Sustainable Energy
Learn to critically analyze modern energy technologies from engineering and socio-political perspectives, and gain the skills necessary to help the world meet rising energy demand while reducing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions driving climate change.
Course Information
Certificate Track
Learn for Free
About this Course
Climate change is an urgent global challenge demanding engineering solutions and large-scale, systems-oriented coordination. In Sustainable Energy, you’ll join thousands of global learners in examining conventional and renewable energy generation technologies, studying how they are deployed throughout the world, and evaluating their roles in the future energy landscape. Technologies include solar power, wind power, storage, nuclear power, hydropower, and bioenergy.
In addition to technological components, you’ll become familiar with the economic, political, and social dimensions of energy project planning. Professionals from diverse backgrounds must work together to determine pathways to decarbonization amidst scientific uncertainty and unique geopolitical challenges. You will be presented with advanced tools and strategies to explore pathways to decarbonization in specific contexts, and to build consensus among stakeholders.
The course is instructed by Michael Golay, Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Additional experts in various technologies will offer guest lectures, including:
Dr. Patrick Brown, National Renewable Energy Lab
Dr. Diane Rigos, MIT Energy Initiative
Dr. Alex Kalmikov, Lead Data Scientist, Aetna
Dr. Francis O' Sullivan, Orsted North America
Dr. Charles Forsberg, MIT Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering
Dr. Donald Sadoway, MIT Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Dr. Dennis Whyte, MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center
Dr. Zach Hartwig, MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center
Dr. Gregory Stephanopoulos, MIT Department of Chemical Engineering
Dr. Vrushank Phadnis, MIT Department of Mechanical Engineering
What you'll learn
- How to critically evaluate key features, opportunities, and challenges associated with modern energy technologies, and understand how these factors shape their contributions to global decarbonization
- Use systems-level tools and skills to analyze the technological, economic, and socio-political dimensions of real-world energy projects
- Build consensus among involved stakeholders to achieve sustainability goals
Prerequisites
- Strong English skills recommended
- Ability to perform mathematical operations, study of calculus is helpful
- College-level study of physics, engineering, and/or environmental science is helpful
Meet your instructors
Michael Golay
Director, Reactor Technology Course for Utility Executives
DR. MICHAEL W. GOLAY is a professor of nuclear science and engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he has worked since 1971. He is director of the Reactor Technology Course for Utility Executives and the Nuclear Operational Risk Management Course, both cosponsored by MIT and the National Academy for Nuclear Training.
Most recently he has focused his research and teaching upon improving nuclear power performance both in the United States and internationally, particularly through use of probabilistic and dynamic methods of analysis. He has also been an active advisor to governmental and industrial organizations, particularly concerning risk-informed regulation and nuclear performance improvement.
Professor Golay received his Ph.D. in nuclear engineering from Cornell University in 1969 and performed post-doctoral research at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. In 1980 he was a visiting researcher at Electricité de France, and in 2016 was a visiting professor at Tokyo Institute of Technology. He has served on the National Academy of Sciences Study Committee on Lessons from the Fukushima Accident, INPO Advisory Council, the NRC’s Research Review Committee, and national laboratory and nuclear power plant oversight committees. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and of the American Nuclear Society.
