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所在平台: Coursera |
课程主页: https://www.coursera.org/learn/the-sustainability-imperative
课程评论：没有评论
课程名称：可持续性的迫切性 课程概述：在本课程中，学习者将从宏观层面审视当前世界的状况，探讨气候变化、塑料污染、社会不平等以及导致我们现状的经济体系。学习者将调查这种经济体系无法自我维持的原因，以及为何需要迅速转型。我们将定义可持续性、可持续发展的含义以及联合国的可持续发展目标。 鉴于变化是必然的，我们将重点关注能源，尤其是电力生产，因为这是当前广泛认同的气候变化主要原因。课程将说明其原因，并探索减少碳排放的途径，例如从煤炭和天然气过渡到风能和太阳能。我们将介绍碳足迹的概念及其计算方法，学习者可以在不同的电源选项下计算自己的个人碳足迹，并探索若转向可再生能源时，个人碳足迹将如何变化。 课程大纲： 1. **设定舞台：可持续性的迫切性** 本模块将介绍当前世界的状态，从气候变化及其影响到海洋酸化，探讨人类对植物和动物的影响，以及塑料污染的问题。虽然这些话题较为压抑，但我们也将结尾处分享一些科学家、环保主义者和企业家们所推动的积极变化。 2. **我们如何到达这里？** 本模块将讲解气候变化原因的科学基础，分析碳排放、温室气体效应及碳循环等内容，并探讨气候变化与经济增长的关系，以及联合国可持续发展目标的概念。 3. **可持续性、社会公平与经济** 本模块关注温室气体的主要来源——化石燃料的消费，特别是煤炭和天然气对电力生成的影响，讨论它们在全球使用的经济因素，以及可再生能源的转型对环境的影响。 4. **化石燃料和变革的必要性** 本模块介绍化石燃料的来源和电力生成过程，分析不同发电方式与温室气体排放之间的关系，讨论核能的利与弊，以及向净零电力生成技术的过渡所带来的积极变化。 5. **可再生能源：技术与经济** 本模块介绍太阳能、风能和水电等可再生能源技术，探讨向可再生能源的转型如何降低碳排放并具备经济可行性，同时关注能源存储技术的进步及未来的发展趋势。 6. **我的碳足迹是多少？** 本模块将帮助学习者评估个人碳足迹，了解如何通过提高能效和转向可再生能源来降低碳排放，包括家庭能源使用的具体分析和可再生能源的应用。 通过本课程，学习者将掌握可持续发展的基本概念，认识到个人行为对全球气候变化的影响，并了解到通过各种途径进行环境与社会改善的必要性。
Name:Setting the Stage: The Sustainability Imperative
Description:In this module, we set the stage for the entire course. You will learn about the current state of the world, ranging from climate change and its consequences to ocean acidification. We then see how climate change and our own direct impacts such as deforestation are affecting the plants and animals that share this planet with us. We then turn our attention to the problem of plastic pollution, and how this is rapidly becoming a crisis of monumental proportions. Some have even suggested that we humans are changing the planet in so many ways that we’re entering a new geological epoch referred to as the Anthropocene. Of course, sustainability is more than just an environmental issue. To this point, we will discuss the social inequity across the globe, and how those at the bottom of the economic pyramid often suffer the most. While this may seem a rather depressing start to the course, we need to understand the magnitude of the challenges facing us and our current understanding behind them if we are ever going to get to a more sustainable future. With that in mind, we conclude with some uplifting initiatives pioneered by scientists, environmentalists, entrepreneurs and often just passionate individuals that want to make a difference.
Name:How did we get here?
Description:In this module, you will learn why the climate is changing using the latest science-based understanding. We start with an explanation of carbon emissions, the greenhouse gas effect, and the carbon cycle. You will learn where these emissions are coming from, notably the production of energy, transportation, and agriculture to name a few. We then discuss organizations such as the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the models predicting future scenarios about climate impacts based on carbon emissions and our actions to reduce them (or not). Understanding these scenarios, you will see why 2030 is such an important milestone to transition from fossil fuels to more renewable resources. You will learn that many of our global challenges such as climate change are a result of an intense focus on never ending economic growth pursued by most nations around the world. Competition among businesses is a good thing. Yet without accounting for costs known as “externalities”, you will see how business growth readily leads to social inequity, natural resource depletion and environmental degradation. We finally introduce the concepts of sustainability and sustainable development, and how the UN has defined several “Sustainable Development Goals” for the future. We introduce the “IPAT” equation and relate that to what happens as the planet continues to grow to 9+ billion people, all wanting the same quality of life as that of so-called developed nations.
