Overview

Overview

So far, we have explored what energy outlooks are, who creates them, and we started to understand what they tell us. In this lesson, we will use the information learned to actually use the outlooks to obtain information. Specifically, we will use the EIA outlook to learn aspects about global and U.S. national energy supply and demand.

This exercise has real-world implications. Policy-makers at the state level across the U.S. are preparing for potential energy shortages this year including heating oil shortages paticularly in the Northeast and Upper Midwest. State officials are tracking supplies and prices of key heating fuels in order to assess where shortages might occur if prices would rise causing problems for those who could not afford it. The EIA outlook, in particular, is a key source of information for the reponsible officials as it gives a sense of how much fuel might be available, where it could be, and what the trends in prices are.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

• Make comparative analyses from data sets provided in the outlooks such as differences in energy use trends among sectors or differences in trends between energy sources
• Learn how the trends would vary if assumptions change
• Draw conclusions from graphs generated using the EIA outlook

Lesson Roadmap

Questions?

If you have questions, please feel free to post them to the Questions about EGEE 401 Discussion forum in Canvas. While you are there, feel free to post your own responses if you, too, are able to help a classmate.