ECE 59500 - Food and Energy Farms: Challenges to Sustainable Production on a Crowded Planet
Course Details
Lecture Hours: 3 Credits: 3
Areas of Specialization:
- Fields and Optics
Counts as:
- EE Elective
- CMPE Selective - Special Content
Normally Offered:
Each Fall
Campus/Online:
On-campus and online
Requisites:
For ECE students: ECE 30500 and (ECE 31100 or ECE 30411); for ChE students: PHYS 24100 and CHM 37000; for ABE students ABE 30300 and ABE 31400; for AGRY students AGRY 33500 and AGRY 32000.
Requisites by Topic:
For ECE students: background in Semiconductor Device Fundamentals and electric and magnetic fields. An optics class can also be beneficial. For ChE students a background in electricity and optics and physical chemistry. For ABE students a background in the applications of physics and biology to chemical reactions and design of electronic systems. For Agronomy students: background in weather and climate and genetics.
Catalog Description:
This course will introduce both advanced undergraduate and early-stage graduate students to the key concepts and challenges associated with creating sustainable food, energy, and water systems. After providing a big picture overview of the connections, it will cover the topics of food, energy, and water systems independently from a scientific perspective. At the end of the course, students will present recent papers addressing the interactions between two or more of these systems in a meaningful way, followed by their own solutions to address some of these challenges.
Required Text(s):
- Notes Provided by instructor(s).
Recommended Text(s):
- "The nexus across water, energy, land and food (WELF): potential for improved resource use efficiency?." Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 5, no. 6 (2013): 617-624.
- Considering the energy, water and food nexus: Towards an integrated modelling approach , Bazilian, Morgan, Holger Rogner, Mark Howells, Sebastian Hermann, Douglas Arent, Dolf Gielen, Pasquale Steduto et al.
- Crop ecology: productivity and management in agricultural systems. , Connor, David J., Robert S. Loomis, and Kenneth G. Cassman. , Cambridge University Press , 2011
- Global Change and the Challenges of Sustainably Feeding a Growing Planet , Thomas W. Hertel and Uris Lantz C. Baldos , Springer , 2017
- The Physics of Solar Cells. , Nelson, Jenny , World Scientific Publishing Co, Inc. , 2003
- The energy-water-food nexus: Strategic analysis of technologies for transforming the urban metabolism. , Walker, R. Villarroel, M. Bruce Beck, Jim W. Hall, Richard J. Dawson, and Oliver Heidrich. , 2014
- Thirst for Power: Energy, Water, and Human Survival , Webber, Michael E. , Yale Press , 2016
- World Economic Forum Water Initiative. Water security: the water-food-energy-climate nexus. , Ringler, Claudia, Anik Bhaduri, and Richard Lawford , Island Press , 2012
Learning Outcomes
A student who successfully fulfills the course requirements will have demonstrated an ability to:
- describe plant growth and development, analyze how this interacts with the environment, and link energy and water management practices to crop productivity
- fully describe sustainable energy resources such as sunlight, and analyze corresponding technologies for utilizing them
- describe the hydrosphere, and analyze technologies for developing water resource systems for sustainable use
- analyze major interactions between food, energy, and water systems, and to design solutions to address key human needs in a sustainable fashion
Lecture Outline:
| Week | Major Topics |
|---|---|
| 1 | Overview of food, energy and water systems |
| 3 | Food: Ecophysiology of plant growth |
| 1 | Food: Impact of energy and water inputs on crop production |
| 3 | Energy: Overview of sustainable energy sources, particularly solar power |
| 1 | Energy: Tradeoffs with food and water production |
| 3 | Water: Overview of water resources |
| 1 | Water: Key interactions with food and energy production |
| 1 | Student presentations: key papers in food, energy and water systems |
| 1 | Student presentations: concepts for solutions effectively integrating food, energy and water systems |
Assessment Method:
presentations and in-class quizzes