(577d) Teaching Systems Thinking for Sustainability - Lessons Learned from the Project-Based Course "the Global Energy Future”

The project-based course “The Global Energy Future” brings together interdisciplinary teams of students to address future energy challenges through a food-energy-water nexus (FEWN) lens. The course explores the interlinkages between the various resource supply sectors in the Houston region and their impact on sustainable development [1, 2]. A key focus of the course is the development of scenario analysis and decision support tools to guide better decision making for the energy future of Houston. The course also emphasizes an interdisciplinary approach, including data analysis, scenario building, and teamwork, to address the complex issues of energy futures. The key learning outcomes for the students are to (i) apply critical thinking and problem-solving skills to analyze complex systems and develop recommendations for addressing issues related to global energy futures, (ii) develop skills in data collection and analysis, including the use of appropriate software and tools, (iii) understand the importance of using data to inform decision-making and recommendations related to the FEWN, (iv) develop skills in integrating different perspectives and knowledge from different disciplines to inform the analysis and recommendations.

To this end, students are divided into different groups based on their background. According to the works of Daher et al. [3, 4] each group has to define the critical question of their project, the relevant scales and the stakeholders. In the next step, each group has to identify the key system of systems to be included and their interconnections, the assessment criteria, what type of data is needed and how to involve decision-makers in the process. Ultimately, each group has to derive a quantitative tool answering their own individually derived critical question incorporating holistic systems thinking for a sustainable food, energy, water resource supply of Houston. The project topics of last semester’s class include (i) How to increase Houston’s water supply by 25% by 2050; (ii) Can Houston be powered 50% by renewables in 2050; (iii) Techno-economic feasibility analysis of seawater desalination paired with renewable energy sources to reduce the resource supply system stresses of Houston; (iv) Benchmarking a solar energy supply system against a fossil fuel energy supply system; and (v) Assuming perfect foresight, how and at what cost can disruptive events be mitigated. Lessons learned from the previous project development include reflections on system definition, data acquisition, scale and assessment metrics.

References

[1] J. Cook, M. Di Martino, R. C. Allen, E. N. Pistikopoulos, A. Avraamidou. A decision-making framework for the optimal design of renewable energy systems under energy-water-land nexus considerations. Science of The Total Environment, 827, 2022, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154185

[2] M. Di Martino, S. Avraamidou, J. Cook, E. N. Pistikopoulos. An Optimization Framework for the Design of Reverse Osmosis Desalination Plants under Food-Energy-Water Nexus Considerations. Desalination, 503, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2021.114937

[3] B. Daher, R. H. Mohtar, S. H. Lee, A. Assi. Modeling the Water‐Energy‐Food Nexus: A 7‐Question Guideline, Water-Energy-Food Nexus: Principles and Practices 229, 57, 2017, https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781119243175.ch6

[4] B. Daher, R. H. Mohtar. Water-energy-food (WEF) Nexus Tool 2.0: guiding integrative resource planning and decision-making, Water International, 40, 5-6, 2015, https://doi.org/10.1080/02508060.2015.1074148