Name:Sustainability, Social Equity, and Economics
Description:In this module, we focus our attention on the largest source of greenhouse gases on the planet, the consumption of fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas and oil. Specifically, we show how coal and natural gas are used to generate electricity and why oil is used in transportation, and the economic factors of why their use is so widespread around the world. You will learn about coal, the driver of the industrial economy for the past 250 years and why its use is actually decreasing these days, being replaced by natural gas as the primary fuel for power generation. You’ll learn why natural gas has a lower carbon footprint, thus leading to its characterization as a “clean fuel” and why some believe this is a necessary “bridge fuel” as we transition to more renewables. Finally, we revisit the climate change models from Module 2 and see what happens under different scenarios of energy production. The world’s population is increasing, and people need access to energy. You will understand how a “status quo” approach to future power generation leads to irreversible temperature increases, and why this is the “existential threat” we often hear about.
Name:Fossil Fuels and the Need for Change
Description:In this module, we look at how energy is produced today. We start by understanding what we mean by “fossil fuels”, and where they come from. We then turn our attention to how we get electricity by burning them in a power plant. We’ll go into how a power plant works, so you can understand what the coal or natural gas is actually doing in the process of producing electricity. We then examine the relationship between how electricity is produced and the quantity of greenhouse gases that are created. This will be a useful thing to know as we evaluate our own energy usage, and therefore our own contributions to greenhouse gases. Any discussion of energy needs to include nuclear energy. Today this remains is a highly controversial issue, as there are many pros and cons to nuclear power plants. We’ll go over a few of those so you can make up your own mind if nuclear energy needs to be in the mix for the future. Finally, we end on a bright note illustrating that many positive changes are taking place when it comes to transitioning to net zero power generation technologies - technologies that are inherently more environmentally friendly and even less expensive than the traditional fossil fuel technologies used today.
Name:Renewable Energy: Technologies and Economics
Description:In this module, you will learn about renewable energy technologies such as solar power, wind power, and hydroelectric power. In Module 3, you learned why the transition to renewables is imperative. You’ll see in this module that the transition is already underway, in part because of lower carbon emissions but also because it makes financial sense; the innovations and manufacturing economies of scale make renewables the lowest cost source of energy today and even more so in the near future. You’ll then learn how transitioning to renewables is not the complete answer; we also need energy storage for when the sun doesn’t shine or wind doesn’t blow. Yet energy storage technologies have also made considerable advances in the past decade. For instance, you’ll see how batteries designed for EV’s have enabled cost-effective energy storage for grid applications. We’ll discuss how the transition to renewables is expected to take place, and the timelines for how long it will take. Finally, you’ll learn about new technologies that are getting a lot of attention these days, from electricity generated by ocean tides to renewable biogas from food waste. We’ll introduce the companies and entrepreneurs driving these innovations, and how they fit into our sustainable energy future.
Name:What's my Carbon Footprint?
Description:In this module, you will determine your personal carbon footprint based on the electricity necessary power your home or apartment, and the energy you consume to heat it. With that as a baseline, you’ll learn how to reduce your carbon footprint by using less energy in the first place, and by switching to renewable energy sources. We begin with how to interpret your energy bill from the utility company, and how much you pay per unit of energy. You’ll then estimate where all that energy is going, based on consumption patterns for a typical home. From here, you’ll determine your personal energy footprint, knowing how your utility generates electricity and how you heat your home. You quickly recognize the big energy consumers in your home, contributing the most to your personal carbon energy footprint. We’ll then transition to how to reduce your carbon footprint, beginning with the idea of efficiency, where you’ll see that simply switching to more energy efficient devices can provide the same degree of personal comfort yet dramatically reduce your energy consumption, and in many cases reduce your overall energy costs. Once you maximize your efficiency, you’ll see what happens to your personal carbon footprint when you switch from to renewables. We’ll discuss residential solar panels, local solar projects, and utility-scale wind and solar farms, and how to support the transition to renewables in your community.
In this course, learners begin with a macro-level view of the current state of the world and touch upon topics such as climate change, plastic pollution, social inequity, and the economic systems that got us to where we are today. Learners investigate how such an economy cannot sustain itself and the need for a rapid transition to something different. We define sustainability, the meaning of sustainable development, and the United Nations' Sustainability Goals. Recognizing that change is imperative, we begin looking at energy, and more specifically, power generation as this is widely understood as the leading cause of climate change today. We show why this is the case and explore pathways to reduce carbon emissions, such as through the transition from coal and natural gas to renewables such as wind and solar. The concept of the carbon footprint and how it is determined is introduced. Learners have the opportunity to calculate their own personal carbon footprint under a variety of power source options (coal, natural gas, or renewable), and discover what would happen to their personal carbon footprint if they moved toward renewable energies.
