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Welcome and introduction

Our energy future is sunny and windy! Interesting practical examples explain the necessity of modeling. Watch the course overview and targets.
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IPCC graphs show different climatic scenarios when it comes to emissions during the next 100 to 200 years. Each of these scenarios implies a different future setting. If we want to predict these settings, and their impact on humans, as well as on the environment, we need economic models. Model results have concrete practical implications. They influence policy decisions, like emission reduction targets, and company activities, like renewable energy investments. Thereby, one might say that models have an impact on our future surroundings. In this course, you will learn how our environmental and energy economic models can be used to answer questions raised by environmental or energy policy.
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We will show you how to transfer a question to a model, solve the model, and interpret the results. You will even have the opportunity to develop your own model. I am Frank Krysiak, Professor for Environmental Economics at the University of Basel, and one of the lead educators during this course. My field of research is the design of environmental and energy policy. During this course, I will discuss with you how to set up, solve, and interpret environmental economic models.
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I am Hannes Weigt, Energy Economist at the University of Basel, and lead educator for the parts on numerical modeling and energy systems. Energy markets are currently facing significant changes and challenges, all around the world. Models can help us to better understand and evaluate those developments. So stick around if you want to know how our energy future could look like. I’m Julia von Esebeck. I studied economics and sustainable development, and I am very happy to be part of this course on economic modeling. If you are also interested in actively shaping our future, this course is perfect for you, as it explains practical tools to work on real world problems such as climate change and our energy system.
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Let us start looking into possible futures.

In this course, you will learn how our environmental and energy economic models can be used to answer questions raised by environmental or energy policy.

We will show you how to transfer a question to a model, solve the model, and interpret the results. You will even have the opportunity to develop your own model.

Energy markets are currently facing significant changes and challenges, all around the world. Models can help us to better understand and evaluate those developments.

So stick around if you want to know what our energy future could look like.

Profile pages

You can view the profile pages of your fellow learners, and ‘follow’ them to keep track of their comments. We recommend that you follow the educators Frank Krysiak, Hannes Weigt and Julia von Esebeck. That way, you’ll be able to see all the comments that they make.

Learning online

Courses such as this one attract thousands of learners, which means it is not possible for us to provide individual help in most cases. The big advantage however is that learners can help each other. So if you know the answer to a question being asked, don’t be shy. Post an answer. If you find an answer or comment helpful, please ‘like’ it, so the best answers can be found more easily by others (filter by ‘most liked’).

In some steps we’ll provide additional learning material as external links or downloads. Please have a look at them as well.

Are you new to learning online? Then you might like to read these tips and tools for social learning, to you help you get the most from FutureLearn’s features.

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Exploring Possible Futures: Modeling in Environmental and Energy Economics

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