ERG Courses

Please note: This is a full list of ERG course offerings; not all courses are offered each term. For current course offerings, please refer to the online Schedule of Classes at http://schedule.berkeley.edu/

ER 98/198 - Energy DeCal
Dr. Daniel Kammen - instructor of record
Class conducted by undergraduate students
Introduction to energy topics and explore the social, environmental and economic consequences of our carbon-based economy. Includes guest speakers, article presentations, projects, discussions, and films to explore the energy cycle; tracing its origins, distribution, consumption and waste. Facilitated by the Alliance to Save Energy’s Green Campus Program interns.

ER C100 /C200 – Energy and Society
Dr. Daniel Kammen
ER C100 is open to undergraduates. ER C200 is open to graduate students. Cross-listed with Pub Pol C184/C284. You will develop an understanding – and a real working knowledge – of our energy technologies, policies and options.  This will include analysis of the different opportunities and impacts of energy systems that exist within and between groups defined by national, regional, household, ethnic, and gender distinctions.  Analysis of the range of current and future energy choices will be stressed, as well as the role of energy in determining local environmental conditions and the global climate.

ER 101 – Ecology and Society
Dr. John Harte
Prerequisites: One college level course, or high school Advanced Placement, in either physics or biology; introductory calculus. Introduction to the many ways in which our lives are intertwined with the ecosystems around us. Topics will include ecological limits to growth, climate change and other threats to biodiversity, the value of ecosystem goods and services, the ecology of disease, ecotoxicology, the evolution of cooperation in ecosystems, industrial ecology, and the epistemology of ecology.

ER 102 – Quantitative Aspects of Global Environmental Problems
Dr. John Harte
Human disruption of biogeochemical and hydrological cycles; causes and consequences of climate change and acid deposition; transport and health impacts of pollutants; loss of species; radioactivity in the environment; epidemics.

ER 175/275 – Water and Development
Dr. Isha Ray
Introduction to water policy in developing countries. It is a course motivated by the fact that over one billion people in developing countries have no access to safe drinking water, three billion do not have sanitation facilities, and many millions of small farmers do not have reliable water supplies to ensure a healthy crop. Readings and discussions will cover: the problems of water access and use in developing countries; the potential for technological, social, and economic solutions to these problems; the role of institutions in access to water and sanitation; and the pitfalls of the assumptions behind some of today's popular "solutions." 

ER C180 – Ecological Economics in Historical Context
Dr. Richard Norgaard
Cross-listed with Environmental Economics & Policy C180.
Economists through history have explored economic and environmental interactions, physical limits to growth, what constitutes the good life, and how economic justice can be assured. Yet economists continue to use measures and models that simplify these issues and promote bad outcomes. Ecological economics responds to this tension between the desire for simplicity and the multiple perspectives needed to understand complexity in order to move toward sustainable, fulfilling, just economies.

ER 190/290 – California Water
Dr. Richard Norgaard
Northern California has a relative abundance of water while the most productive agriculture and largest cities are located in the south. For six decades, the State of California has debated how to best move water from North to South while balancing water reliability for users with protecting the environment, economy, and culture of the Sacramento - San Joaquin Delta. This course covers the history of California water development and environmental transformation and then focuses on the science, economics, and politics underlying the current decision with respect to the construction of a "peripheral"� tunnel around the Delta. The benefits and costs of such a major long-term investment are clouded by the uncertainties of climate change.

ER 190 – Behavior and Sustainability
Dr. Isha Ray – Instructor of Record
Course taught by ERG Doctoral Students Chris Jones and Joseph Kantenbacher.
The aggregated effects of billions of individual decisions each day have large adverse effects on human and ecosystem health, natural resource stocks, and global climate change. While the causes of environmental degradation are anthropogenic, so too are the solutions. This course examines different perspectives on the motivations of human behavior, drawing on diverse disciplines, including psychology, economics, and sociology. Theories of behavior change and behavioral intervention case studies will inform student efforts to design viable programs that promote improved sustainability through behavior change.

ER 198 – Tools of the Trade
Dr. John Harte – Instructor of Record
Course taught by: ERG Doctoral Student Joseph Kantenbacher.
Limited to ERG graduate students.  Quantitative methods for energy and resource analysis. Topics include linear algebra, differential equations, statistical methods, chemical equilibrium theory and thermodynamics. 

ER 201 – Interdisciplinary Analysis in Energy and Resources
Dr. Richard Norgaard
Introduction to interdisciplinary analysis as it is practiced in the Energy and Resources Group (ERG).  Most of the course consists of important perspectives on energy and resources issues introduced through a particularly influential book or set of papers.  The course also provides an introduction to the current research activities of the ERG faculty and practical knowledge and skills necessary to successfully complete graduate school in an interdisciplinary program.

