Week 1 - Chapter 1

Question 1

IPAT Framework

Answer 1

Impact = Population * Affluence * Technology

Question 2

Energy Services

Answer 2

Services provided by energy, like hot showers, cold beer, lit rooms, and spinning shafts

Question 3

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

Answer 3

Measure of the production of a society, can be calculated by adding up all the goods and services produced in a period

Question 4

Energy Intensity

Answer 4

(E/GDP) = Energy required to create each unit of economic output (falling worldwide for last few decades)

Question 5

Energy Productivity

Answer 5

(GDP/E) = Economic output per unit of energy. It reframes GDP as a function of energy, and is often used as a measure of comparative productivity across countries.

Question 6

Positive Analysis

Answer 6

Fact-based and objective

Question 7

Normative Analysis

Answer 7

Subjective and value-based

Question 8

System

Answer 8

A collection of components at any given moment in time. These components have natural groupings and relationships and can provide a geographic map of the system structure.

Question 9

Leverage Points

Answer 9

Components where small efforts can create major change in other parts of the system

Question 10

Nonlinearities

Answer 10

Systems often maintain themselves until certain thresholds are met - then system dynamics can radically alter their behavior

Question 11

Root Causes

Answer 11

Explanations of certain observed behaviors, by searching for deeper relationships within the system

Question 12

Open vs. Closed Systems

Answer 12

The technical distinction between open and closed systems is that an open system is continually influenced, informed, or constrained by the activities of elements outside the system. A closed system receives its endowments when it is set up and then remains largely isolated from outside influences.

Question 13

Nested Systems

Answer 13

One system fits easily inside of another, both of which inside a third. Energy supply chain, economic system, and the ecosystem are nested.

Question 14

Circular vs. Directional Systems

Answer 14

Circular systems, as the macroeconomy is often modeled, have many interrelated elements that can exhibit a balance with feedback keeping the various elements in check. It is often difficult to discern the beginning and the end of a circular system process, like the chicken and egg. In contrast, directional systems tend to have a distinct beginning and a distinct end - they start with some inputs and go through a series of transformations resulting in outputs, but the outputs don’t stay in the system or recycle in any significant way. The energy supply chain, like nearly all supply chains, is an open and directional system.

Question 15

Utility

Answer 15

Level of happiness or satisfaction. In constrained optimization, this is maximized subject to some budgetary constraint.

Question 16

Scarcity

Answer 16

Scarcity implies that human needs and wants will always be greater than the ability to procure them from the resources at hand. Scarcity forces people to make allocation decisions with their limited resources.

Question 17

Constrained Optimization

Answer 17

In economics, this concept is used to demonstrate the relationship between objectives (goals) and constraints (limited resources). Often, a person aims to maximize some outcome, but must always do so within the limits imposed by their basic resource constraints.

Question 18

Innovation

Answer 18

Constraints compel invention and creativity in trying to create additional advantages in the form of reduced costs or increased profits. This innovation occurs everywhere in the system - supply, efficiency, demand, cost, and benefit - and is a permanent fixture of the energy system. [CREATING OPPORTUNITIES / GROWTH]

Question 19

Depletion

Answer 19

Depletion of the relevant resources or capacity or value or market opportunity (i.e. procuring cheapest and easiest resources first, infrastructure investments deteriorating, competition) [INCREASING COSTS / SCARCITY]