Readings

Here is a list of readings for the course. All readings are available on Brightspace.

Lecture 1

• IEA “Net Zero by 2050” (International Energy Agency, 2021), https://www.iea.org/reports/net-zero-by-2050.
• IRENA “Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2021” (Abu Dhabi: International Renewable Energy Agency, July 2021), https://www.irena.org/publications/2022/Jul/Renewable-Power-Generation-Costs-in-2021.
• Gang He et al. “Rapid Cost Decrease of Renewables and Storage Accelerates the Decarbonization of China’s Power System,” Nature Communications 11, no. 1 (May 19, 2020): 2486, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-16184-x.
• Neil Grant et al. “Cost Reductions in Renewables Can Substantially Erode the Value of Carbon Capture and Storage in Mitigation Pathways,” One Earth 4, no. 11 (November 19, 2021): 1588–1601, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2021.10.024.
• William W. Hogan “Energy Modeling for Policy Studies,” Operations Research 50, no. 1 (February 1, 2002): 89–95, https://doi.org/10.1287/opre.50.1.89.17803.
• Hillard G Huntington, John P Weyant, and James L Sweeney “Modeling for Insights, Not Numbers: The Experiences of the Energy Modeling Forum,” Omega 10, no. 5 (1982): 449–62, https://doi.org/10.1016/0305-0483(82)90002-0.
• Katherine Richardson et al. “Earth Beyond Six of Nine Planetary Boundaries,” Science Advances 9, no. 37 (September 13, 2023): eadh2458, https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adh2458.
• Will Steffen et al. “The Anthropocene: From Global Change to Planetary Stewardship,” Ambio 40, no. 7 (November 2011): 739–61, https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-011-0185-x.

Lecture 2

• Weston A Hermann “Quantifying Global Exergy Resources,” Energy 31, no. 12 (2006): 1685–1702, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0360544205001805.
• Jonathan Koomey et al. “Defining a Standard Metric for Electricity Savings,” Environmental Research Letters 5, no. 1 (2010): 014017, https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/5/1/014017.
• David Fridley et al. “Impacts of China’s 2010 to 2013 Mandatory Product Energy Efficiency Standards: A Retrospective and Prospective Look” (ACEEE, 2016), https://www.aceee.org/files/proceedings/2016/data/papers/5_131.pdf.
• Jordan Macknick “Energy and CO2 Emission Data Uncertainties,” Carbon Management 2, no. 2 (April 1, 2011): 189–205, https://doi.org/10.4155/cmt.11.10.
• James Hansen, Makiko Sato, and Reto Ruedy “Perception of Climate Change,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 109, no. 37 (September 2012): E2415–23, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1205276109.
• Martin L Weitzman “Gamma Discounting,” American Economic Review 91, no. 1 (2001): 260–71, https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.91.1.260.
• K. Arrow et al. “Determining Benefits and Costs for Future Generations,” Science 341, no. 6144 (July 26, 2013): 349–50, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1235665.
• Louis E. Yelle “The Learning Curve: Historical Review and Comprehensive Survey,” Decision Sciences 10, no. 2 (1979): 302–28, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5915.1979.tb00026.x.
• Arnulf Grübler, Nebojša Nakićenović, and David G Victor “Dynamics of Energy Technologies and Global Change,” Energy Policy 27, no. 5 (May 1999): 247–80, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0301-4215(98)00067-6.
• Goksin Kavlak, James McNerney, and Jessika E. Trancik “Evaluating the Causes of Cost Reduction in Photovoltaic Modules,” Energy Policy 123 (December 1, 2018): 700–710, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2018.08.015.
• Arnulf Grubler “The Costs of the French Nuclear Scale-up: A Case of Negative Learning by Doing,” Energy Policy 38, no. 9 (2010): 5174–88, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2010.05.003.
• John Helveston, Gang He, and Michael Davidson “Quantifying the Cost Savings of Global Solar Photovoltaic Supply Chains,” Nature 612, no. 7938 (2022): 83–87, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05316-6.
• Shangwei Liu et al. “Can China Break the ‘Cost Curse’ of Nuclear Power?” Nature 643, no. 8074 (July 2025): 1186–88, https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-02341-z.

