SD 561: Energy and Environmental Dynamics

This course helps students develop understanding and proficiency in system dynamics simulation of energy and environmental problems. The majority of the content is devoted to case studies that focus on energy, water and environmental problems. Major business applications deal with boom and bust in power plant construction and a similar pattern of boom and bust in real-estate construction. The text used is: Ford, Andrew. 2009. Modeling the Environment, 2nd Edition. Island Press. The book’s website ( http://www. wsu.edu/^forda/AA2nd.html) provides model files, background on the case studies and a wide variety of extra exercises. For example, Students interested in water resource management can simulate the complex tradeoffs in the management of large river basins; students interested in water quality can experiment with models of accelerated eutrophication of fresh water lakes. A highlight of SD 561 is a class project. One option is to select one of the more challenging sets of exercises from the book (or the book’s website). Such a project is often the best way to conclude SD561 for students who are new to system dynamics. The other option is to improve one of the models from the book or the website. This option is usually best for students with previous course work in system dynamics. Their project report will explain why their simulations are an improvement on the published simulations. And they will explain whether the conclusions from their modeling reinforce or contradict the conclusions from the book.