Download or read book Before the Lights Go Out written by Maggie Koerth-Baker and published by Turner Publishing Company. This book was released on 2012-02-21 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What you need to know now about America's energy future "Hi, I'm the United States and I'm an oil-oholic." We have an energy problem. And everybody knows it, even if we can't all agree on what, specifically, the problem is. Rising costs, changing climate, peaking oil, foreign oil, public safety?if the fears are this complicated, then the solutions are bound to be even more confusing. Maggie Koerth-Baker?science editor at the award-winning blog BoingBoing.net?finally makes some sense out of the madness. Over the next 20 years, we'll be forced to cut 20 quadrillion BTU worth of fossil fuels from our energy budget, by wasting less and investing in alternatives. To make it work, we'll need to radically change the energy systems that have shaped our lives for 100 years. And the result will be neither business-as-usual, nor a hippie utopia. Koerth-Baker explains what we can do, what we can't do, and why "The Solution" is really a lot of solutions working together. This isn't about planting a tree, buying a Prius, and proving that you're a good person. Economics and social incentives got us a country full of gas-guzzling cars, long commutes, inefficient houses, and coal-fired power plants out in the middle of nowhere, and economics and incentives will be the things that build our new world. Ultimately, change is inevitable. Argues we're not going to solve the energy problem by convincing everyone to live like it's 1900 because that's not a good thing. Instead of reverting to the past, we have to build a future where we get energy from new places, use it in new ways, and do more with less. Clean coal? Natural gas? Nuclear? Electric cars? We'll need them all. When you look at the numbers, you'll find that we'll still be using fossil fuels, nuclear, and renewables for decades to come. Looks at new battery technology, smart grids, passive buildings, decentralized generation, clean coal, and carbon sequestration. These are buzzwords now, but they'll be a part of your world soon. For many people, they already are. Written by the cutting edge Science Editor for Boing Boing, one of the ten most popular blogs in America

Download or read book Solving America s Energy Crisis written by Kirkpatrick Sale and published by The Institute for Southern Studies. This book was released on 1973-09-01 with total page 99 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There are some remarkable parallels between the Watergate scandals and the energy crisis—the two biggest front-page stories in recent months. Both are the product of a politics of fear and intimidation, a use of power to obscure public issues with scare words like black-outs and Black Panthers, while stealing Americans blind. In the name of law-andorder, the Watergate tricksters nearly stole the government. In the name of supply-and-demand, the energy companies would have us finance their attempt to further monopolize the world's energy resources. But more of us are seeing through these kinds of tricks. On a national level, perhaps television has produced a more sophisticated audience, one capable of discerning a second-rate used car salesman or a fast buck hoax in an instant. That's certainly ironic considering the way TV has become the media for presidental campaigning and the oil companies' good-guy apologies. Of course, Southerners should have a slight edge in spotting a fraud. After all, we've had decades of demagogues and statehouse gangs. telling us what was best for "the little people." Not that we've had a monopoly on such corruption. Nationally, the worst enemies of democracy and free enterprise consistently prove to be those who claim to be those systems' protectors. Still, the South has a special relation to these latest crises. And that's what this issue of our journal is all about. There is increasing evidence that the cronies and the cash that made Watergate a Nixon policy came from the southern USA. Kirkpatrick Sale explores this thought in his analysis of the emerging political clout of what he calls "the southern rim."

Download or read book Our Choice written by Al Gore and published by Viking Juvenile. This book was released on 2009 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explores the primary causes of the current climate crisis, and what young people can do to help solve it.

Download or read book The California Electricity Crisis written by Christopher Weare and published by Public Policy Instit. of CA. This book was released on 2003 with total page 140 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Life at the Center of the Energy Crisis written by George Hunter Miley and published by World Scientific. This book was released on 2013 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Life at the Center of the Energy Crisis: A Technologist''s Search for a Black Swan describes the story of the author''s work and struggles in the field of energy research. The author''s experience in the field spans from work with Admiral Rickover and the Nuclear Navy to research with NASA designing propulsion for spacecraft to travel to Mars. The book provides insights into the differences between nuclear research done during the Cold War by the two superpowers, and offers a commentary on the flaws in each system with hope for change in the future. The book also provides a look into the development of the nuclear engineering program at the University of Illinois from the author''s years as a professor and an administrator.

