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Can renewable energy sources power the world?
Can renewable energy sources power the world?

Start this free course now. Just create an account and sign in. Enrol and complete the course for a free statement of participation or digital badge if available.

Introduction and guidance

Welcome to this free badged open course, Can renewable energy sources power the world?.

The course is made up of eight weeks, with approximately three hours of study in each. It is suggested that you do one session per week, but you can work through the course at your own pace, so if you have more time one week there is no problem with pushing on to complete another session.

The eight weeks cover the following:

  1. Introduction to renewable energy
  2. Solar energy for heating and daylighting
  3. Solar photovoltaics
  4. Bioenergy
  5. Hydroelectrivity
  6. Wind energy
  7. Wave energy
  8. Towards a renewable future.

After completing this course, you will:

  • understand at an introductory level the basic physical principles underlying the operation of renewable energy systems
  • understand the key role of the Sun as the main source of renewable energy
  • be aware of the essential characteristics of energy demand and supply in the UK and the world
  • be aware of the principal renewable energy technologies and their main characteristics
  • be aware of some of the factors that are working to promote the deployment of renewable energies and those acting to inhibit it.

Moving around the course

In the ‘Summary’ at the end of each session, you can find a link to the next one. If at any time you want to return to the start of the course, click on ‘Full course description’. From here you can navigate to any part of the course. Alternatively, use the session links at the top of every page of the course.

It’s also good practice, if you access a link from within a course page (including links to the quizzes), to open it in a new window or tab. That way you can easily return to where you’ve come from without having to use the back button on your browser.