(Renewable Energy in DE and USA) ETWT - Renewable Energies Use in Germany and the USA Compared - a Technical Perspective

Course Description

The Energy Use of a Country or Region can demonstrate many cultural and economic values ​​of that Region. The sources available, the way that energy is used, and the overall efficiency of the energy used all play to the needs and wants of the people in the region. How does the use of Energy in the USA compared to Germany? Do different areas of the USA use Energy differently? Do different EU Countries use Energy differently? What are Climate Differences between the Regions and how does that change the Energy Use?

For this course, Energy Use will be defined by the following components:

  • Electrical Generation
  • Residential
  • Commercial
  • Industrial
  • Transportation

This course will focus on the Annual Energy use of the USA and Germany. We will look at other countries or regions as appropriate for the course discussion. Each region will be studied as a whole system. The inputs, use, and output in work / waste will be observed. Primary source material will come from the Lawrence Livermore Laboratories Energy Flow Charts. Other sources will be Government Agencies providing data like the Cost of Energy, Weather / Climate mapping, daily life requirements, and other data points of the Regions will be uncovered. 

The course will take the available data and build a comparison of each location on the energy source and its use. We will evaluate the efficiencies at each transformation of the energy. We will investigate the cost of energy in each Region along with technical aspects of life in each Region.

Deliverables at the end of the course will be individual papers. Each student will use the US / Germany as a base comparison and then take a region of the USA and the EU to evaluate. Each paper will discuss the following as a minimum:

  • The Numbers. How does each Region compare to the other? 
  • The costs. Along with $ / € costs, what other costs are considered in each Region?
  • The differences. What technical differences are highlighted in the data? Are there cultural differences? What aspects of living in a region dictate the energy use?