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M.Sc. Sustainable Energy Futures
Imperial College London
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×| Tuition fee: |
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| Start date: | October 2013 |
| Duration full-time: | 12 months |
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| Delivery mode: | On Campus |
| Educational variant: | Full-time |
Description
The MSc in Sustainable Energy Futures aims to develop the next generation of leaders in the energy sector. This postgraduate course provides grounding in the major features of global energy issues, sustainable energy technologies and their interactions with economics, the environment and policy. Taking a quantitative approach to the study of technology and systems, the MSc mainly attracts students from engineering and physical sciences, though not exclusively. It will also appeal to those with some post degree experience wishing to gain a broader, more strategic perspective of energy issues.
Combining the academic and industrial experience of the Faculty of Engineering with the Faculty of Natural Sciences and the Imperial College Business School, the MSc in Sustainable Energy Futures offers a unique multidisciplinary teaching programme. Emphasis is placed on the study of whole systems and sustainability, in order to be directly applicable to the wide ranging and cross-cutting energy problems faced by society. Students will develop the critical evaluation skills, research techniques and quantitative analytical methodologies essential for assessing real-world energy systems.
Course Overview
The MSc in Sustainable Energy Futures is offered as a full-time one year intensive course starting in early October and finishing in late September. It is split over three semesters: Autumn and Spring consist of mandatory taught modules and Summer is dedicated to carrying out a research project.
Modules in the Autumn semester, including Energy Systems Technology, Methods for the Analysis of Energy Systems and Energy Economics and Policy, bring a diverse cohort up to speed on common language and analytical tools. In the Spring semester, students take six specialised modules that are taught as a sequence of intensive, two-week courses. Before embarking on individual research projects in the Summer, students will have chosen their topic and presented an initial literature review in the preceding semesters.
There is opportunity to make use of the interdisciplinary nature of the MSc. Research projects take on at least two supervisors from different departments and throughout the year, students are required to attend un-assessed transferable skills workshops on Personal Effectiveness, Presentation and Communication and a Literature Review course developed exclusively for the MSc in Sustainable Energy Futures.
Contents
Modules: Semester One
Core Foundation modules are taught during semester one (Autumn Term) to provide a solid grounding for students from diverse academic backgrounds. Below is an outline of the content covered in each module:
Energy Systems Technology Fundamentals of energy and power in technical, economic and environmental impact terms. Estimation of energy resources and demands. Main sources of data and analyses. Global and regional energy systems. Overview of main energy technologies; current and emerging, for energy supply, storage and transmission and demand management. Co-generation and efficiency, distributed vs centralised energy systems. Typical applications and case studies.
Methods for the Analysis of Energy Systems Technical performance and environmental impact metrics and analysis. Modelling, simulation and optimisation of energy systems (components, networks and supply chains). Multiscale modelling, Sensitivity, uncertainty and risk analysis. Multi-objective optimisation and trade-off analysis. Life cycle and scenario analysis. Typical applications for each method and case studies.
Energy Economics and Policy Energy demand, supply markets and competition. Energy policy principles and local, national and regional examples. National and international regulatory and legal environments. Energy-economics-environmental models of global impact. Cost/Benefit analysis. Private investment decision making. Evaluating future technologies. Policy instruments and market mechanisms for carbon mitigation.
MSc in Sustainable Energy Futures debating club and seminar series This module gives students the opportunity to explore current energy issues. Previous debating topics include: the role of industrialised nations in leading the march on climate change; the construction of new nuclear power stations and their role in the UK energy landscape; and whether an individual can influence the use of one technology through their investment in it. In addition to the debating club, guests from the leading edge of academia, industry and government are invited to give bespoke lectures exclusively to the MSc in Sustainable Energy Futures students.
Modules: Semester Two The modules in Semester Two (Spring Term) are a series of intensive courses lasting two weeks. Each module is taught by experts in that field, from academia, industry and government. Below is the outline of the content covered in each module:
Urban Energy Systems Urbanisation and growth in energy demand; cities as dynamic systems. Characterising city infrastructures; complex systems and networks. Energy supply, conversion and demands in cities; resource flows and city sustainability. Modelling, analysis and optimisation of cities from an energy systems perspective. Transport modelling; land use interactions and energy demands. Case studies.
