The Energy Chessboard: A Policy Simulation
What this project is really about
The world's shift to clean energy is often described as if it were a simple switch to flip. It is not. It is a high-stakes game played on a crowded board — a chessboard where every move on energy interacts with the economy, jobs, international relations and the climate. A country cannot simply 'turn off' coal or oil overnight: millions of livelihoods, the price of electricity, and even national security can depend on it. How can a developing nation transition toward a sustainable energy infrastructure while simultaneously meeting the immediate economic demands and geopolitical realities of its current fossil-fuel dependency? In The Energy Chessboard, each student becomes a policy advisor to the government of a developing nation of their choosing. Over three weeks, they will research that country's real energy situation, study how recent shocks — such as the West Asian Crisis and the resulting swings in oil and gas prices — expose its dependencies, and then design a realistic 5-year plan to move it toward a more sustainable energy future. The catch: the plan must keep the lights on, keep energy affordable for ordinary families, honour the country's climate commitments, and survive a world that does not always cooperate. This is a project about evidence, trade-offs and judgement — the everyday work of real policymaking.
What you'll walk away knowing how to do
This project isn't about memorising facts. It's about building capabilities that transfer — to your next project, your next class, and beyond.
Learn from someone who does this for a living
You're not learning from a textbook. You're learning from a practitioner.
Prof. Lurion De Mello,
Macquarie University, Sydney (Australia)
Prof. Lurion De Mello, brings real-world expertise and professional depth to this project, guiding students through every phase with insight that goes beyond the classroom.
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