Course: REEC 120 Sustainability and Renewable Energy

Energy Simulations

page 3
Credits
This exercise was created and developed by Ken Walz for his Renewable Energy for International Development at Madison Area Technical College. Used with permission.

Next, you will be playing an online game called “Climate Challenge” (© British Broadcasting Company). In this game, your role is the leader of the European Union (EU). Your objective is to manage the greenhouse gas emissions for Europe, while also maintaining vital resources (e.g. food, water, energy) and keeping a healthy economic environment. You will do this by implementing public policies for the EU at 6 different levels: National, Imports, Exports, Industry, Local, and Household.

You will also be negotiating global greenhouse gas emissions with other regions of the world and attempting to influence both the U.S. and developing nations at international climate change summits. You may need to respond to catastrophic events caused by climate change, as well as other natural and man-made events, which may or may not be linked to climate change.

1. Go to: Climate Challenge

2. Click on the button in the red square cartoon that says “OPEN:” (You will need the Flash 8 or above plug-in to play this game. There is a link on the site to download this for free.)

3. Go through the TUTORIAL to learn how to play the game, this will walk you through your first turn (a ten year decade) step by step with helpful text bubbles.

4. Continue playing the game by making changes to your policies and clicking “next turn." Each turn lasts a decade (10 years) and your goal is to reduce your greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2100 (nine more turns).

5. When you complete the game, you will receive scores for three separate areas: Environment, Wealth, and Popularity. Record these scores to email to your instructor.

6. If you would like to play the game more than once to improve your score, you are welcome to do so.