Fundamentals of Energy Resources (Canvas.net)

Fundamentals of Energy Resources (Canvas.net)

Keeping the lights on, gasoline in our cars, and our homes comfortable, requires energy resources. These include coal, methane, petroleum, uranium, biomass, water, wind, geothermal, and sunlight. Knowing how we measure, acquire, and use these resources is critical information because human population and income aspirations are increasing, while access to the means of prosperity—energy dense and affordable resources—is at best uneven.

This course will provide the tools and information you need to better understand the energy resources we currently use and empower you to pursue energy resources for the future.

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

Related Courses

Mécanique du point matériel (Coursera) Coursera
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Mécanique du point matériel (Coursera)

Pour illustrer les concepts introduits dans la première partie, on traite ici des problèmes pour lesquels le système mécanique peut être considéré comme un point matériel. Cette partie couvre notamment les problèmes à traiter en coordonnées cylindriques ou sphériques, le problème des orbites des planètes et les référentiels accélérés.

Nov 2nd 2026
5-12 Weeks
The Little Stuff: Energy, Cells, and Genetics (Coursera) Coursera
University of Colorado Boulder

The Little Stuff: Energy, Cells, and Genetics (Coursera)

In this course, we will explore the smaller side of biology: molecular biology. We’ll cover basic topics including cell biology and how cells can go “rogue” and turn into cancer, how energy from the sun is transferred to fuel our bodies, basics of genetics and inheritance, and genetic technologies. At the end of this course, we will discuss ethical and moral implications of several exciting and new genetic technologies.

Oct 19th 2026
4 Weeks
Wind resources for renewable energies (Coursera) Coursera
École Polytechnique

Wind resources for renewable energies (Coursera)

The main goal of this course is to get the necessary knowledge on atmospheric and fluid dynamics in order to quantify the wind resource of a local or regional area. We’ll learn about basic meteorology, the specific dynamics of turbulent boundary layers and some standard techniques to estimate wind resources regardless of the type of turbine used or the level of efficiency achieved.

Nov 2nd 2026
4 Weeks
Mastering bitumen for better roads and innovative applications (Coursera) Coursera
École des Ponts ParisTech

Mastering bitumen for better roads and innovative applications (Coursera)

During the four coming weeks, best experts in bitumen will bring you their knowledge and experience to build a strong understanding of today’s realities and new perspectives on the future of bitumen. Total is the European leader on bitumen markets. Innovation has always been the key to sustainability and durability in the products they develop. Their main objective here is to share technical knowledge and experience to insure bitumen are being used in the most effective and efficient ways for their different applications in road works.

Nov 2nd 2026
4 Weeks
Flight mechanics - Propulsive balance and energy (Coursera) Coursera
ISAE-SUPAERO

Flight mechanics - Propulsive balance and energy (Coursera)

This course is dedicated to energy management, i.e. speed and altitude control. The various sources of drag are first described and modeled, as well as thrust origin, and evolution with speed and altitude. Using these models, we can evaluate the propulsive balance and derive important concepts like flight regimes, best climb speed, or propulsion ceiling.

Oct 19th 2026
3 Weeks
Municipal Solid Waste Management in Developing Countries (Coursera) Coursera
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Municipal Solid Waste Management in Developing Countries (Coursera)

Have you come across large piles of garbage in neighborhoods and streets, or smelly waste disposal sites polluting the environment of low and middle income countries? Are you also convinced that improvements are necessary and do you want to know what kind of sustainable solutions are appropriate to better manage waste and enhance recycling and recovery? If yes, this course is for you!

Nov 2nd 2026
5-12 Weeks
Planet Earth ... and You! (Coursera) Coursera
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Planet Earth ... and You! (Coursera)

Earthquakes, volcanoes, mountain building, ice ages, landslides, floods, life evolution, plate motions—all of these phenomena have interacted over the vast expanses of deep time to sculpt the dynamic planet that we live on today. Planet Earth presents an overview of several aspects of our home, from a geological perspective. We begin with earthquakes—what they are, what causes them, what effects they have, and what we can do about them. We will emphasize that plate tectonics—the grand unifying theory of geology—explains how the map of our planet's surface has changed radically over geologic time, and why present-day geologic activity—including a variety of devastating natural disasters such as earthquakes—occur where they do. We consider volcanoes, types of eruptions, and typical rocks found there.

Oct 19th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Politics and Economics of International Energy (Coursera) Coursera
Sciences Po

Politics and Economics of International Energy (Coursera)

Energy issues have always been important in international relations, but in recent years may have become even more important than in the past due to the widespread awareness of existing limits to energy sources and negative climate impacts. The course discusses global trends in energy consumption and production, various available scenarios for potential developments in the coming decades, the availability of oil reserves and the evolution of the oil industry.

Nov 2nd 2026
5-12 Weeks
Oil & Gas Industry Operations and Markets (Coursera) Coursera
Duke University

Oil & Gas Industry Operations and Markets (Coursera)

The oil and gas industry has an enormous impact on all aspects of daily life. Individuals, corporations, and national governments make financial and policy decisions based on the cost, use, and availability of these two natural resources. This two-week course looks at the two most fundamental aspects of the oil and gas industry, its operations and markets, each of which is addressed as a separate module in the course.

Oct 28th 2026
2 Weeks
Ash-Related Operational Challenges in Energy Utilization of Sustainable Fuels (Coursera) Coursera
Technical University of Denmark - DTU

Ash-Related Operational Challenges in Energy Utilization of Sustainable Fuels (Coursera)

The basic idea behind this MOOC, is to present recent data on fuel characterization, slagging, fouling, corrosion, and trace element transformations, in a course that can be readily provided for students and industry people. This ensures understanding and application of the research, and provides the students and industry with a forum for discussion of the very latest research results, as well as feedback from industry to the research group at DTU, on important new research subjects in the field.

Oct 19th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Act on Climate: Steps to Individual, Community, and Political Action (Coursera) Coursera
University of Michigan

Act on Climate: Steps to Individual, Community, and Political Action (Coursera)

Are you concerned about climate change? Would you like to learn how to address and respond to this challenge? If so, this course is for you. Act on Climate: Steps to Individual, Community, and Political Action is intended to help learners understand, address and respond to climate change as individuals and in partnership with their communities and political leaders.

Nov 2nd 2026
5-12 Weeks
Photovoltaic solar energy (Coursera) Coursera
École Polytechnique

Photovoltaic solar energy (Coursera)

The course is an introduction to the photovoltaic (PV) applications in the general mix energetic context dominated by climate warming mitigation. The various uses of solar energy are firstly presented before a short description of the principle of the direct solar photon conversion into electricity (PV). The various PV technologies are reviewed in the current context dominated by crystalline silicon cells. The perspectives of the various technologies are then analysed in terms of R&D investments.

Oct 26th 2026
3 Weeks