Overview
Taught in the fall, Professor Travis Bradford explores existing energy sources and the infrastructures that deliver them are undergoing a period of rapid change. Limits to growth, fluctuating raw material prices, and the emergence of new technologies contribute to heightened risk and opportunity in the energy sector. This course aims to establish a core energy skill set for students and prepare them for more advanced coursework by introducing a foundational language and toolset for analyzing energy issues.
Reviews and Tips
- A must take course within the CEE and SIPA curriculum for anyone interested in energy. Coming into SIPA without a lot of knowledge and background in energy, ESF was a foundational course to bring me up to speed and make it clear that I am interested in the field of energy. The course load is more intense than most SIPA classes both in terms of instructional time and workload, but it pays off. There is a real community in the class as you will be taking it with most of your CEE cohort, but be sure to also engage with students outside of the CEE concentration. The problem sets can be challenging at times, so make sure to go to TA office hours, but they prepare you well for both the exams and other courses. All in all, ESF is a class that will both teach you key things about energy, how to think in systems, and practical concepts such as levelized cost of energy, etc… Helpful tips: Make sure to read his book as it very informative for the problem sets and exams. Then also, do not forget to send weekly articles to him to get a high participation grade (I found that making sure to analyze what I was sending critically and how it applied to what we learned was crucial).
- This is a great class to learn everything about the energy system. Helpful tips: participate during class and do your best to read the book!
- Amazing way to get a holistic and detailed view of the energy sector to be credible when discussing with energy experts, think critically about energy related news and ultimately, have the tools to build your own conviction about a sector undergoing transformation. Amazing professor, a must at SIPA!