this price does not seem to be influenced by US production increases. The part played by OPEC, and in particular Saudi Arabia, in influencing the price of oil in the US as well as the rest of the world is discussed.

Similar to economic savings resulting from electric cars using electricity rather than gasoline, natural gas is priced about three to four times cheaper than gasoline. In the next module, we discuss the potential and barriers to deploying more natural gas vehicles in the US.

In the forth module, I comment on some of the topics you suggested. Most of these are technologies in the R&D phase. Predicting which of these will see successful development on a commercial basis is problematic. It depends on the quality of the research, the dollars committed to the research, and the ability to attract puplic and private sector funding for commercialization. We need to remember that wind and solar technologies now being widely deployed have been under research and development for 50 years.

As we close out the course, the last lecture looks back over the course and summarizes some Energy 101 conclusions.

I really appreciate the interaction and comments you have given. The course was introductory in nature with no previous knowledge required, but covered the complexities of our energy issues. I hope you have gained an increased understanding of the opportunities and practicalities of moving the US energy system to a more sustainable system in terms of national security, balance of payments, and carbon emissions.

Respectfully,

Sam V Shelton, PhD
Strategic Energy Institute
Georgia Tech

Sat 23 Mar 2013 7:00 PM CET

Welcome to Week 8, our next to last week of Energy 101. Now that we have covered fundamentals of energy supply, conversion and use, we turn ourselves to using that knowledge to look at the much discussed climate change issue of carbon dioxide emissions, commonly referred to as simply carbon emissions. We will see that over 95% of global warming gases comes from our energy processes. The next topic has been one of the most popular forum topics; analyzing the impact of electric car deployment on carbon emissions. We will first discuss the sequence which different power generation technologies are turned on and off to supply the varying power loads throughout the day, week and year. This is needed to see which generating technologies are most likely to be brought on-line to supply the additional electricity required for charging electric cars.

There is one more week left for the course. I have left it to cover some of the many energy issues of popular interest. I have my own topics ready, but let me know your preferences early this week and hopefully I can quickly address a couple of them.

Respectfully,

Sam V Shelton, PhD
Strategic Energy Institute
Georgia Tech

Sat 16 Mar 2013 3:50 PM CET

Hello,

Hope you had a “great Spring Break” for week 6. I actually spend a relaxed week at a beautiful Florida beach. Welcome to a more interesting Week 7 than listening to lectures on scientific laws of nature. We will cover electric power technologies, both fossil fueled and renewable which are used to produce all of our electrical power to drive our lights, air conditioning, industrial motors, computers and our electronic gizmos we love.

Today, approximately 40% of our total natural energy consumed goes to drive electric power generating plants. Eighty-five percent of this electric power plant energy input is supplied as thermal energy (heat) produced from fossil fuel combustion and nuclear reactions, with the remainder supplied by renewable energy. As pointed out in Week 5, there are natural laws that place severe restrictions this thermal (heat) energy conversion to a high quality electric form. As a result of these laws, about two-third of this thermal energy used is rejected as unusable low temperature waste heat to rivers or the atmosphere. This week reviews the technology infrastructure built over the past century to carry out this conversion process that produces the electricity society desires. We then look at the rapidly growing renewable hydro, wind and solar electric conversion technologies.

There are a couple of suggested reading assignments, one a book from IEEE and the other a quick read from Wikipedia (all of which I do not agree with but it is a good overall perspective). Unfortunately, the book from IEEE is not free, but is not required.

Weeks 8 and 9 will close out the course discussing energy issues of current interest, such as carbon emissions and impacts of technologies such as electric cars. Keep up the great forum discussions.

Sam Shelton

Sun 10 Mar 2013 7:00 AM CET

Welcome to week 5 of Energy 101. This week we are discussing the laws of nature that place restrictions on converting energy form one form to another. These are best known as the Laws of Thermodynamics and are primary in determining how best to change our energy systems to better meet society’s needs. Typically, prerequisites for thermodynamics include calculus, chemistry and some physics. But we are not attempting to acquire a capability to use thermodynamic laws to design an energy conversion system such as a solar power tower. The purpose is for you to gain an understanding of the basic restrictions and which these laws place on the conversion of energy.

There are not any reading references appropriate for this level, but I have included two references that present the thermodynamic laws in the classical sense normally used in engineering thermodynamics classes. For you engineers, it will be a good review.

We will have a “Spring Break” for week 6 and you can go to the beach. Week 7 will cover electric power technologies, both fossil fueled and renewable. The demand for electric power is increasing as we buy more appliances and machines requiring electric power. Weeks 8 and 9 will close out the course discussing energy issues of current interest, such as carbon emissions and electric cars. Keep up the great forum discussions.

Regards,
Sam V Shelton

Sat 23 Feb 2013 4:00 PM CET

Hello and welcome to Week 4 of Energy 101.

The characteristics of the fossil fuel sources used to drive the US energy infrastructure have been discussed in the last couple of weeks. This week we discuss characteristics of the small but rapidly developing renewable solar and wind resources. Fossil fuels are stored in the ground and can be extracted upon demand, but solar and wind energy must be captured and used in real time as the sun and wind delivers it. The nature of these resources and their variation between different regions of the US are presented and discussed. Finally, we review all the energy sources covered to date and their relative utilization.

Here are the four modules that the fourth week will touch base on:
1. Solar Resources
2. Interactive Solar Map
3. Wind Resources
4. Energy Resources Summary

Now that we have completed one-third of the course, I continue to be impressed by the new educational opportunities opened up by MOOC’s.

