Driving the transition towards environmental sustainability and net zero in Higher Education (HE).

Energy resources are essential for any society, be it one dependent on subsistence farming or an industrialised country. There are many different sources of energy, some well-known such as coal or petroleum, others less so, such as tides or the heat inside the Earth. Is nuclear power a salvation or a nightmare? This free course, An introduction to energy resources, provides background information to each, so that you can assess them for yourself.

Themes covered in this free course, Energy in buildings, include reducing heating demand in buildings, heating systems and fuel emissions, and reducing electricity use by appliances.
The course looks at the importance of energy in buildings in the UK, investigate heat loss and how to prevent it, ways of increasing building efficiency, decreasing CO2 emissions of different fuels and the use of efficient appliances.

The first Earth Day on 22 April 1970 activated 20 million people from all walks of life to do their bit to protect our planet. More than 50 years on, it is estimated that one billion people worldwide will engage in this year’s Earth Day.

Energy from sources other than fossil and nuclear fuels is to a large extent free of the concerns about environmental effects and renewability that characterize those two sources. Each alternative source supplies energy continually, whether or not we use it, and most have their origins in energy generated outside the Earth, yet the potential of each is limited by its total supply set against its rate of use. The Sun will radiate energy until it ceases thermonuclear fusion, in around 5 billion years. This free course, Energy resources: solar energy, explores the Sun as a potential source of usable energy.

The search for sustainable energy will dominate the twenty-first century. This free course, An introduction to sustainable energy, provides an introductory overview of the present energy systems and takes a brief look at where the world may find energy in the future - cleaner use of fossil fuels or renewable energy sources?