Economics and Policy of Energy and the Environment MSc

This joint MSc with the UCL Energy Institute equips graduates to become sustainability leaders and entrepreneurs in business, policy-making and research.

Programme overview

As an Economics and Policy of Energy and the Environment MSc (EPEE MSc) student, you will be equipped with the skills and knowledge to become a leader and innovator of business, policy-making and research.

This advanced degree programme is designed to provide a broad understanding of research concepts and methods; environmental and resource economics; modelling, methods and scenarios; environmental measurement, assessment and law; global economics and the political economy of energy and climate change.

All modules are taught by our world-class faculty who have a breadth of industrial and academic knowledge. Recent graduates have gone onto varied and challenging careers at the forefront of industry, research and academia.

The EPEE MSc is a joint programme accross both the UCL Energy Institute and the UCL Institute for Sustainable resources.

For key information, including tuitions fees, application dates and how to apply, visit the UCL Graduate Prospectus

Learning outcomes

As an EPEE MSc student, you will gain a firm grounding across all areas that are vital to the understanding and analysis of environment-energy-economy interactions.

Studying in an interdisciplinary, collaborative learning environment, you will learn, at both an introductory and advance level, about:

Environmental policy and law Economics of the environment and natural resources Issues and challenges of global energy use, including climate change Fields of energy system and econometric modelling Roles that innovation, business, people and society play in the energy system

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Student views

UCL's Economics and Policy of Energy and the Environment MSc Class of 2019

Cathy Granneman

“Through the EPEE course I learned to understand the relation between economic theory, legislation and policy...

Read more...: “I’m currently working as a Sustainability Consultant for CBRE, the largest commercial real estate service company in the world. I advise companies and investors on their sustainability strategies, for compliance, voluntary reporting and risk mitigation. Through the EPEE course I learned to understand the relation between economic theory, legislation and policy, allowing me to explain implications of legislative changes more clearly to my clients. Additionally, I wrote my dissertation on corporate climate change risk in the CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project) and I am now advising a client on their disclosure to the CDP.”

Hiren Mulchandani

“I credit the EPEE programme with giving me skills I use daily in my work: modelling and scenario analysis, econometrics and statistical thinking, a broad understanding of climate and power sector policies, and environmental and energy economics which are the foundations for my work.

Read more...

“I currently work as a Senior Analyst in the Commissioned Projects team at Aurora Energy Research Ltd. in Oxford, a role I started after completing his MSc Economics and Policy of Energy and the Environment (EPEE) degree.

“I credit the EPEE programme with giving me skills I use daily in my work: modelling and scenario analysis, econometrics and statistical thinking, a broad understanding of climate and power sector policies, and environmental and energy economics which are the foundations for my work.

“At Aurora Energy, I use proprietary in-house CGE and power sector dispatch models to provide analytics and consulting advice for British and European power, renewables, coal, oil and gas sector clients. Recent projects have included strategic advice to a major energy company for investing in an emerging economy power market, due diligence for sell-side plant valuations, co-authoring the annual update to the flagship commodities market forecast report, and modelling policy implications for a large UK power asset owner.”

Course structure and content

The EPEE MSc offers a number of both compulsory and optional modules, including a dissertation.

The MSc in Economics and Policy of Energy and the Environment (EPEE) is a 180-credit programme. You will attend lectures, engage in interactive seminars and benefit from presentations from visiting speakers drawn from a range of businesses and other organisations. You will also be able to attend the wide-ranging seminar series organised by the UCL Energy Institute and other Institutes contributing to the MSc.

A broad range of assessment methods are used, including:

Examinations
Assessed coursework, including hands-on modelling projects
10,000-word dissertation based on an original piece of research, to put into detailed practice the methods and techniques learnt on the programme

Compulsory modules

Research Concepts and Methods

This module provides students with the essential skills required to commission and critique research, and become critical consumers of secondary data and models using that data. It also prepares students to develop a clear research question and research design, select appropriate methods and samples and undertake a critical literature review – all essential skills for undertaking their dissertations.

