pre041 - Sustainability of Renewable Energy (Complete module description)

Module label	Sustainability of Renewable Energy
Module code	pre041
Credit points	6.0 KP
Workload	180 h
Institute directory	Institute of Physics
Applicability of the module	Master's Programme Sustainability Economics and Management (Master) > Supplementary Modules Sustainable Renewable Energy Technologies (Master) > Mastermodule
Responsible persons	Torio, Herena (authorised to take exams) Torio, Herena (module responsibility) Agert, Carsten (module responsibility)
Prerequisites
Skills to be acquired in this module	After successful completion of the module students should be able to: - analyse, and critically compare and evaluate selected sustainability concepts and strategies addressing renewable energy systems - critically appraise and analyse the principles and implications of selected scientific methods and theories for a sustainable energy supply - critically evaluate the suitability and meaningfulness of different sustainability indicators, theories, methods and practices regarding their role and impact for developed countries, on the one hand, and developing countries, on the other - perform an integral assessment, involving several relevant aspects related to the sustainability of a particular real-life renewable energy project as well as identify the main barriers, potentials and driving factors for improving it - perform a literature review on selected sustainability approaches to a professional standard and extract the main related conclusions, and arguing critically on them - present data and information both verbally and in the written form, including quotation to a professional standard
Module contents	The module “Sustainability of RE Systems” provides the theoretical background for understanding main concepts and interdisciplinary scientific methods from the context as well as their role in the sustainability debate. Sustainability Seminar (Lecture & Seminar ‑ 180 h workload) - Strategies and dimensions in sustainability research and discussion: efficiency, consistency and sufficiency, as well as related concepts (e.g. rebound) - Growth/De-growth and decoupling of growth and emission - Life-cycle analysis - Thermodynamic methods: exergy, EROI and related approaches - Social indicators and their relation to energy use - Economic indicators and related paradigms in the context of energy consumption - Resilience and its operationalisation for energy systems - Methods for developing and assess socio-technical scenarios
Recommended reading	Bruntland report: Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development: Our Common Future. UN Reports. Link: www.un-documents.net/our-common-future.pdf Pelenc et al. 2015. Weak sustainability vs strong sustainability. Brief for GSDR, 2015. Link:https ://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/6569122-Pelenc-Weak%20Sustainability%20versus%20Strong%20Sustainability.pdf Jackson T., 2009. Prosperity without growth - Economics for a finite planet. Earthscan- London-Sterling VA, 2009 LCSDSN, 2015. Indicators and a Monitoring Framework for the Sustainable Development Goals Launching a data revolution for the SDGs. Leadership Council of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network. Kumar et al. 2017. A review of multi criteria decision making (MCDM) towards sustainable renewable energy development. Renewable and sustainable energy reviews, 69 (2017), pp. 596-609.
Links
Language of instruction	English
Duration (semesters)	1 Semester
Module frequency
Module capacity	unlimited
Type of module	Pflicht / Mandatory
Module level	MM (Mastermodul / Master module)

Type of course	SWS	Frequency	Workload of compulsory attendance
Lecture	2	WiSe	28
Seminar	2	SuSe and WiSe	28
Total module attendance time			56 h

Examination	Prüfungszeiten	Type of examination
Final exam of module	At the end of the lecture period (presentation) and end of semester (report)	1 Examination: Presentation of a Paper (presentation - 20 minutes and written report 15 pages) or Term Paper (15 pages)