Learning objectives
At the end of the course, the student is expected to be able to:
• know the primary sources of greenhouse gas emissions and the principal assessment methodologies;
• know the main environmental problems, and in particular understand the scientific foundations of the problem of global warming and the role of natural and anthropogenic factors;
• understand the spatial and temporal scales of the various environmental problems, the importance of the feedback phenomena in the climate system, the future scenarios of increased temperatures and other impacts related to different scenarios of evolution of energy systems and related GHG emissions;
• know the different types of actions available to reduce GHG emissions and remove atmospheric CO2, acquiring the ability to evaluate the pros and cons of the various options and their potential;
• know the climate policies defined at national and international levels and understand their connection with the global climate negotiations and the Paris Agreement;
• know how to evaluate the potential environmental impacts of different plants and infrastructures, particularly the installations needed for the energy transition;
• understand the procedures to be used for the Environmental Impact Assessment of a work and the structure of an Environmental Impact Study;
• know how to assess polluting and climate-altering emissions into the atmosphere;
• know how to extract appropriate environmental information from available sources, evaluating the quality or criticality of the available information.
Prerequisites
Useful, but non essential, to have attended the Course of Environmental Sanitary Engineering.
Course unit content
The course addresses the strategies and options available for reducing GHG emissions and minimizing the environmental impact of the various technologies necessary for the energy transition. In the first part of the course, the phenomenological basis of the problem, the origin and extent of the various anthropic forcings, and the expected short and long-term impacts on the different environmental sectors are illustrated. After familiarising ourselves during the exercises with the methods of estimating greenhouse gas emissions from other sources, the emission scenarios drawn up by various scientific organizations are evaluated, showing the type of technological and infrastructural actions necessary. In the second part of the course, the strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in different sectors and at various scales are presented, as are the technologies for removing atmospheric CO2, and the methodologies for estimating the potential of the various options are also evaluated through practical exercises. In the third part, the environmental impacts of mitigation infrastructures are evaluated, and the procedures established by the current legislative framework are discussed. Finally, the objectives of the main climate policies already approved or proposed at the Italian and European levels are presented and illustrated in connection with the evolution of international negotiations on climate change.
Full programme
The teaching will address the following topics:
• greenhouse gas emissions: sources and methodologies for emission assessment;
• carbon balance;
• phenomenology of the greenhouse effect and main feedback in the climate system;
• climate models and projections;
• options for mitigation: technological scenarios and potential reductions in different sectors; CO2 removal technologies;
• the carbon market and voluntary market credits for offsetting emissions
• the Environmental Impact Assessment, the contents of the Environmental Impact Study and examples of real cases;
• other environmental policy and environmental assessment tools;
• exercise: assessment of atmospheric emissions from point sources;
• exercise: assessment of personal emissions of greenhouse gases;
• exercise: DPSIR scheme and indicators;
• exercise: reduction wedges.
Bibliography
The course material (pdf files of the slides used in the lessons) will be progressively made available on the relevant page of the Elly portal.
The slides are considered an integral part of the teaching material. Some handouts relating to some central parts of the course will be provided.
Further suggested reference texts:
IPCC (2023) Climate Change 2023- Sixt assessment report – Synthesis report. Summary for policymakers
IPCC (2022) Climate Change 2022- Sixth assessment report – WG3-Mitigation of climate change. Summary for policymakers
Teaching methods
The course is divided into a series of frontal lessons and group work. During the lessons, dialogue with the classroom will be favoured in order to better critically evaluate the analysis tools and methodologies presented. Concrete cases relating to real plants are discussed. Group work and exercises may require independent work on the part of the students. If possible, a technical visit will be organized.
Assessment methods and criteria
The learning assessment consists of a written test and an oral interview. The written test includes 15-20 closed questions (multiple choice), 2-3 open questions and 1 or 2 exercises. Both tests are aimed at verifying both theoretical knowledge and application knowledge. Part of the learning assessment may concern the discussion of the exercises developed during the course.
Other information
None