ER C226 – Photovoltaic Materials: Modern Technologies in the Context of a Growing Renewable Energy Market
Dr. Daniel Kammen, Dr. Neil Dasgupta and Dr. Oscar Dubon
Cross-listed with Material Science MS C226
A technical course that focuses on the fundamentals of photovoltaic energy conversion with respect to the physical principles of operation and design of efficient semiconductor solar cell devices. Aims to equip students with the concepts and analytical skills necessary to assess the utility and viability of various modern photovoltaic technologies in the context of a growing global renewable energy market. 

ER 254 – Electric Power Systems
Dr. Duncan Callaway
Three hours of lecture per week.  Prerequisites: Physics 7B or 8B or equivalent.
Provides an understanding of concepts in the design and operation of electric power systems, including generation, transmission, and consumption. Covers basic electromechanical physics, reactive power, circuit and load analysis, reliability, planning, dispatch, organizational design, regulations, environment, and end-use efficiency, and new technologies.

ER 273 – Research Methods in Social Sciences
Dr. Isha Ray
Introduction for graduate students to the rich diversity of research methods that social scientists have developed for the empirical aspects of their work. Its primary goal is to encourage critical thinking about the research process: how we “know,” how we match research methods to research questions, how we design and conduct our information/data collection, what we assume explicitly and implicitly, and the ethical dilemmas raised by fieldwork-oriented studies. The course will be broad rather than deep; it is a step toward, and not a substitute for, in-depth courses on interviewing or regression analysis or the philosophy of knowledge.

ER C280 – Energy Economics
Dr. Richard Norgaard
Explores input-output and cost benefit analysis applied to energy; exhaustion theory and economics of energy supply; patterns of energy use; trade-offs in energy conservation; the effect of energy policy on supply and demand; projecting future energy and resource supply and use. Prerequisites: Economics 100A or equivalent; basic calculus or linear algebra.

ER C283 – Information and Communications Technology for Development
Dr. Isha Ray and Dr. Anna Lee Saxenian
Cross-listed with School of Information INFO 283.
A review of current literature and debates regarding Information and Communication Technologies and Development (ICTD). This is an interdisciplinary and practice-oriented field that draws on insights from economics, sociology, engineering, computer science, management, public health, etc.

ER 290 – Climate Change Mitigation and Impacts: Technologies and Policies Needed to Limit Atmospheric Temperature Increase by 2°C by 2050
Dr. Jayant Sathaye, ERG and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Limited to senior undergraduates and graduate students.
This graduate seminar will provide background information on science, and adaptation and mitigation components of climate change research, explore the magnitude of increase in temperature due to different emissions scenarios, identify energy technologies and forest sector options to reduce emissions, describe the barriers and challenges to marketing the above options, and discuss the role of policies to speed up the deployment of above options in order to limit the temperature increase to 2°C. The class will provide a forum for the development of original written material that challenges current hypotheses, and, ideally, presents alternative theories.

ER 290 – Energy Analysis Classics
Dr. Duncan Callaway
Study and critical analysis of advanced topics in energy and resources using interdisciplinary approaches.

ER 291 – Energy Efficiency in Buildings
Dr. Duncan Callaway
Study and critical analysis of advanced topics in energy and resources using interdisciplonary approaches. Specific topics vary according to faculty and student interest.

ER 292C – Master’s Seminar
Required of first-year Energy and Resources Master’s candidates.  Topics include the adoption of a research project, research design, presentation of work, statistical analyses.  Students will apply the interdisciplinary methods, approaches and perspectives learned in the core curriculum. Sequence begins spring each year. Credit and grade to be awarded upon completion of the full Master’s Project sequence.

ER 292D – Master’s
Required of second-year Energy and Resources Master’s candidates.  Topics include the adoption of a research project, research design, presentation of work, statistical analyses.  Students will apply the interdisciplinary methods, approaches and perspectives learned in the core curriculum. Sequence begins spring each year. Credit and grade to be awarded upon completion of the full Master’s Project sequence.

ER 295 – ERG Colloquium: Special Topics in Energy and Resources
Dr. Duncan Callaway
1.5 hours lecture per week. Presentations of research in energy issues by faculty, students, and visiting lecturers. Master's degree students required to enroll for three semesters.

ER 296 – Doctoral Seminar
Dr. Isha Ray and Dr. Gene Rochlin
Two hours seminar per week. Directed group study.

ER 301 – Graduate Student Instructor Practicum
Dr. Isha Ray
For ERG graduate students currently employed as, or preparing to be, GSIs.

ER - Independent Research
For information on independent research and directed group study units with individual faculty members please contact the department at erggrad@berkeley.edu.