Energy Policy, Markets and Law - 2019 entry

The module provides an introduction to the key elements that shape which energy technologies are deployed, and how policy, economic and social factors can shape innovation and deployment of new energy technologies. The module introduces and explains basic elements such as how legislation is introduced and used as a tool to shape policy, and then moves from there to explain UK and other renewable energy policy, the barriers to growth and the successes and failures of different policy instruments. Students should finish the module with both an understanding of what shapes policy the shape of current UK renewable energy policy.

There are no pre-requisites for this module and it is available to all students.

1) To provide candidates with the opportunity to develop sound understanding of basic economic principles and knowledge of how these apply in the energy sector;

2) To provide an introduction to the legal principles and instruments guiding project developments and their effects on the environment;

3) To provide candidates with an understanding of the basic structure of the market for electricity delivery and an introduction to regulation pertinent to its operation;

4) To enable an understanding of both the social, economic and other diverse barriers to deployment of renewable energy sources and the policy instruments that have been employed to overcome them;

5) To introduce candidates to other elements of sustainable energy practice and the policy relating to it, for example, energy efficiency, demand side management and smart grids.

Module Specific Skills and Knowledge:

To gain:

1. An understanding of market forces affecting the energy sector and be able to put these into a renewable energy context;

2. Understanding of the way that macro-economic and environmental issues affect the thinking of government worldwide and how this is converted into policy;

3. An appreciation of the role that renewable energy and energy efficiency can have in national, regional and local economies, recognising the comparative advantages and disadvantages of the different technologies In the energy system;

4. An understanding of the basis and origins of energy policy and specifically of renewable energy policy;

5. To comprehend and be able to explain the main issues within renewable energy policy in the UK and beyond;

6. A basic understanding of the English legal system as it applies to environmental legislation;

7. A basic understanding of the role of EC legislation in environmental and energy law and policy;

8. An understanding of, and an ability to access, UK and EC legislation. regulation and directives on the environment.

Discipline Specific Skills and Knowledge:

9. Develop an increased ability to communicate effectively in a manner appropriate to the discipline, specifically considering written submission of academic work.

Personal and Key Transferable/ Employment Skills and Knowledge:

10. An enhanced ability to develop research strategies, to select appropriate data from a range of sources, to assimilate information, to plan and prepare written essay/reports;

11. Improved skills relating to producing documents to a professional standard.

Week 1:

1) Introduction to Energy Policy and Markets

2) World and UK Energy Use: Past, Present and Future

Week 2:

3) Introduction to Sustainable Development

4) Introduction to the Operation of National Economies

Week 3:

5) The Supply of Electricity: Delivery and Market Structure

Week 4:

6) Introduction to the UK and EU Legislative System

7) Renewable Energy: Why and why not?  Barriers to Renewable Energy

Week 5:

8) Stimulation of Renewable Energy Technology

9) Tariff Mechanisms

10) Quota Mechanisms

Week 6:

11) Auction Mechanisms

12) A Comparison of Tariff and Quota Mechanisms

Week 7:

13) Contracts for Difference

Week 8:

14) Other Elements of UK Renewable Energy Policy

15) Supporting Technological Change & Renewable Energy Policy Instruments: Some Key Points

Week 9:

16) Policy Application: how might lessons of renewable electricity policy impact on renewable heat policy?

17) Energy Efficiency and Demand Side Management

Week 10:

18) Fuel Poverty

Week 11:

19) Future Energy Needs and Policy: Smart grids, district heating and more

The module is taught with x 1.5 hour sessions per week, for an eleven week period, typically covering one of these topics in each session. Some however are shorter and these are covered consecutively in the same session. The module concludes with two revision sessions at the start of term 3.

4 piece of CW 100%, extended essay
 

Web based and Electronic Resources:

ELE: http://vle.exeter.ac.uk/                                                                  

ELE page will contain links to reading material and other items of interest.

A purpose written glossary of relevant terms is provided to students via the module ELE page.

Students are provided with a list of recommended reading at the end of each lecture, along with websites and data to find academic papers.

Other Resources:

Ekins, P., Bradshaw, M. & Watson, J., Global Energy: Issues, Potential and Policy Implications, Oxford University Press (2015) - (Ebook available from the Library)

Jacobs D., Renewable energy policy convergence in the EU, Routledge (2016) - (Ebook available from the Library)

Reading list for this module: