EBF 200 Syllabus (Summer 2024)

Introduction to Energy and Earth Science Economics

Instructor

Summer 2024

Zhongyang He, Ph.D.
Instructor
Energy, Finance and Business
21 Hosler Building
Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering
College of Earth and Mineral Sciences
The Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA 16802

E-mail: Please use Canvas for all e-mail communications. I expect to check every weekday and reply within a day. I will also check at least once during the weekend. Questions regarding homework should be sent to me at least 24 hours before the deadline.

Virtual Office Hours: If you would like to schedule a meeting, please send an email and we will coordinate a workable time.

Course Overview

EBF 200 (GS): Introduction to Energy and Earth Sciences Economics (3)—Resource use decisions and their effect on local, national, and global development.
Prerequisites: ECON 102 and MATH 022

This class is a course in microeconomic fundamentals with a focus on the applications of economics to energy and environmental markets. In the course, we introduce the economic method of analysis to the environmental and resource questions facing society. Upon successful completion of the course, you will be able to:

• illustrate the fundamentals of supply, demand and market equilibrium;
• define different types of market failure and identify solutions to address each one;
• apply your skills to the analysis of key topics in energy and environmental economics.

As a result of this class, students are expected to be able to synthesize information to better appreciate the complexity of modern resource policy. In addition, they are expected to be able to make more informed judgments on the nature and relative seriousness of these issues.

EBF 200 will be conducted entirely on the World Wide Web. There will be no set class meeting times, but you will be required to complete weekly assignments. The content of this course is divided into 12 lessons. Each lesson will be completed over a weekly period. Lesson learning activities take the form of readings, discussions, quizzes, and exams.

What I Expect of You

On average, most students spend seven to nine hours per week working on the course. Your workload may be more or less depending on your prior experience with computing and the Web in general and with economics in particular.

The course designers and instructors have worked hard to make this the most effective and convenient educational experience possible. The Internet is still a novel learning environment, but, in one sense, it is no different than a traditional college class: how much and how well you learn is ultimately up to you. You will succeed if you are diligent about keeping up with the class schedule and if you take advantage of opportunities to communicate with me, as well as with your fellow students.

Specific learning objectives for each lesson and project are detailed within each lesson. The class schedule is published in Canvas (the course management system used for this course).

Required Course Materials

Textbook Option #1: Microeconomics: Private and Public Choice, 14th Edition, by Gwartney, Stroup, Sobel and MacPherson. 12th or 13th Edition of the book can also be used. You will find that the textbook can be purchased as a hard copy (new or used), or via online access. I will refer to this book in the reading assignments as "Gwartney et al."

Textbook Option #2: Principles of Microeconomics, Greenlaw et al. (Available through Openstax). This book can be purchased as a hard copy or downloaded for free as a PDF. I will refer to this book in the reading assignments as "Greenlaw et al."

Assistance with textbooks

Penn State honors and values the socioeconomic diversity of our students. If you require assistance with the costs of textbooks for this course, please contact your academic advisor. For additional needs, related to socioeconomic status, please visit Project Cahir or visit the Office of Student Care and Advocacy at 222 Boucke Building or call 814-863-2020.

Reading assignments are specified for each Lesson in Canvas. You can find many other economics education resources online, and you may find these to be helpful to reinforce the concepts presented in this course. Lesson material and any additional reading assignments for this course are presented online through this Course Website and in Canvas. To access all materials, you need to have an active Penn State Access Account user ID and password (used to access the online course resources). If you have any questions about obtaining or activating your Penn State Access Account, please contact the Outreach HelpDesk.

Assignments and Grading

There are 12 lessons in this course. There will be 10 quizzes, 10 homeworks, one mid-term, and one final exam. Your grade in EBF 200 will be based on the total number of points you accumulate. We consider 100 points to be a perfect score. You earn points this way:

• Weekly Quizzes (20 points)
  There will be 10 multiple choice quizzes in this course. We will count the 8 highest scores (out of the 10) and take the average, so you can get up to 20 points from quizzes. The quizzes will be open for seven days every week of a unit: 12:00 a.m. on Monday morning -- 11:55 p.m. on Sunday night.
• Weekly Homeworks (30 points)
  There will be 10 homeworks in the form of essay and problem solving questions. We will count the 8 highest (out of the 10) and take the average. The homeworks also will be open for seven days every week of a unit: 12:00 a.m. on Monday morning -- 11:55 p.m. on Sunday night.
• Mid-term Examination (20 points)
  There will be a mid-term exam which will be worth 20 points. The mid-terms will cover material from lessons 1-6.
• Comprehensive Final Exam (30 points)
  The final exam will be worth 30 points. The final exam is cumulative, meaning that it covers the entire course. The best way to do well on this exam is to stay current with all the material, and to carefully review the feedback I provide in the weekly unit quizzes, homeworks, and mid-terms. The final exam will be similar to the quizzes and homeworks, but will not repeat exactly the same questions.
  This course may require you to take exams using certain proctoring software that uses your computer’s webcam or other technology to monitor and/or record your activity during exams. The proctoring software may be listening to you, monitoring your computer screen, viewing you and your surroundings, recording and storing any and all activity (including visual and audio recordings) during the proctoring process. By enrolling in this course, you consent to the use of the proctoring software selected by your instructor, including but not limited to any audio and/or visual monitoring which may be recorded. Please contact your instructor with any questions.
• Discussion Forum Participation (2 extra points)
  One of the features of this course is a discussion forum. Use the course Discussion Forums to get to know one another, work together, and learn from one another. It’s a special opportunity. You’ll learn more, enjoy the course more, and probably make a better grade. The designated Discussion Forums provide a place where you can work together to surface problems and questions and give me the chance to redirect or provide additional information if needed. You are welcome to write your questions and topics or add your thoughts and answers to the questions or topics of other students. You will be graded at the end of the semester on the quantity and quality of your contributions (posting and also replying) to the Discussion Forum. I recommend you read the forums regularly and I would like the forum to be a place where we all exchange ideas about the interaction between the course material and the real world.

These elements will be weighted as a percentage of your course grade as follows:

Grades for each assignment will be posted in Canvas.

Final letter grades will be based on the following percentages:

Percentages refer to the proportion of all possible points earned by the student.

NOTE: Grades will not be curved. Put your best effort into all of the assignments as you complete them.

EBF 200 Course Schedule

Printable Schedule

Below you will find a summary of the primary learning activities for this course and the associated time frames. Each lesson is one week long.

NOTE: For Current Course details, please visit Canvas for updated schedule.

Course content and schedule

Unit: Week	Topic	Content	Assignments
Week 1	Orientation	Complete the Course Orientation	Orientation Quiz Initial Course Survey Introduce Yourself
Unit 1: Week 1	Lesson 1: Thinking about economics	What is economics, and why study it? Individual rationality and the economic way of thinking Positive and normative questions	Lesson 1 Quiz Lesson 1 Homework
Unit 1: Week 2	Lesson 2: Markets: Demand	Market Structures Marginal Utility Demand Curve Consumer Surplus Elasticities and Demand Curve Shapes	Lesson 02 Quiz Lesson 2 Homework
Unit 1: Week 3	Lesson 3: Markets: Supply	Production functions Returns to a Factor Cost structures Supply Curve Investment decisions	Lesson 03 Quiz Lesson 3 Homework
Unit 2: Week 4	Lesson 4: Market dynamics	Market Equilibrium Wealth created by markets Market Dynamics Causes and effects of demand curve movements Causes and effects of supply curve movements	Lesson 04 Quiz Lesson 4 Homework
UNIT 2: Week 5	Lesson 5: Market power	Perfectly competitive markets Market power and monopoly Profit Maximizing in a Monopoly Price Discrimination Measuring Market Power Cartels
Unit 2: Week 6	Lesson 6: Other market failures	Barriers to entry Natural Monopoly Information market failure	Lessons 5 and 6 Quiz Lessons 5 and 6 Homework
Unit 3: Week 7	Lesson 7: Externalities and Environmental Economics	Externalities Dealing With Externalities A Tale of Two Roommates A Market Approach to Dealing with Externalities	Midterm Lesson 7 Quiz Lesson 7 Homework
Unit 3: WEEK 8	Lesson 8: Government Failure	Public Goods and Common Pools Introduction to Government Failure Bureaucracies and Power
Unit 3: Week 9	Lesson 9: Government intervention	Rent-Seeking and Regulatory Capture Price controls and their effects	Lessons 8 and 9 Quiz Lessons 8 and 9 Homework
Unit 4: Week 10	Lesson 10: Topical Issues: Climate change and carbon policy	The economics of Climate Change Climate Change controversies Reducing carbon emissions	Lesson 10 Quiz Lesson 10 Homework
Unit 4: Week 11	Lesson 11: Topical issues: Resource scarcity and energy security	Resource scarcity Energy security and independence Replacing oil The Resource Curse	Lesson 11 Quiz Lesson 11 Homework
Unit 4: Week 12	Lesson 12: Topical issues: Changes in the electricity business	The fundamentals of electricity markets Environmental regulations and coal-fired generation Renewable Portfolio standards The future of nuclear power	Lesson 12 Quiz Lesson 12 Homework
Finals study and exam	Final Exam Review, Study and Complete	Review time, opportunity to direct any final questions to instructor Office Hours will be available for assistance	Final Exam will be available

Course Policies

Deferred Grades

If you are prevented from completing this course within the prescribed amount of time, it is possible to have the grade deferred with the concurrence of the instructor. To seek a deferred grade, you must submit a written request (by email or U.S. post) to your instructor describing the reason(s) for the request. It is up to your instructor to determine whether or not you will be permitted to receive a deferred grade. If, for any reason, the course work for the deferred grade is not complete by the assigned time, a grade of "F" will be automatically entered on your transcript.

Late Policy

All course-related assignments, quizzes and exams must be completed by the specified due date unless alternate arrangements have been made in advance. In special circumstances, full or partial credit can be earned after the due date, but this will occur only in exceptional circumstances.

Citation and Reference Style

Please use APA citation and format style. Info can be found at Purdue's Online Writing Lab.