Political Economy of Energy

Aim of the course:
The course will introduce students to the major theoretical frameworks used by political scientists, sociologists, economists, and other intellectual disciplines to understand how societies design and implement public policies related to energy, and how the energy industry responds. Topics covered will include theories of the state, monopoly and regulation, public choice, organizational behavior, international agreements, and innovation. The class will apply these theories to major current and historical issues in energy policy, such as ethanol, climate change, energy security, the role of national oil companies in the world oil market, and the functioning of OPEC.
This course aims at exposing students to applied energy issues that face Lebanon and similar countries. The course will address the problems facing the government’s decision making pertaining to the energy sector including production, tariffs and taxes. The power sector will be examined and policy reform intended to resolve the current constraints in the sector will be evaluated. The course also focuses on designing corrective policy measures and methodology that can be used to determine optimal solutions, and evaluate constraints preventing reform. All phases of power will be addressed including production, transmission, distribution, collection, pricing, and ownership. It will address other uses of energy including transportation and for industry and households.

Learning Outcomes:

Upon completion of the course requirements, the students will be acquire:
- A solid overview of fossil energy as well as of renewable energy production.
- The needed knowledge about the role of international organizations as well as developed countries for promoting renewables in developing countries.
- The drivers and barriers for renewable energies and the efficient use of fossil energy in developing countries.
- The information about the capacity for developing strategies for a sustainable renewable energy production under ecological and socio-economic criteria.
- Students will have acquired a profound knowledge of contemporary issues in energy economics that face Lebanon.
- Students will have acquired the necessary economic tools to analyze fiscal decisions pertaining to the energy sector in Lebanon