Lecture 3

• IPCC Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group i to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Book, ed. V. Masson-Delmotte et al. (Cambridge, UK; New York, NY, USA: Cambridge University Press, 2021), https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009157896.
• Tamma A Carleton and Solomon M Hsiang “Social and Economic Impacts of Climate,” Science 353, no. 6304 (2016): aad9837, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aad9837.
• James E. Neumann et al. “Climate Damage Functions for Estimating the Economic Impacts of Climate Change in the United States,” Review of Environmental Economics and Policy 14, no. 1 (January 2020): 25–43, https://doi.org/10.1093/reep/rez021.
• Valuing Climate Changes: Updating Estimation of the Social Cost of Carbon Dioxide (Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press, 2017), https://doi.org/10.17226/24651.
• Solomon M. Hsiang, Marshall Burke, and Edward Miguel “Quantifying the Influence of Climate on Human Conflict,” Science, August 2013, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1235367.
• Seleshi G Yalew et al. “Impacts of Climate Change on Energy Systems in Global and Regional Scenarios,” Nature Energy 5, no. 10 (2020): 794–802, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-020-0664-z.
• Laibao Liu et al. “Climate Change Impacts on Planned Supply–Demand Match in Global Wind and Solar Energy Systems,” Nature Energy 8, no. 8 (August 2023): 870–80, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-023-01304-w.

Lecture 4

• Vaclav Smil Energy: A Beginner’s Guide (Simon; Schuster, 2017), https://vaclavsmil.com/2017/02/21/energy-a-beginners-guide-beginners-guides-2nd-edition/.
• IEA “Net Zero by 2050.”
• BMWi “An Electricity Market for Germany’s Energy Transition: White Paper by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy” (Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs; Energy, July 2015), https://www.bmwk.de/Redaktion/EN/Publikationen/whitepaper-electricity-market.html.
• Koomey et al. “Defining a Standard Metric for Electricity Savings.”

Lecture 5

• Lukas G. Swan and V. Ismet Ugursal “Modeling of End-Use Energy Consumption in the Residential Sector: A Review of Modeling Techniques,” Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 13, no. 8 (2009): 1819–35, https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2008.09.033.
• Paul R Ehrlich and John P Holdren “Impact of Population Growth: Complacency Concerning This Component of Man’s Predicament Is Unjustified and Counterproductive.” Science 171, no. 3977 (1971): 1212–17, https://doi.org/10.1097/00006254-197111000-00014.
• Jiang Lin, Gang He, and Alexandria Yuan “Economic Rebalancing and Electricity Demand in China,” The Electricity Journal 29, no. 3 (2016): 48–54, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tej.2016.03.010.
• Severin Borenstein “A Microeconomic Framework for Evaluating Energy Efficiency Rebound and Some Implications,” The Energy Journal 36, no. 1 (2015), https://doi.org/10.5547/01956574.36.1.1.
• Paul E Brockway et al. “Energy Efficiency and Economy-Wide Rebound Effects: A Review of the Evidence and Its Implications,” Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 141 (2021): 110781, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2021.110781.
• Donella H Meadows et al. “The Limits to Growth,” in Green Planet Blues (Routledge, 2018), 25–29.
• Narasimha D Rao and Jihoon Min “Decent Living Standards: Material Prerequisites for Human Wellbeing,” Social Indicators Research 138, no. 1 (2018): 225–44, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-017-1650-0.
• Tao Hong and Shu Fan “Probabilistic Electric Load Forecasting: A Tutorial Review,” International Journal of Forecasting 32, no. 3 (2016): 914–38, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijforecast.2015.11.011.

