IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jenvss/v4y2014i4p354-359.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Energy education and the dilemma of mitigating climate change

Author

Listed:
  • John Perkins
  • Catherine Middlecamp
  • David Blockstein
  • Jennifer Cole
  • Robert Knapp
  • Kathleen Saul
  • Shirley Vincent

Abstract

This study argues that enhanced energy education will help resolve the dilemmas of mitigating climate change and thus promote sustainability. Without enhanced energy literacy among both the energy workforce and citizens, society will be hard-pressed to make strategic choices about energy. We build on previous work that defined energy literacy and piloted programs to teach Energy 101 classes. We present a Sankey diagram of the US energy economy as a novel way to orient students to the entire energy economy, not just individual fuels. Higher education must provide two distinct pathways, one for the general education of all students and one for students in programs that specialize in energy in preparation for joining the energy workforce. Four challenges face faculty and administrators: accommodating diversity in the student body, rewarding faculty, building new curricular pathways and courses, and integrating theory and practice. More concerted action is needed despite recent reports of reductions in carbon emissions and some growth of energy education. The changes to date are small, politically contested, and inadequately supported. Institutions need to build new programs and communicate their progress to peers. This paper’s novelty lies in (a) the argument that inadequate energy education hinders the development of sustainability education, (b) the distinctions made between climate and energy education, (c) identification of major steps needed and challenges to be expected in energy education, and (d) the proposition that reform must jointly address both general students and students specializing in energy. Copyright AESS 2014

