Download or read book Spain s Photovoltaic Revolution written by Pedro A. Prieto and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-01-04 with total page 142 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Energy Return on Energy Invested (EROI or EROEI) is the amount of energy acquired from a particular energy source divided by the energy expended, or invested, in obtaining that energy. EROI is an essential and seemingly simple measure of the usable energy or “energy profit” from the exploitation of an energy source, but it is not so easy to determine all of the energy expenditures that should be included in the calculation. Because EROI values are generally low for renewable energy sources, differences in these estimates can lead to sharply divergent conclusions about the viability of these energy technologies. This book presents the first complete energy analysis of a large-scale, real-world deployment of photovoltaic (PV) collection systems representing 3.5 GW of installed, grid-connected solar plants in Spain. The analysis includes all of the factors that limit and adjust the real electricity output through one full-year cycle, and all of the fossil fuel inputs required to achieve these results. The authors’ comprehensive analysis of energy inputs, which assigns energy cost estimates to all financial expenditures, yields EROI values that are less than half of those claimed by other investigators and by the solar industry. Sensitivity analysis is used to test various assumptions in deriving these EROI estimates. The results imply that the EROI of current, large-scale PV systems may be too low to seamlessly support an energy and economic transition away from fossil fuels. Given the pervasiveness of fossil fuel subsidies in the modern economy, a key conclusion is that all components of the system that brings solar power to the consumer, from manufacturing to product maintenance and life cycle, must be improved in terms of energy efficiency. The materials science of solar conversion efficiency is only one such component. Sunny Spain represented an ideal case study as the country had the highest penetration of solar PV energy at 2.3 percent of total national demand as well as state-of-the-art expertise in solar power including grid management of intermittent, modern renewable systems. This book, written by a uniquely qualified author team consisting of the chief engineer for several major photovoltaic projects in Spain and the world’s leading expert on the concept and application of EROI, provides a comprehensive understanding of the net energy available to society from energy sources in general and from functioning PV installations under real-world conditions in particular. The authors provide critical insight into the capacity of renewable energy sources to fill the foreseeable gap between world energy demand and depletion rates for fossil fuels. · Presents the first comprehensive study of the EROI of large-scale solar PV systems in a developed country · Uses real-world operational data rather than laboratory approximations and extrapolations · Describes the dependence of one alternative energy source on the goods and services of a fossil-fueled economy · Has global implications for the potential of renewable energy sources to replace dwindling reserves of fossil fuels · Written with the first-hand knowledge of the chief, on-site engineer for many solar installations in Spain together with the leader in the development and application of the concept of EROI

Download or read book The Green Industrial Revolution written by Woodrow W. Clark II and published by Butterworth-Heinemann. This book was released on 2014-11-26 with total page 589 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The new green industrial revolution is driven by a variety of global environmental concerns. In some regions, it is spurred by the scarcity of cheap affordable renewable energy that will also lead to a reduced reliance on fossil fuel in the production of power. In others, it is driven by a need to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from power generation. This book provides a comprehensive review of the most popular green "disruptive technologies in energy production as well as their economic impact. In addition, the book includes a multitude of international case studies where these technologies are currently deployed and their economic impact on the region. - Clearly explains the scientific, engineering, technological, and economics driving the Green Revolution in power generation - A guide to technologies such as renewable energy, smart green grids, and emission control technologies - Packed with international case studies that provides real-world examples of how these technologies are currently being deployed around the world - Explains the economic impact which these new technologies will play in building global sustainability

Download or read book When Trucks Stop Running written by A.J. Friedemann and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-12-09 with total page 136 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In lively and engaging language, this book describes our dependence on freight transport and its vulnerability to diminishing supplies and high prices of oil. Ships, trucks, and trains are the backbone of civilization, hauling the goods that fulfill our every need and desire. Their powerful, highly-efficient diesel combustion engines are exquisitely fine-tuned to burn petroleum-based diesel fuel. These engines and the fuels that fire them have been among the most transformative yet disruptive technologies on the planet. Although this transportation revolution has allowed many of us to fill our homes with global goods even a past emperor would envy, our era of abundance, and the freight transport system in particular, is predicated on the affordability and high energy density of a single fuel, oil. This book explores alternatives to this finite resource including other liquid fuels, truck and locomotive batteries and utility-scale energy storage technology, and various forms of renewable electricity to support electrified transport. Transportation also must adapt to other challenges: Threats from climate change, financial busts, supply-chain failure, and transportation infrastructure decay. Robert Hirsch, who wrote the “Peaking of World Oil Production” report for the U.S. Department of Energy in 2005, said that planning for peak world production must start at least 10, if not 20 years ahead of time. What little planning exists focuses mainly on how to accommodate 30 percent more economic growth while averting climate change, ignoring the possibility that we are at, or near, the end of growth. Taken for granted, the modern transportation system will not endure forever. The time is now to take a realistic and critical look at the choices ahead, and how the future of transportation may unfold.

