Energy Decisions, Markets, and Policies (Spring 2012)

• Video lectures
• Lecture notes
• Assignments: written (no examples)

• Instructor insights

This course examines the choices and constraints regarding sources and uses of energy by households, firms, and governments through a number of frameworks to describe and explain behavior at various levels of aggregation. Examples include a wide range of countries, scope, settings, and analytical approaches.

This course is one of many OCW Energy Courses, and it is a core subject in MIT's undergraduate Energy Studies Minor. This Institute-wide program complements the deep expertise obtained in any major with a broad understanding of the interlinked realms of science, technology, and social sciences as they relate to energy and associated environmental challenges.

1. This Course and The U.S. Energy System.
2. Comparative Energy Systems.
3. U.S. Energy Problems.
4. The Market and The State.
5. Path Dependence in Energy Systems.
6. Climate Science and Policy.
8. Economics of Energy Demand.
9. Energy Use by Individuals and Households.
10. Normative Frameworks for Business Decisions.
11. Business Decisions in Reality: CHP at Hexion.
12. Organizational Decision-Making: Biodiesel at MIT.
13. Developing Profitable Strategies.
14. Innovation and Energy Business Models.
15. Non-Renewable Energy Resources.
16. Shale: Opportunities & Challenges.
17. (Yesterday's &) Today's Electric Power System.
18. Tomorrow's Electric Power System.
19. Making Public Policy.
20. Social Movements.
21. U.S. Environment Policy.
22. Economic Development & Green Growth.