Topics include:

Literature review and evidence review methods
Evaluating and using secondary data
Primary data collection
Methodology and measurement
Sampling and system boundaries
Research ethics, data management and protection

Environmental and Resource Economics

This introductory module covers economic theories in relation to the environment and natural resources. The aim is to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the role of the environment and resources in the economy, from an economics perspective, and to give them familiarity with basic concepts of environmental, ecological and resource economics that are used in the investigations into environmental and natural resource issues.

The module covers the main theoretical approaches in environmental, ecological and resource economics, and it illustrates how these approaches have been used in practice through case studies.

Topics covered include:

Natural science of the economy-resource-environment system
Conceptual foundations of economic analysis for policy
Externalities and public goods
Theory of global environmental policy
Regulatory instruments used in environmental policy
Macro-economics and the environment
Non-renewable resources
Renewable resources
Growth, sustainability and sustainable development

Assessment: 2-hour unseen examination (100%)

Introduction to Modelling, Methods and Scenarios

Energy-economic modelling is one of the cornerstones of both the public energy policy process and the investment process for private energy firms. This module provides a comprehensive introductory overview of the field of energy modelling that is required by modern economy-energy-environment (E3) analysts, in whatever area (government, consulting, regulatory etc.) that they may be working. Starting from an economics viewpoint, the module aims to enable students to understand the energy modelling process.

Students will develop an understanding of why energy-economic models are used, how different elements of the economy-energy-environment system can be modelled, how scenario approaches can be combined with models, and how uncertainties are considered. Students will then develop the faculty to critically analyse the applicability and outputs of energy-economic models of all types. The lectures are ordered to start with key energy sectors, and then broadened to include wider economic and physical interactions. In addition to lectures, some optional hands-on sessions in tutorials enable students to explore some simple modelling tools.

Topics covered:

Sectoral modelling
Resources and supply modelling
Energy systems modelling
Modelling energy and the environment
Modelling energy and the economy
Modelling uncertainty Scenario formulation

Overview of energy-economic modelling Modelling energy demand Electricity and heat modelling.

Assessment: 2 x 1500-word essays (each worth half of total marks)

Examples of Reading Material:

Bhattacharyya, S. (2011). Energy Economics: Concepts, Issues, Markets and Governance. London, Springer.

Environmental Measurement, Assessment, and Law

This module focuses on assessing whether legal and policy responses to environmental challenges are successful. In order to do this:

Environmental outcomes before and after policy change must be measured
Laws and legal systems enable and constrain the implementation of environmental policy
Effect of policy change has to be assessed before it is put in place and evaluated after it has had time to take effect

Topics covered:

Measurement of environmental benefits and impacts in policy
Environmental values and valuation
Environmental impact assessment
Benefit-cost analysis and discounting
Indicators of sustainability and sustainable development
Environmental systems and their governance
International agreements concerning the environment
National legal and policy frameworks concerning the environment
Case studies concerning the design of environmental legal and policy frameworks

Assessment: 2-hour unseen examination (100%)

Planetary Economics and the Political Economy of Energy & Climate Change

This module covers international energy issues and challenges, spanning the main energy resources and systems, with emphasis on the interplay of technology, economics and political economy. The module is assessed 100% by an oral examination. It explores:

Basic structure and trends of global energy use and the associated challenges of energy in development, energy access, and environment, together with the global structure of fossil fuel resources and the political economy of international oil and gas markets.
Heat, electricity and energy efficiency, including the role of non-fossil sources, experience with energy efficiency, and the regulatory dimensions of network-based industries
Policy instruments and architectures for trying to transform energy systems

The overall aim is to provide interdisciplinary understanding of these topics, including the interplay between national and international energy and climate change policies.

Topics covered:

The empirical context of global energy and climate change: some core facts
Global fossil fuels: the history and political economy of petroleum and gas markets
Electricity and heat: resources, systems and socioeconomics
Planetary economics and climate change: economic perspectives on the nature of the problem and the structure of solutions
Global fossil fuels and scenarios: who owns what where and how much can be burned under different atmospheric assumptions?
Regulation, market and subsidies
Political economy of pricing and carbon pricing
Energy efficiency: potentials and political economy
Energy innovation and investment
Coming of Age? The international response to climate change and Paris COP21

Assessment: Oral examination (100%)

Examples of Programme Reading:

Michael Grubb (2014) Planetary Economics: Energy, Climate Change and the Three Domains of Sustainable Development, Routledge