Lecture 6

• IEA “Energy and Air Pollution: World Energy Outlook Special Report 2016,” 2016, https://www.iea.org/reports/energy-and-air-pollution.
• Jos Lelieveld et al. “The Contribution of Outdoor Air Pollution Sources to Premature Mortality on a Global Scale,” Nature 525, no. 7569 (2015): 367–71, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature15371.
• Minghao Qiu, Corwin M. Zigler, and Noelle E. Selin “Impacts of Wind Power on Air Quality, Premature Mortality, and Exposure Disparities in the United States,” Science Advances 8, no. 48 (December 2, 2022): eabn8762, https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abn8762.
• Dev Millstein, Eric O’Shaughnessy, and Ryan Wiser “Climate and Air Quality Benefits of Wind and Solar Generation in the United States from 2019 to 2022,” Cell Reports Sustainability 0, no. 0 (May 29, 2024), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crsus.2024.100105.
• Minghao Qiu, Gang He, and Peter Marcotullio “Imported Solar Photovoltaics Contributed to Health and Climate Benefits in the United States,” One Earth 8, no. 11 (October 8, 2025): 101467, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2025.101467.
• Qiang Zhang et al. “Transboundary Health Impacts of Transported Global Air Pollution and International Trade,” Nature 543, no. 7647 (2017): 705–9, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature21712.
• IEA “Water Energy Nexus Excerpt from the World Energy Outlook 2016,” 2016, https://www.iea.org/reports/water-energy-nexus.
• Chao Zhang et al. “Long-Term Transition of China’s Power Sector Under Carbon Neutrality Target and Water Withdrawal Constraint,” Journal of Cleaner Production 329 (2021): 129765, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.129765.
• Jessica Loveringa et al. “Land-Use Intensity of Electricity Production and Tomorrow’s Energy Landscape,” PLoS ONE 17 (2022): 7, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0270155.
• Thomas Matte et al. “NPCC4: Climate Change and New York City’s Health Risk,” Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1539, no. 1 (2024): 185–240, https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.15115.
• Marina Romanello et al. “The 2024 Report of the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change: Facing Record-Breaking Threats from Delayed Action,” The Lancet 0, no. 0 (October 29, 2024), https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(24)01822-1.
• Jenna F. Tipaldo, Deborah Balk, and Lori M. Hunter “A Framework for Ageing and Health Vulnerabilities in a Changing Climate,” Nature Climate Change, October 25, 2024, 1–11, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-024-02156-2.

Lecture 7

• Amory B. Lovins “Energy Strategy: The Road Not Taken,” Foreign Affairs 55 (1976): 65, https://rmi.org/insight/energy-strategy-the-road-not-taken.
• Mark Z. Jacobson et al. “Low-Cost Solution to the Grid Reliability Problem with 100% Penetration of Intermittent Wind, Water, and Solar for All Purposes,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112, no. 49 (December 8, 2015): 15060–65, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1510028112.
• Christopher T. M. Clack et al. “Evaluation of a Proposal for Reliable Low-Cost Grid Power with 100% Wind, Water, and Solar,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, June 19, 2017, 201610381, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1610381114.
• Ryna Yiyun Cui et al. “A Plant-by-Plant Strategy for High-Ambition Coal Power Phaseout in China,” Nature Communications 12, no. 1 (2021): 1–10, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-21786-0.
• Gang He et al. “Enabling a Rapid and Just Transition Away from Coal in China,” One Earth 3, no. 2 (2020): 187–94, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2020.07.012.
• Huihuang Wu et al. “Fewer Than 15% of Coal Power Plant Workers in China Can Easily Shift to Green Jobs by 2060,” One Earth, November 6, 2024, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2024.10.006.
• Gilbert M Masters Renewable and Efficient Electric Power Systems (John Wiley & Sons, 2013).
• Yacob Mulugetta et al. “Africa Needs Context-Relevant Evidence to Shape Its Clean Energy Future,” Nature Energy, 2022, 1–8, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-022-01152-0.
• Josiah Johnston et al. “Switch 2.0: A Modern Platform for Planning High-Renewable Power Systems,” SoftwareX 10 (2019): 100251, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.softx.2019.100251.
• He et al. “Rapid Cost Decrease of Renewables and Storage Accelerates the Decarbonization of China’s Power System.”

Lecture 8

• Peter Alstone, Dimitry Gershenson, and Daniel M Kammen “Decentralized Energy Systems for Clean Electricity Access,” Nature Climate Change 5, no. 4 (2015): 305–14, https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2512.
• G. He and D. G. Victor “Experiences and Lessons from China’s Success in Providing Electricity for All,” Resources, Conservation and Recycling 122 (2017): 335–38, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2017.03.011.
• Kirsten Jenkins et al. “Energy Justice: A Conceptual Review,” Energy Research & Social Science 11 (2016): 174–82, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2015.10.004.
• Deborah A Sunter, Sergio Castellanos, and Daniel M Kammen “Disparities in Rooftop Photovoltaics Deployment in the United States by Race and Ethnicity,” Nature Sustainability 2, no. 1 (2019): 71–76, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-018-0204-z.
• Shuchen Cong et al. “Unveiling Hidden Energy Poverty Using the Energy Equity Gap,” Nature Communications 13, no. 1 (2022): 1–12, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-30146-5.
• Sheila R. Foster et al. “NPCC4: Advancing Climate Justice in Climate Adaptation Strategies for New York City,” Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1539, no. 1 (2024): 77–126, https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.15148.