Clean Fossil Fuels Role of fossil fuels and key issues, analysis, potential solutions. Scale of carbon emissions and climate change driven targets. Conversion technologies for stationary power generation. Carbon capture and storage; technologies, economics. Transportation and long-term storage options for CO2. Coal based processes. Gas based processes. Cogeneration processes. Fuel cells using fossil-based hydrogen and hydrocarbon feedstocks, combined processes. Oil and gas production. Non-conventional hydrocarbon production. Options for cleaner production. The CO2 lifecycle.
Low Carbon Technologies: Bioenergy (half module) Introduction to sustainable bioenergy: issues, formulations, analysis, potential solutions. Thermal and bio-conversion processes; biomass supply, demand, technology and sustainability issues; engineering of biomass composition, biorefineries, biofuels; molecular microbiology and metabolic engineering; prospects for improving engineering photosynthetic efficiency. Economics and policy aspects of each technology.
Low Carbon Technologies: Nuclear (half module) Nuclear fission and its position in the energy mix. Fundamentals of power production by fission. Reactors fundamentals. The fuel cycle. Options for dealing with spent fuels. Nuclear waste management. Safety aspects. Decommissioning. Advanced reactor designs and future prospects. The economics of nuclear energy.
Energy Transmission and Storage Electrical networks; natural gas networks and future hydrogen networks including the technical opportunities, constraints and economics; Energy demand and supply variation in electrical networks. Electrical energy transmission in a variable environment and congestion management. Power flow control. Balancing supply and demand. Natural gas networks. Technologies and prospects for hydrogen transmission. Energy storage for electrical networks and other forms of energy (gas, electrochemical). Managing energy networks in the face of uncertainty and in distributed generation.
Sustainable Transport Role of transport in the overall energy picture. Aviation and road transport technologies. Rail related (mass transit) issues (linking with Urban Energy Systems). Aero and vehicle propulsion (including aero engine propulsion models, IC engines, hybrid vehicles, fuel cells for transport applications), infrastructure implications, current and emerging technologies. Role and impact of transport policy.
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Requirements
To obtain maximum benefit from studies at Imperial College all students must have a good command of the English Language. College therefore requires applicants to have taken an English Language test and achieved an acceptable grade or score before admission can be confirmed. The College Senate has approved the tests set out below. Please note that the scores or grades indicated are the minimum levels generally acceptable to the College. Departments have the discretion to prescribe higher requirements either for specific courses of study or in specific cases where there are serious doubts as to the abilities of individual students to undertake proposed programmes of study.
Students must make arrangements to take the appropriate test well in advance of the start of their course. Places will not be confirmed and students will not be allowed to register until confirmation of an acceptable result has been received as set out below.
* A first degree taught in English within the following countries: Australia, Canada, Ireland, Guyana, New Zealand, South Africa, United Kingdom, United States of America, West Indies.
* Candidates whose first degree was not taught in English but who have then successfully completed a one-year MSc (or equivalent) course at a UK university.
* A grade of not less than C in English Language in GCSE, IGCSE, GCE `O´ Level or equivalent.
* A grade of not less than C in the Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English (CPE).
* A pass in the University Test of English for Speakers of Other Languages (UETESOL).
* British Council IELTS Test
A score of not less than 6.5 including a score of 5.0 or better in the written and spoken English elements of the academic test.
* TOEFL
A score of not less than 90 overall in the internet-based test (iBT), to include 24 in Writing and 20 in Speaking; or 600 in the paper-based test (PBT), or 250 in the computer-based test (CBT), both to include a minimum score of 4.5 in the written English.
Please note: Imperial College's Institution Code for TOEFL is 0891.
English Language Requirements
| IELTS band: | 6.5 |
| TOEFL paper-based test score: | 600 |
| TOEFL computer-based test score: | 250 |
| TOEFL internet-based test score: | 90 |
IELTS
You are normally required to take an English Proficiency Test.
Most European Universities recognise the IELTS test.
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