Download or read book Crossing the Energy Divide written by Robert U. Ayres and published by Pearson Prentice Hall. This book was released on 2009-12-20 with total page 253 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If we continue our highly inefficient, dangerous energy usage, we’re headed for both economic and environmental catastrophe. However, the hard truth is that alternative fuels can’t fully replace fossil fuels for decades. What’s more, new research indicates that energy inefficiencies are retarding economic growth even more than most experts ever realized. Crossing the Energy Divide is about solving all these problems at once. The authors, two leading experts in energy and environmental economics, show how massive improvements in energy efficiency can bridge the global economy until clean renewables can fully replace fossil fuels. Robert and Edward Ayres demonstrate how we can radically reform the way we manage our existing energy systems to double the amount of “energy service” we get from every drop of fossil fuel we use. These techniques require no scientific breakthroughs: Many companies and institutions are applying them right now, but tens of thousands more could. This book offers a strategic guide for using them to solve the energy crisis once and for all—reducing carbon emissions, achieving true energy security, and reigniting economic growth for decades to come. More energy, without more emissions Recapturing lost energy from today’s fossil fuels There is such a thing as a free lunch Mitigating climate disaster and improving prosperity at the same time The future of electricity Reforming tomorrow’s electrical system: smarter, more productive, and more reliable The implications for cities, transportation, business, and government Making the decisions that prepare you for a high-cost energy future

Download or read book Drill Here Drill Now Pay Less written by Newt Gingrich and published by Regnery Publishing. This book was released on 2008-09-02 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House and bestselling author, spells out in stunning simplicity a bold plan for America's energy independence.

Download or read book Enabling Sustainable Energy Transitions written by Siddharth Sareen and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2019-10-16 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This open access book reframes sustainable energy transitions as being a matter of resolving accountability crises. It demonstrates how the empirical study of several practices of legitimation can analytically deconstruct energy transitions, and presents a typology of these practices to help determine whether energy transitions contribute to sustainability. The real-world challenge of climate change requires sustainable energy transitions. This presents a crisis of accountability legitimated through situated practices in a wide range of cases including: solar energy transitions in Portugal, urban energy transitions in Germany, forestland conflicts in Indonesia, urban carbon emission targets in Norway, transport electrification in the Nordic region, and biodiversity conservation and energy extraction in the USA. By synthesising these cases, chapters identify various dimensions wherein practices of legitimation construct specific accountability relations. This book deftly illustrates the value of an analytical approach focused on accountable governance to enable sustainable energy transitions. It will be of great use to both academics and practitioners working in the field of energy transitions.

Download or read book How to Avoid a Climate Disaster written by Bill Gates and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2021-02-16 with total page 201 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: #1 NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • In this urgent, authoritative book, Bill Gates sets out a wide-ranging, practical—and accessible—plan for how the world can get to zero greenhouse gas emissions in time to avoid a climate catastrophe. Bill Gates has spent a decade investigating the causes and effects of climate change. With the help of experts in the fields of physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, political science, and finance, he has focused on what must be done in order to stop the planet's slide to certain environmental disaster. In this book, he not only explains why we need to work toward net-zero emissions of greenhouse gases, but also details what we need to do to achieve this profoundly important goal. He gives us a clear-eyed description of the challenges we face. Drawing on his understanding of innovation and what it takes to get new ideas into the market, he describes the areas in which technology is already helping to reduce emissions, where and how the current technology can be made to function more effectively, where breakthrough technologies are needed, and who is working on these essential innovations. Finally, he lays out a concrete, practical plan for achieving the goal of zero emissions—suggesting not only policies that governments should adopt, but what we as individuals can do to keep our government, our employers, and ourselves accountable in this crucial enterprise. As Bill Gates makes clear, achieving zero emissions will not be simple or easy to do, but if we follow the plan he sets out here, it is a goal firmly within our reach.

