Our reliance on energy systems has been increasing consistently since the industrial revolution. This reliance has increased significantly with the ongoing revolutions in technology. While multiple alternate sources of energy are being used and researched, coal, oil, and gas continue to be the world’s top energy sources accounting for about 65% of global demand. This over reliance on fossil fuels has resulted in an unprecedented emission of CO2 and other greenhouse gases, triggering the first man made geological age, one that threatens the existence of all living species on earth. It is unlikely that we will reduce our energy needs anytime soon, which makes it critical to find alternate energy sources that can fuel our energy needs, while avoiding any negative impact on our environmental ecosystems. Through this course, we will explore why we need renewable energy sources, what’s wrong with the current energy systems and what options are available to us outside of regular sources of coal, oil, and gas. We will study the operation of various renewable energy sources, including wind energy, solar energy, hydropower, biogas, hydrogen fuel cells, and tidal energy. While using the current energy production and consumption patterns, we will try to speculate on the energy needs of Pakistan in the coming decades. The course is supported through a lab, where students get to work on multiple renewable devices, analyzing their functioning and limitations.