Over my 35 years of teaching energy systems engineering, I have found that teaching the facts and fundamentals followed by putting them into practical context produces the best learning, understanding, and insights. The quality and depth of your forum posts and exchanges show this in-depth learning for Energy 101. I encourage everyone to participate in the forum.

All of the energy data presented comes from the US Department of Energy’s Energy Information Agency (EIA) available at: www.eia.gov It is a massive amount of factual energy data, both historical and current and is easily searched. The source of other unreferenced information comes from my own work or the reading assignments.

For those who have not yet started the course, you can still get started from the beginning.

I appreciate your participation and time invested to learn more about the complexities of energy. Hopefully you can have influence on the nature of future energy policy and future energy infrastructure that will be built to serve society’s needs.


Respectfully,
Sam V Shelton, PhD

Sat 16 Feb 2013 4:10 PM CET

Hello and welcome to Week 3 of Energy 101.

I hope everyone is ready for week 3. Reading assignments, lecture videos and quizzes and for week 3 of Energy 101 are up and running. Week 3 covers Natural Gas Liquids, Ethanol and Energy Independence. The nature and use of Natural Gas Liquids is presented along with its impact on US energy supply and import. The second module topic is Ethanol. Characteristics and current source of ethanol and its impact on US energy supply is discussed. The third topic discussed in some detail is US Energy Independence. This is presented in three modules. Its definition, what it means, and how oil entangles the US with other countries is presented. The linkage of the US economic and security with energy dependence is also discussed.

The five modules that the third week will touch base on are:
1. Natural Gas Liquids (NGL)
2. Ethanol
3. Energy Independence Part 1
4. Energy Independence Part 2
5. Energy Independence Part 3

Quizzes for week 3 are due end of the week.

Regards,

Sam Shelton

Sat 9 Feb 2013 6:00 PM CET

The energy data shown and used in Energy 101 comes from the US Energy Information Agency. (EIA}. It is massive and complete source of data easily available and searchable. Check it out at: http://www.eia.gov

Sat 9 Feb 2013 3:45 PM CET

Hello and welcome to Week 2 of Energy 101.

It was exciting to see all the enthusiasm from all the students on the forums in week 1. Material for week 2 of Energy 101 has been posted. The characteristics of fossil fuel energy sources used to meet society’s energy needs are presented. This is followed with data showing how these fossil fuels (coal, natural gas, and oil), are utilized.

The four modules that the second week will touch base on are:
1. Coal Source and Use
2. Natural Gas Source and Use
3. Oil Source and Use
4. Oil Imports

Quizzes for week 2 have been released and are due end of week 2.

Presentation slides for week 1 and week 2 lectures have been uploaded in "Schedule" section (see navigation bar on the left) due to a high demand for slides in the forums. This might be a useful resource for quizzes and for future reference.

Regards,

Sam Shelton

Sat 2 Feb 2013 6:00 PM CET

There seems to be some confusion with the data in module 3 for Week 1 titled "Energy Sources". The reference to earth is the extraction of energy sources from nature. The wording on this slide needs to be changed for clarification - the data presented is for energy sources in the US only. On the same slide titled "Earth's Energy Supplies" at 01:45, the table incorrectly shows that the supply of oil and natural gas is 26% and 36% respectively. These numbers are actually supposed to be flipped around. The source of oil is 36% and natural gas is 26%. The pie chart on 06:40 has the correct data. Sorry for the confusion in this module.

There were some questions in the forum asking what was score needed to get the certificate. Anyone who scores more than 70% on each the quizzes will be provided a digital copy of a certificate at the end of the course.

Best,

Sam Shelton

Tue 29 Jan 2013 8:32 PM CET

Hello and welcome to Week 1 of Energy 101.

During this first week the fundamental nature of our energy use and supply are presented. We will see how energy utilization in our society is intimately intertwined with our daily lives and the ways this energy use enhances a society’s quality-of-life. It will also be shown that a country’s economy is tightly coupled to the quantity of energy used. We will discuss how a society’s energy utilization requires maintaining a continuous supply of naturally occurring energy sources.

The four modules that the first week touches base are:
1. Energy Overview
2. Energy and Society
3. Energy and Economy
4. Energy Sources

Please feel free to go over the reading assignments and the quizzes and be active on the forums. Top questions with the highest votes under "Ask the Instructor and TA" section ["Q&A Forum"->"Ask the Instructor and TA"] will be answered every week.

Regards,

Sam Shelton

Mon 28 Jan 2013 8:28 PM CET

Dear Energy 101 Students,

Thank you for taking my class on Energy 101. This course focuses on the big energy picture giving perspective and context to the details one reads in the daily onslaught of energy news in the headlines. I hope you will enjoy it.

We are excited to be a part of the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) movement and we want to learn as much as we can about them in our research study. We therefore invite you to participate in occasional surveys that are part of the research study. The surveys will tell us about you, and how the course is working for you. The information you provide will help us make the course better.

Participation in the surveys is completely optional and will not affect your grade in the course in any way.

The course also includes an online forum which is also a part of the research study. Participation in the online forum is optional, and your participation or non-­participation in the forum will not affect your grade in any way either.

For your reference, here is a link to a PDF document to the consent form that describes the surveys and study in more detail.

https://spark-public.s3.amazonaws.com/energy101/MOOCAdultConsentForm.pdf

Thanks for your attention!

Best regards,

Dr. Sam Shelton

Thu 24 Jan 2013 4:00 AM CET