Download or read book The Energy Crisis and Proposed Solutions written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Ways and Means and published by . This book was released on 1975 with total page 1148 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Bioenergy Research Advances and Applications written by Vijai G. Gupta and published by Newnes. This book was released on 2013-12-05 with total page 513 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bioenergy Research: Advances and Applications brings biology and engineering together to address the challenges of future energy needs. The book consolidates the most recent research on current technologies, concepts, and commercial developments in various types of widely used biofuels and integrated biorefineries, across the disciplines of biochemistry, biotechnology, phytology, and microbiology. All the chapters in the book are derived from international scientific experts in their respective research areas. They provide you with clear and concise information on both standard and more recent bioenergy production methods, including hydrolysis and microbial fermentation. Chapters are also designed to facilitate early stage researchers, and enables you to easily grasp the concepts, methodologies and application of bioenergy technologies. Each chapter in the book describes the merits and drawbacks of each technology as well as its usefulness. The book provides information on recent approaches to graduates, post-graduates, researchers and practitioners studying and working in field of the bioenergy. It is an invaluable information resource on biomass-based biofuels for fundamental and applied research, catering to researchers in the areas of bio-hydrogen, bioethanol, bio-methane and biorefineries, and the use of microbial processes in the conversion of biomass into biofuels. - Reviews all existing and promising technologies for production of advanced biofuels in addition to bioenergy policies and research funding - Cutting-edge research concepts for biofuels production using biological and biochemical routes, including microbial fuel cells - Includes production methods and conversion processes for all types of biofuels, including bioethanol and biohydrogen, and outlines the pros and cons of each

Download or read book A Bright Future written by Joshua S. Goldstein and published by PublicAffairs. This book was released on 2019-01-08 with total page 199 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The inspiration for Nuclear Now, the new Oliver Stone film, co-written by Joshua Goldstein As climate change quickly approaches a series of turning points that guarantee disastrous outcomes, a solution is hiding in plain sight. Several countries have already replaced fossil fuels with low-carbon energy sources, and done so rapidly, in one to two decades. By following their methods, we could decarbonize the global economy by midcentury, replacing fossil fuels even while world energy use continues to rise. But so far we have lacked the courage to really try. In this clear-sighted and compelling book, Joshua Goldstein and Staffan Qvist explain how clean energy quickly replaced fossil fuels in such places as Sweden, France, South Korea, and Ontario. Their people enjoyed prosperity and growing energy use in harmony with the natural environment. They didn't do this through personal sacrifice, nor through 100 percent renewables, but by using them in combination with an energy source the Swedes call käkraft, hundreds of times safer and cleaner than coal. Clearly written and beautifully illustrated, yet footnoted with extensive technical references, Goldstein and Qvist's book will provide a new touchstone in discussions of climate change. It could spark a shift in world energy policy that, in the words of Steven Pinker's foreword, literally saves the world.

Download or read book Energy and Civilization written by Vaclav Smil and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2018-11-13 with total page 564 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A comprehensive account of how energy has shaped society throughout history, from pre-agricultural foraging societies through today's fossil fuel–driven civilization. "I wait for new Smil books the way some people wait for the next 'Star Wars' movie. In his latest book, Energy and Civilization: A History, he goes deep and broad to explain how innovations in humans' ability to turn energy into heat, light, and motion have been a driving force behind our cultural and economic progress over the past 10,000 years. —Bill Gates, Gates Notes, Best Books of the Year Energy is the only universal currency; it is necessary for getting anything done. The conversion of energy on Earth ranges from terra-forming forces of plate tectonics to cumulative erosive effects of raindrops. Life on Earth depends on the photosynthetic conversion of solar energy into plant biomass. Humans have come to rely on many more energy flows—ranging from fossil fuels to photovoltaic generation of electricity—for their civilized existence. In this monumental history, Vaclav Smil provides a comprehensive account of how energy has shaped society, from pre-agricultural foraging societies through today's fossil fuel–driven civilization. Humans are the only species that can systematically harness energies outside their bodies, using the power of their intellect and an enormous variety of artifacts—from the simplest tools to internal combustion engines and nuclear reactors. The epochal transition to fossil fuels affected everything: agriculture, industry, transportation, weapons, communication, economics, urbanization, quality of life, politics, and the environment. Smil describes humanity's energy eras in panoramic and interdisciplinary fashion, offering readers a magisterial overview. This book is an extensively updated and expanded version of Smil's Energy in World History (1994). Smil has incorporated an enormous amount of new material, reflecting the dramatic developments in energy studies over the last two decades and his own research over that time.

