ENSP 400: Capstone in Environmental Science and Policy

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For this assignment, you will be creating a research report and a bibliography filled with helpful resources. A citation manager can help you organize the resources you find and generate citations in the style of your choosing.

Zotero is a free citation management software that you can download and use as a group. Visit this page for more information.

If you just need a few citations, ZoteroBib is a website that will quickly generate citations that you can copy to your clipboard.

Resources from Project Scope

Climate Judiciary Project

Stanford's Understand Energy Learning Hub  

Hydropower Is Key to a Clean Energy Future—Here’s Why

Hydropower

IEA Biofuels

IEA Hydrogen

Geothermal’s Role in Clean and Reliable Energy

Background

The goal of the Climate Judiciary Project is to provide evidence-based information to the judiciary about climate science, impacts, and solutions and how they are arising in the law. The Environmental Law Institute has developed a climate science and law curriculum to provide evidence-based information to the judiciary about the science of climate change as it is understood by the expert scientific community and relevant to current and future litigation. CJP is now embarking on the development of additional curriculum materials related to the energy transition. The curriculum will include information on the energy system, and focus on how energy is used, made, and moved within that system. With respect to the production of energy, the curriculum will include content on fossil fuels and major renewable energy sources, including wind, solar, and nuclear. It will also cover other existing and emerging energy technologies such as hydropower, biofuels, hydrogen, geothermal, direct solar thermal, and other alternative energy sources. 

Questions to Answer

1. What are the scientific, technological, and economic aspects of hydropower? What are the social and environmental impacts it has, including on communities and ecosystems? 
2. What are the scientific, technological, and economic aspects of biofuels? What are the social and environmental impacts of biofuels (e.g., land use and other environmental effects)? Research should include information on crop type, farming methods, replenishment rate, and greenhouse gas (GHG) impacts. 
3. What are the scientific, technological, and economic aspects of hydrogen? What impacts has hydrogen had and how might it impact the energy transition in the future? Research should include information on storage potential, carbon emissions profiles, and technological readiness. 
4. What information can be obtained about the scientific, technological and economic aspects of other clean energy sources and their readiness, such as geothermal, direct solar thermal, tidal or wave energy? 
5. Are issues about these energy sources ending up in the courts? What issues are arising in those cases? Some topics that may be arising in litigation include dam decommissioning, species, and water rights with respect to hydropower, and renewable and state fuel standards with respect to biofuels.