A 2000 word policy brief that provides:

•a concise summary of a particular issue,

•the policy options to deal with it, and

•some recommendations on the best option.

A five minute podcast

The podcast can be a summary of the policy brief or focus on a particular area of the brief. If the latter, please email preliminary plan before the 16th December.

1. Audience

A policy maker such as a government minister, the CEO of an environmental NGO, a journalist writing a piece on climate change, a CEO trying to understand what what are the developments in a specific area so as to be able to decide how that may affect her company (please note, that you are not expected to say how the policy developments may affect a specific company, only what are the developments behind that policy).

2. Themes

The policy brief and podcast need to be closely linked to the themes discussed in the lectures and workshops, namely

•EU-ETS

•Energy Demand - including energy efficiency and demand side response

•Renewable Energy - focus on one particular energy source, preferably offshore wind, or one particular policy (e.g. feed in tariffs)

•Energy transitions

•European energy policy

Within each of these themes, you can choose one of the questions below or decide on your own question. It is worth noting that the more narrowly defined your question is, the easier it will be to produce a good policy brief.

3. Indicative questions

EU- ETS

The success of the EU - ETS during phases 1 and 2 was quite mixed. What were the changes introduced to the system for phase 3 and what impact, if any, have they had?

Energy Demand (choose either one of these questions)

A) It is widely assumed that the UK could further reduce energy use in buildings. Please advise what the potential is for reducing electricity consumption in commercial buildings, what the barriers are that might prevent this potential being achieved and how these barriers can be overcome.

1

B) By 2020, intermittent supply sources such as wind and solar are planned to deliver 24% of total UK electricity. What are the challenges that this poses for the energy system and the National Grid, and how can energy demand response help address such challenges?

Renewables

The UK is planning to have 10.5 MW offshore wind capacity by 2020. What are the key challenges faced by the offshore wind industry in the UK, what is the support it currently receives and what else could be done to address the existing challenges?

Energy Transitions

The energy sector is undergoing a considerable change or transition and electricity consumers are starting to take a more active role. Can you summarise what are the key ‘transitions’, what is triggering the changes and what do you think are the implication for consumers? Please include examples.

4.Sources and bibliography

Please see syllabus reading list

For specific questions, please discuss with lecturer

5.Assessment rationale

Show an awareness of relevant theoretical approaches, policy literature and practical policy debates.