Naviga nel sito della Scuola di Scienze Politiche "Cesare Alfieri"

Content of the course

Energy, Environment and European Security

Proff. Bardazzi, Pazienza, Tonini

9 cfu - academic year 2014-15

The course aims at presenting a comprehensive analysis of the issues of energy, environment and European policy from a strong multidisciplinary perspective, as this new course encompasses three different disciplines (energy economics, environmental economics and history of international relations). The course encompasses lectures and seminars. Teachers and scholars from other Italian and/or foreign universities will be invited to give lectures on specific topics, relevant for the course. The course uses Moodle e-learning platform where handouts, slides and research materials will be available for all students.

Please note  that this exam fulfills 9 credits of Political Economy of the Master's Programme. Therefore we require as pre-requisites a basic grounding in microeconomics, macroeconomics, international history which are included in the admission requirements of the Master's Programme. Erasmus students who do not have the necessary academic background are strongly advised not to enroll in this course.

 

The FIRST MODULE (Prof. Alberto Tonini) will be devoted to the following topics:

*        A broad historical appraisal (1850-2010):  from steam to oil. Changes in the global energy consumption patterns)

*        Oil as a new gold rush: the United States, Russia and the Middle East, 1890-1945

*        An increasing energy dependency for Europe (1945-1974)

*        Oil crisis in the Seventies: inflation, welfare state and less developed countries debt.

*        A first  European response: diversification of sources and suppliers, nuclear power generation

*        European dependency on non-member countries supply: how much this affects EU external relations?

Main references

1. C. Egenhofer and L. Grigoriev, "European Energy Security. What should it mean?",  ESF 
Working Paper n. 23, 2006


(http://www.ceps.eu/book/european-energy-security-what-should-it-mean-what-do) pag. 4-25
2. Mané-Estrada, "European Energy Security: Towards the creation of the geo-energy space", 
Paper presented at the 6th Mediterranean Research Meeting of the Mediterranean Programme 
at the European University Institute, March 2005. The Pdf file will be available for download in the Moodle Course web page.


3. Takin and Williams, "Geo-Politics of Euro-Asian Energy Nexus", London, 2010, only pp. 13-57. The Pdf file will be available for download in the Moodle Course web page.

 

Lesson hours

Monday  12-2 p.m.

Wednesday, 4-6 p.m.

Friday 10-12 a.m.

 

The SECOND MODULE (Prof. Rossella Bardazzi) deals with the foundations of energy economics:

*        Energy sector characteristics

*        Energy data and Energy Balance

*        Energy demand: models for households and firms

*        Basic economics of energy production/supply

*        Energy markets in the international arena

Main reference:  Bhattacharyya S.C. (2011), Energy Economics: Concepts, Issues, Markets and Governance, Springer.  Chapters: 2,3 (pages 57-65 excluded),4 (pages 93-101 excluded), 8,11,12.

ECB (2010), "Energy markets and the Euro area macroeconomy", Occasional Paper Series, n.113, June 2010. Additional material will be handed during the course and downloadable from the e-learning site.

Lesson hours 

Monday  12-2 p.m.

Wednesday 4-6 pm

Thursday 12-2 p.m.

 

The THIRD MODULE (Prof. Maria Grazia Pazienza) is devoted to environmental issues:

*        The environmental approach (the tragedy of commons; renewable and non renewable resources, resources and sustainability definition)

*        External cost of different energy sources: health and climate change issues

*        Environmental policy instruments to promote energy efficiency: taxation, ETS,  feed-in tariffs and subsidies

*        Game theory as a tool to analyze International Environmental agreements; Climate agreements

*        Renewable resources: markets and potentiality 

Main reference: Perman et al. Natural resource and environmental economics, Addison Wesley, 4th edition, Chapters: 1 (excluding 1.4),2,5 (excluding 5.8,5.9,5.10,5.11, 5.12, 5.14), 6 (excluding 6.5 and all subparagraphs),9.

 

Lesson hours

Monday  12-2 p.m.

Wednesday 4-6 pm

Thursday 12-2 p.m.

 

Exam

The exam is written (in English) with 6 open questions (2 for each module). Students must answer all questions to be considered for evaluation of their test.

 

Scholarship for students

Students who are interested in working on a thesis on topics of this course may be offered the opportunity to do some research at the Moscow Institute for International Relations (Russia) under the supervision of Professor Kavenshnikov. These visits (about two weeks) will be covered by scholarships assigned to students who must apply for a selection procedure. Information will be available on the course website in due time.

 

ULTIMO AGGIORNAMENTO

30.09.2022

Cookie

I cookie di questo sito servono al suo corretto funzionamento e non raccolgono alcuna tua informazione personale. Se navighi su di esso accetti la loro presenza.  Maggiori informazioni