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.