Download or read book Nanomaterials for Green Energy written by Bharat A. Bhanvase and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2018-04-18 with total page 502 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nanomaterials for Green Energy focuses on the synthesis, characterization and application of novel nanomaterials in the fields of green science and technology. This book contains fundamental information about the properties of novel nanomaterials and their application in green energy. In particular, synthesis and characterization of novel nanomaterials, their application in solar and fuel cells and batteries, and nanomaterials for a low-toxicity environment are discussed. It will provide an important reference resource for researchers in materials science and renewable energy who wish to learn more about how nanomaterials are used to create cheaper, more efficient green energy products. - Provides fundamental information about the properties and application of new low-cost nanomaterials for green energy - Shows how novel nanomaterials are used to create more efficient solar cells - Offers solutions to common problems related to the use of materials in the development of energy- related technologies

Download or read book Understanding the Global Energy Crisis written by Richard A. Simmons and published by Purdue University Press. This book was released on 2014-03-15 with total page 345 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We are facing a global energy crisis caused by world population growth, an escalating increase in demand, and continued dependence on fossil-based fuels for generation. It is widely accepted that increases in greenhouse gas concentration levels, if not reversed, will result in major changes to world climate with consequential effects on our society and economy. This is just the kind of intractable problem that Purdue University's Global Policy Research Institute seeks to address in the Purdue Studies in Public Policy series by promoting the engagement between policy makers and experts in fields such as engineering and technology. Major steps forward in the development and use of technology are required. In order to achieve solutions of the required scale and magnitude within a limited timeline, it is essential that engineers be not only technologically-adept but also aware of the wider social and political issues that policy-makers face. Likewise, it is also imperative that policy makers liaise closely with the academic community in order to realize advances. This book is designed to bridge the gap between these two groups, with a particular emphasis on educating the socially-conscious engineers and technologists of the future. In this accessibly-written volume, central issues in global energy are discussed through interdisciplinary dialogue between experts from both North America and Europe. The first section provides an overview of the nature of the global energy crisis approached from historical, political, and sociocultural perspectives. In the second section, expert contributors outline the technology and policy issues facing the development of major conventional and renewable energy sources. The third and final section explores policy and technology challenges and opportunities in the distribution and consumption of energy, in sectors such as transportation and the built environment. The book's epilogue suggests some future scenarios in energy distribution and use.

Download or read book 100 Clean Renewable Energy and Storage for Everything written by Mark Z. Jacobson and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2020-10 with total page 445 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Textbook on the science and methods behind a global transition to 100% clean, renewable energy for science, engineering, and social science students.

Download or read book Drawdown written by Paul Hawken and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2017-04-18 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: • New York Times bestseller • The 100 most substantive solutions to reverse global warming, based on meticulous research by leading scientists and policymakers around the world “At this point in time, the Drawdown book is exactly what is needed; a credible, conservative solution-by-solution narrative that we can do it. Reading it is an effective inoculation against the widespread perception of doom that humanity cannot and will not solve the climate crisis. Reported by-effects include increased determination and a sense of grounded hope.” —Per Espen Stoknes, Author, What We Think About When We Try Not To Think About Global Warming “There’s been no real way for ordinary people to get an understanding of what they can do and what impact it can have. There remains no single, comprehensive, reliable compendium of carbon-reduction solutions across sectors. At least until now. . . . The public is hungry for this kind of practical wisdom.” —David Roberts, Vox “This is the ideal environmental sciences textbook—only it is too interesting and inspiring to be called a textbook.” —Peter Kareiva, Director of the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, UCLA In the face of widespread fear and apathy, an international coalition of researchers, professionals, and scientists have come together to offer a set of realistic and bold solutions to climate change. One hundred techniques and practices are described here—some are well known; some you may have never heard of. They range from clean energy to educating girls in lower-income countries to land use practices that pull carbon out of the air. The solutions exist, are economically viable, and communities throughout the world are currently enacting them with skill and determination. If deployed collectively on a global scale over the next thirty years, they represent a credible path forward, not just to slow the earth’s warming but to reach drawdown, that point in time when greenhouse gases in the atmosphere peak and begin to decline. These measures promise cascading benefits to human health, security, prosperity, and well-being—giving us every reason to see this planetary crisis as an opportunity to create a just and livable world.