GEO3030 : Energy Geographies
- Offered for Year: 2026/27
- Available for Study Abroad and Exchange students, subject to School approval at module registration
- Module Leader(s): Professor Stuart Dawley
- Co-Module Leader: Dr Gareth Powells
- Lecturer: Professor Danny MacKinnon
- Owning School: Geography, Politics & Sociology
- Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus
Semesters
Your programme is made up of credits, the total differs on programme to programme.
| Semester 1 Credit Value: | 20 |
| ECTS Credits: | 10.0 |
| European Credit Transfer System | |
Pre-requisite
Modules you must have done previously to study this module
Pre Requisite Comment
N/A
Co-Requisite
Modules you need to take at the same time
Co Requisite Comment
N/A
Aims
To provide students with a critical geographical perspective into understanding contemporary energy issues.
Demonstrate the connections between energy issues and broader economic, political, social and environmental processes and their geographies
To provide students with an advanced understanding of the key themes, concepts and theories in the growing field of energy geographies within the social sciences.
To provide a particular focus on the geographical dimensions of contemporary energy transitions (carbon intensive to low carbon/renewable sources of power) and to explore and understand their multi-scalar drivers and development implications for localities and regions
Understanding the key geographical actors involved in shaping, and being shaped by, the energy-economy interface
To understand the broader and varied global energy landscape before focusing in on the UK and its world leading policy ambitions around Net Zero and Clean Power.
To examine a range of UK localities and regions at the heart of the energy transition and understand their uneven development trajectories and emerging ‘place-based’ policy lessons.
More broadly the module, will relate directly to SDGs, specifically goal 7 (Goal 7: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all) and is an area of increasing employment opportunity in which the teaching team have substantial professional networking footprints across industry, policy and academic research networks. The module will connect with local and international external professional networks and with the internal networks within the university through the NU Centre for Energy to offer leading edge experiences for students.
Outline Of Syllabus
The course is organised around 4 inter-related Sections, which may include some of these indicative lectures and sessions:
Section 1: Approaches to Energy Geographies
Introduction
Resource Geography
Energy Systems, Infrastructures and Materialities
Energy Transitions
Energy Geopolitics
Geographical Political Economy of New Energy Spaces
Green Path Development
Section 2: Energy Geography Actors
State
Industry and Firms
Labour
Consumer and Community
Industry and Policy Interactive Workshop
Section 3: Global Energy Landscapes
Europe
North America
Asia
Africa
Section 4: ‘Placing’ Energy in the UK
UK State and Strategy
UK: Mapping Energy and Economy
North East Scotland
North East England
Humber
South West
East Anglia
Urban and Community Energy
Alongside the lectures, the course will also involve an Interactive Workshop; a local non-residential Fieldwork Activity (Tyne and Blyth) and an Assessment Surgery
Teaching Methods
Teaching Activities
| Category | Activity | Number | Length | Student Hours | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Lecture | 1 | 2:00 | 2:00 | N/A |
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 1 | 40:00 | 40:00 | Suggested minimum time, in addition to direct research and reading, to be allocated to assessment preparation and delivery |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Lecture | 24 | 1:00 | 24:00 | N/A |
| Guided Independent Study | Directed research and reading | 1 | 127:00 | 127:00 | N/A |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Workshops | 1 | 3:00 | 3:00 | Workshop involving energy related policy, industry and community stakeholders |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Fieldwork | 1 | 3:00 | 3:00 | Non residential fieldwork activity engaging with the evolving energy related landscape and activities on the Tyne (Tyneside conurbation) and Blyth (including Newcastle University's Energy Central) |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Drop-in/surgery | 1 | 1:00 | 1:00 | N/A |
| Total | 200:00 |
Teaching Rationale And Relationship
Lectures introduce, develop and illustrate the core conceptual, theoretical, empirical and policy content of the module.
The interactive Policy and Industry workshop will enable students to encounter the leading edge of the energy transition. Students will be in dialogue with stakeholders involved in the energy sector, providing learning for upcoming case study and policy analysis and alongside broader insights into energy related career opportunities.
Local non-residential fieldwork activity allows student to visual, experience and encounter the evolving nature of energy related development along the banks of the rivers Tyne and Blyth. The local North East region offers one of the richest field sites in the UK for this activity, including Newcastle University's own activities on Walker Riverside and Blyth's Energy Central.
Guided learning through set readings and tasks deepens student knowledge and discussion, enabled through online discussion boards.
The drop in/surgery provides an opportunity for discussion and problem solving in addressing course material and assessment.
Assessment Methods
The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners
Other Assessment
| Description | Semester | When Set | Percentage | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oral Presentation | 1 | M | 40 | Recorded oral presentation with accompanying visual presentation materials |
| Report | 1 | M | 60 | Theoretically informed comparative case study 'policy briefing' report |
Assessment Rationale And Relationship
This module provides students with two different types of assessment.
First, students will produce a pre-recorded oral presentation, which applies some of the energy geographies approaches to an issue around the energy transition. The presentation aims to assess students’ ability to make connections between academic literature and contemporary energy-related events, to effectively analyse, summarise, assess, explain, and critically reflect on the coverage it has received.
Second, students will write a policy brief aimed at expert stakeholders involved in the local and regional dimensions of the energy transitions in the UK. The assessment will draw on the approaches and contexts introduced in the module. The assignment assesses students’ knowledge and understanding of energy geographies concepts and their application to real world examples, and tests their ability to summarise, assess, explain, and evaluate through comparative case study analysis and identify policy lessons.
Reading Lists
Timetable
- Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
- GEO3030's Timetable