Energy Management

This MSc develops the knowledge and analytical skills needed to equip students for a successful career in the energy sector, in terms of energy policy analysis, energy management and energy planning. Energy security, energy prices and the environmental impacts of energy supply and use – including links to climate change problems – are key aspects of the global environment at present, and will become more pressing in the future. This programme is aimed at students from a variety of backgrounds, including students with no previous training in economics or finance.

On completing the programme, you should have a good knowledge of how economic analysis can help understand problems related to energy supply and use; be able to analyse alternative energy policy options in terms of benefits and costs; have a good understanding of world energy markets; understand the links between climate change policy and be able to analyse the risks associated with energy options. You should also have acquired the skills needed to structure, analyse and evaluate energy-related problems.

The programme is offered by Economics. Stirling has a longstanding, recognised expertise in teaching, research and practice in this area. Senior personnel from a variety of institutions in the UK and abroad in the energy, financial and international policy sectors are invited to give talks to the class.

Entrance requirements

A lower second class Honours degree from a UK university, or an equivalent qualification. The qualification need not be in Economics: most subjects are acceptable. Applicants with lower qualifications or special circumstances are also considered if they have relevant work experience.

English language requirements

If English is not your first language, you must provide evidence of your  proficiency such as a minimum IELTS score of 6 (minimum 5.5 in each skill), or  TOEFL: Listening 21, Reading 22, Speaking 23, Writing 21.

Funding

information on possible sources of funding

Modes of Study

Full-time and part-time study available

Programme start date

September

Structure and content

You take four taught modules in the autumn from September to December and four more taught modules in the spring from February to May. Then you write a dissertation in the summer, from June to August.

Autumn semester modules:

• Energy and Resource Economics: The main economic theories of the management of non-renewable and renewable resources; valuation of external effects of energy use; alternative ways of modelling energy and resource use; the place of energy and resource use within sustainable development strategies.

• Environmental Economics: The application of economic theory and methodologies to the better understanding of environmental problems and improving the design of environmental policy.

• Financial Economics: Financial instruments and how they are traded; the key tools used by financial economists; the major topics in financial economics including portfolio theory, diversification and mean variance analysis; asset-pricing models, efficient market hypothesis, and market anomalies; the pricing of bonds, stocks, and other financial instruments.

• Quantitative Methods in Finance: The statistical and computing skills necessary to understand fully and perform modern financial analysis.

Spring semester modules:

• The Economics of Climate Change: The main economic arguments that help explain why human-induced climate change has arisen; estimation of damage costs from climate change; evaluation of climate change mitigation options; problems of international cooperation on climate change policy; distributional implications of climate change and climate change policy.

• Energy Markets and Policy: The function of the major markets for energy: oil, coal, natural gas, electricity, and alternative/renewable energy in a national and international context; the technological structure and parameters of energy supply and use; forecasting supply or demand for energy; the environmental issues related to energy use and consumption; the effect on energy markets of national and international environmental policy.

• Seminar on Energy Management: This will include presentations by visiting speakers from the UK energy industry, regulatory authorities and NGOs. The students will learn how to write and present policy briefs.

• Management Research Methods: How, creatively, to design and carry out elements of research and development projects, thereby acquiring skills needed for realistic production of an appropriate dissertation and for subsequent postgraduate life roles.

Dissertation
In the summer you complete a dissertation on a topic approved by the Programme Director.

Delivery and assessment

Modules are taught by a combination of lectures and small group teaching, in the form of seminars or computing labs. Assessment typically includes coursework, presentations and an end-of-semester examination. Re-sit examinations are available.

Timetable

Contact the School for information on your timetable and reading lists.

RAE Rating

In the most recent Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), 15 percent of research in Economics at Stirling was rated as ‘World-leading’ and a further 45 percent as ‘Internationally Excellent’.

Career opportunities

There are excellent employment opportunities in the energy sector and in financial and environmental sectors at national and international level. Potential employers are private companies in the energy supply and distribution sectors, forestry and biomass, along with the consultancy, and financial sectors, as well as international organisations (for example, International Energy Agency, OECD, European Union), and governmental bodies related to energy and the environment.