Designing a Climate Neutral World: An Introduction (edX)

Learn about climate change strategies and the basic tools used for evaluating alternative options for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions.Mitigation of climate change is one of the most important challenges of our times. To prevent irreversible damage to human societies and the environment, it was agreed that world countries should limit the global average temperature rise. To avoid dangerous impacts of climate change, it is needed to limit global temperature rise to well below 2 °C or even to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels.

Enroll in course

MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

This requires cutting global greenhouse gas emissions to near-zero levels in the coming decades. Especially for the energy system, a drastic transformation is needed.

We know that such a transformation is possible, but it will require virtually every organization, whether it is a steel company or a hospital, a municipality, or a business, to tackle climate change challenges. The question that often arises is – where to start?

This course is designed for the professionals that might be the leaders of this transformation in their organization - policy makers, sustainability consultants or professionals from other fields - who want to familiarize themselves with climate change mitigation strategies so they can apply it to their projects.

In the first part of the course, you will obtain basic knowledge including greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the various types of GHG (CO2 and non-CO2), their concentration and about The Paris Agreement. You will also learn about current energy systems, electricity generation and the energy demand of various sectors.

Next, we will focus on courses of action and methods that will assist in selecting the best options in any type of project or organization. As alternatives are usually judged on their efficiency and cost, we will present methodologies for measurement of emissions and calculation of costs. Here we will introduce you to the concepts of “potentials and costs” which will help you analyze alternatives by comparing emission reduction potential with the costs involved. Finally, various options such as renewable energy, energy efficiency and electrification will be used to further elaborate on emission reduction strategies.

We invite you to join this journey and to bring your own experiences and challenges of your organization.

What you'll learn

- Understand what is needed to limit global warming to below 2 °C compared to pre-industrial levels

- Understand current energy systems and energy demand in various sectors

- Choose alternatives for maximum mitigation for the lowest cost

- Calculate emissions and emission reduction potentials

- Determine mitigation costs

- Elaborate marginal abatement cost curves