Suggested Citation

  • John Perkins & Catherine Middlecamp & David Blockstein & Jennifer Cole & Robert Knapp & Kathleen Saul & Shirley Vincent, 2014. "Energy education and the dilemma of mitigating climate change," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 4(4), pages 354-359, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jenvss:v:4:y:2014:i:4:p:354-359
    DOI: 10.1007/s13412-014-0189-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s13412-014-0189-5
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s13412-014-0189-5?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Joseph Henderson & Don Duggan-Haas, 2014. "Drilling into controversy: the educational complexity of shale gas development," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 4(1), pages 87-96, March.
    2. Delucchi, Mark A. & Jacobson, Mark Z., 2011. "Providing all global energy with wind, water, and solar power, Part II: Reliability, system and transmission costs, and policies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 1170-1190, March.
    3. Jacobson, Mark Z. & Delucchi, Mark A., 2011. "Providing all global energy with wind, water, and solar power, Part I: Technologies, energy resources, quantities and areas of infrastructure, and materials," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 1154-1169, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kathleen M. Saul & John H. Perkins, 2022. "A new framework for environmental education about energy transition: investment and the energy regulatory and industrial complex," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 12(1), pages 149-163, March.
    2. Linda Nicholas-Figueroa & Rebekah Hare & Mary van Muelken & Lawrence Duffy & Catherine Middlecamp, 2017. "Iḷisaġvik Tribal College’s summer climate program: teaching STEM concepts to North Slope Alaska high school and middle-school students," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 7(3), pages 425-434, September.
    3. Drew Bush & Renee Sieber & Gale Seiler & Mark Chandler & Gail L. Chmura, 2019. "Bringing climate scientist’s tools into classrooms to improve conceptual understandings," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 9(1), pages 25-34, March.
    4. Tomasz Rokicki & Aleksandra Perkowska & Bogdan Klepacki & Hubert Szczepaniuk & Edyta Karolina Szczepaniuk & Stanisław Bereziński & Paulina Ziółkowska, 2020. "The Importance of Higher Education in the EU Countries in Achieving the Objectives of the Circular Economy in the Energy Sector," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-17, August.
    5. Jan DeWaters & Susan Powers & Felicity Bilow, 2021. "An Introductory Energy Course to Promote Broad Energy Education for Undergraduate Engineering Students," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-22, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. David Gattie & Michael Hewitt, 2023. "National Security as a Value-Added Proposition for Advanced Nuclear Reactors: A U.S. Focus," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-26, August.
    2. Ronnie D. Lipschutz & Dustin Mulvaney, 2013. "The road not taken, round II: centralized vs. distributed energy strategies and human security," Chapters, in: Hugh Dyer & Maria Julia Trombetta (ed.), International Handbook of Energy Security, chapter 22, pages 483-506, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    3. Peter Lund, 2012. "The European Union challenge: integration of energy, climate, and economic policy," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 1(1), pages 60-68, July.
    4. Firth, Anton & Zhang, Bo & Yang, Aidong, 2019. "Quantification of global waste heat and its environmental effects," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 235(C), pages 1314-1334.
    5. Wu, Jy S. & Tseng, Hui-Kuan & Liu, Xiaoshuai, 2022. "Techno-economic assessment of bioenergy potential on marginal croplands in the U.S. southeast," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    6. Wu, Yunyang & Reedman, Luke J. & Barrett, Mark A. & Spataru, Catalina, 2018. "Comparison of CST with different hours of storage in the Australian National Electricity Market," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 487-496.
    7. Romanic, Djordje & Parvu, Dan & Refan, Maryam & Hangan, Horia, 2018. "Wind and tornado climatologies and wind resource modelling for a modern development situated in “Tornado Alley”," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 97-112.
    8. Connolly, D. & Lund, H. & Mathiesen, B.V., 2016. "Smart Energy Europe: The technical and economic impact of one potential 100% renewable energy scenario for the European Union," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 1634-1653.
    9. Rodriguez, Rolando A. & Becker, Sarah & Greiner, Martin, 2015. "Cost-optimal design of a simplified, highly renewable pan-European electricity system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 658-668.
    10. Jacobson, Mark Z. & Howarth, Robert W. & Delucchi, Mark A. & Scobie, Stan R. & Barth, Jannette M. & Dvorak, Michael J. & Klevze, Megan & Katkhuda, Hind & Miranda, Brian & Chowdhury, Navid A. & Jones, , 2013. "Response to comment on paper examining the feasibility of changing New York state's energy infrastructure to one derived from wind, water, and sunlight," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 1212-1215.
    11. Lamy, Julian & Azevedo, Inês L. & Jaramillo, Paulina, 2014. "The role of energy storage in accessing remote wind resources in the Midwest," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 123-131.
    12. Ikonnikova, Svetlana A. & Scanlon, Bridget R. & Berdysheva, Sofia A., 2023. "A global energy system perspective on hydrogen Trade: A framework for the market color and the size analysis," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 330(PA).
    13. Jakub Jurasz & Jerzy Mikulik, 2017. "A strategy for the photovoltaic-powered pumped storage hydroelectricity," Energy & Environment, , vol. 28(5-6), pages 544-563, September.
    14. Batas Bjelić, Ilija & Rajaković, Nikola, 2015. "Simulation-based optimization of sustainable national energy systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 1087-1098.
    15. Becker, Sarah & Frew, Bethany A. & Andresen, Gorm B. & Jacobson, Mark Z. & Schramm, Stefan & Greiner, Martin, 2015. "Renewable build-up pathways for the US: Generation costs are not system costs," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 437-445.
    16. Saiah, Saiah Bekkar Djelloul & Stambouli, Amine Boudghene, 2017. "Prospective analysis for a long-term optimal energy mix planning in Algeria: Towards high electricity generation security in 2062," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 26-43.
    17. Zarazua de Rubens, Gerardo & Noel, Lance, 2019. "The non-technical barriers to large scale electricity networks: Analysing the case for the US and EU supergrids," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    18. Thure Traber & Franziska Simone Hegner & Hans-Josef Fell, 2021. "An Economically Viable 100% Renewable Energy System for All Energy Sectors of Germany in 2030," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-17, August.
    19. Bennett, Carly & Blanchet, Jocelyn & Trowell, Keena & Bergthorson, Jeffrey, 2023. "Decarbonizing Canada’s energy supply and exports with solar PV and e-fuels," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 217(C).
    20. Nasir, Jehanzeb & Javed, Adeel & Ali, Majid & Ullah, Kafait & Kazmi, Syed Ali Abbas, 2022. "Capacity optimization of pumped storage hydropower and its impact on an integrated conventional hydropower plant operation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 323(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:jenvss:v:4:y:2014:i:4:p:354-359. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.