This class will present technologies for energy conversion, energy transport and energy storage for various energy vectors (electricity, heat, fuels). It is based on online learning and site visits.

At the end of the class, students will be able to:

Explain the notion of energy vectors and conversion between vectors

For each technology:

Explain how energy can be transported at various scales, describe constraints from and on the electrical grid and the evolutions thereof

Compare technologies or portfolios of technologies:

Definitions: primary energy, final energy, energy conversion, power/discharge diagrams, energy density, conversion between energy vectors, etc.

For each technology: the technology working principle, its efficiency range, the plant/network/device design (components, architecture, fluxes in/out, orders of magnitude), the necessary resources and siting constraints (eg a connection to a water network or other infrastructures), the size, construction time and lifetime of the plants/networks/devices, technology costs in terms of CAPEX and OPEX, the potential evolutions of the technology and in some cases, externalities and scalability potential

Electricity generation: thermal power plants; nuclear plants; hydroelectricity; wind farms; concentrating solar power plants; photovoltaics farms

Electricity transport and distributions: electrical grids, their evolutions in terms of sizing, physical capacity and management (smart, micro, mini grids)

Heat generation and management: co-generation, solar thermal, heat pumps, heat networks, geothermal power, waste heat

Fuels: biomass, oil, gas and alternative gases, including hydrogen (production, distribution, storage, fuel cells)

Energy storage: hydrostorage, electrochemical storage (batteries, supercapacitors), mechanical storage (compressed air, inertia), thermal storage (phase change, thermochemical), power2gas, buildings and vehicles as storage devices

online quizzes and reports