Daniel Yergin (2012). The Quest: Energy, Security and the remaking of the modern world, Allen Lane

IEA (2015) World Energy Outlook, IEA

Stern (2009) A blueprint for a safer planet: How to manage climate change and create a new era of progress and prosperity, Random House

Ekins, Bradshaw and Watson (eds.) (2015) Global Energy: Issues, Potentials, and Policy Implications, OUP Oxford

Dissertation

The dissertation is a core part of the EPEE MSc. The dissertation project is an opportunity for students to put the skills and knowledge acquired during the programme into practice through a piece of original research. Each student works with a dissertation supervisor – a UCL researcher with expertise in the field – and develops a unique project.

Optional modules

Students will be asked to choose three optional modules from the following list:

Advanced Energy-Environment-Economy Modelling
UK Energy and Environment Policy and Law
Energy, Technology and Innovation
Energy, People and Behaviour
Business and Sustainability
Advanced Environmental Economics
Econometrics for Energy and the Environment
Behavioural Economics and Game Theory for the Environment
Energy, Environment and Resources in Developing Countries

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Scholarships

Scholarships available to successful applicants at our Faculty The Bartlett can be found on the faculty website.
Scholarships available at the UCL Energy Institute can be found on the UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources Scholarships and Funding page.
For a comprehensive list of the funding opportunities available at UCL, please visit the Scholarships and Funding section of the UCL website.

Staff

Programme Lead

Lorenzo Lotti
Senior Teaching Fellow in Economics of Energy and the Environment
View Lorenzo's profile
Email: lotti.lorenzo.13@ucl.ac.uk

Programme Administrator

Pui Tsang
Email: pui.tsang@ucl.ac.uk

Other teaching staff

Paolo Agnolucci
Associate Professor in Resource and Environmental Economics
View Paolo's profile
Email: p.agnolucci@ucl.ac.uk

Gabrial Anandarajah
Associate Professor
View Gabrial's profile
Email: g.anandarajah@ucl.ac.uk

Raimund Bleischwitz
Director of The Bartlett School of Environment, Energy and Resources
Chair in Sustainable Global Resources
View Raimund's profile
Email: r.bleischwitz@ucl.ac.uk

Paul Ekins
Director of Institute for Sustainable Resources
Professor in Resources & Environment Policy
View Paul's profile
Email: p.ekins@ucl.ac.uk

Michael Grubb
Deputy Director of Institute for Sustainable Resources
Professor of International Energy and Climate Change Policy
View Michael's profile
Email: m.grubb@ucl.ac.uk

Steve Pye
Associate Professor in Energy Systems
View Steve's profile
Send Steve an email

Michelle Shipworth
Lecturer
View Michelle's profile
Email: m.shipworth@ucl.ac.uk

Catherine Willan
Teaching Fellow
View Catherine's profile
Email: caterine.willan.14@ucl.ac.uk

Why choose the UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources?

The UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources (ISR) has a world-leading research portfolio in the area of sustainable use of resources, economics and the environment. ISR is particularly strong in modelling approaches and analysis related to economics driving use of resources and policies.

The QS World University Rankings (2021) places The Bartlett, our faculty, as the #1 for Architecture/Built Environment studies in the UK and #2 in the World.

The exciting multidisciplinary programme includes contributions from economics, law, political science, development planning, engineering and the natural sciences as appropriate for a systemic approach to the complex set of elements shaping patter of use and consumption of resources and understanding planetary boundaries, the role of people and governments and new integrative approaches such as the resource nexus and the Circular Economy.

The programme also offers excellent opportunities for networking with key figures of academia, government and industry. The residential field trip offers a valuable experience and interesting visits to companies and a unique opportunity to strengthen student-staff interaction. Regular seminars are held across UCL and you will be able to undertake industry-focused dissertation projects.

Students become members of the Sustainable Resources: Economics, Policy and Transitions MSc alumni network and will be invited to attend alumni events and benefit from additional networking opportunities with fellow students.

Further information

For key information about the EPEE MSc, including how to apply, visit the UCL Graduate Prospectus
If you still have questions about this programme, visit our FAQs page
For admissions enquiries, please contact Pui Tsang (Programme Administrator)