Download or read book Earth Is Not For Sale The A Path Out Of Fossil Capitalism To The Other World That Is Still Possible written by Peter Schwartzman and published by World Scientific. This book was released on 2018-08-29 with total page 343 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'A thought provoking and documented examination of solutions to social and economic inequality, ecological tipping points, and the threat of climate catastrophe, focusing on renewable energy systems, agroecology, and social organization. The authors reject a business as usual approach, and argue that the revolution has already begun.'Climate & CapitalismThis book provides a thought provoking outline of the solutions already in hand to the challenges now facing humanity with respect to prevalent gross social and economic inequalities, ecological thresholds and tipping points, and the ever-looming threat of climate catastrophe. The authors find these solutions in the arenas of renewable energy systems, agroecological methods, and reimagined social organization. Clarity is brought to the political economic obstacles standing in the way as well as the false solutions and alleged barriers that pervade the discourse thereby delaying and obstructing progress to the solutions advanced.The authors provoke readers to face up to these challenges by demonstrating how people, all over the world, have already begun this effort through collective action ranging from the local to the global community. Drawing on their own and many other scholar's research, they reject a reliance on the 'business as usual' approach trusting the capitalist market and existing global institutions, and provide an accessible popular account with thoroughly footnoted endnotes that contain technical details and references to the scientific literature.The Earth is Not for Sale informs its readers and provides well-documented solutions in a bid to inspire readers to think critically, and potentially become more active in society.Related Link(s)

Download or read book The Wizard and the Prophet written by Charles Mann and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2019-04-16 with total page 642 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the best-selling, award-winning author of 1491 and 1493--an incisive portrait of the two little-known twentieth-century scientists, Norman Borlaug and William Vogt, whose diametrically opposed views shaped our ideas about the environment, laying the groundwork for how people in the twenty-first century will choose to live in tomorrow's world. In forty years, Earth's population will reach ten billion. Can our world support that? What kind of world will it be? Those answering these questions generally fall into two deeply divided groups--Wizards and Prophets, as Charles Mann calls them in this balanced, authoritative, nonpolemical new book. The Prophets, he explains, follow William Vogt, a founding environmentalist who believed that in using more than our planet has to give, our prosperity will lead us to ruin. Cut back! was his mantra. Otherwise everyone will lose! The Wizards are the heirs of Norman Borlaug, whose research, in effect, wrangled the world in service to our species to produce modern high-yield crops that then saved millions from starvation. Innovate! was Borlaug's cry. Only in that way can everyone win! Mann delves into these diverging viewpoints to assess the four great challenges humanity faces--food, water, energy, climate change--grounding each in historical context and weighing the options for the future. With our civilization on the line, the author's insightful analysis is an essential addition to the urgent conversation about how our children will fare on an increasingly crowded Earth.

Download or read book The Renewable Energy Transition written by John Erik Meyer and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2019-10-18 with total page 412 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Canada is a well-endowed country that serves as an ideal model to lead the reader through the development of energy, resources, and society historically and into a post-carbon future. The book provides an historical perspective and describes the physical resource limitations, energy budgets, and climate realities that will determine the potential for any transition to renewable energy. Political and social realities, including jurisdiction and energy equality issues, are addressed. However, we cannot simply mandate or legislate policies according to social and political aspirations. Policies must comply with the realities of physical laws, such as the energy return on investment (EROI) for fossil-fuel based and renewable energy systems. EROI is discussed in both historical terms and in reference to the greater efficiencies inherent in a distributed generation, mainly electric, post-carbon society. Meyer explores the often misleading concepts and terms that have become embedded in society and tend to dictate our policy making, as well as the language, social and personal goals, and metrics that need to change before the physical transition can begin at the required scale. This book also reviews what nations have been doing thus far in terms of renewables, including the successes and failures in Canada and across the globe. Ontario’s green energy fiasco, and a comparison of the different circumstances of Norway and Alberta, for example, are covered as part of the author’s comparison of a wide range of countries. What are the achievements, plans, and problems that determine how well different countries are positioned to make “the transition”? The transition path is complex, and the tools we need to develop and the physical infrastructure investments we need to make, are daunting. At some point in time, Canada and Canadians, like all nations, will be living on 100% renewable energy. Whether the social and technological level that endures sees us travelling to the stars, or subsisting at a standard of living more similar to the pre-fossil fuel era, is far from certain.

Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of Historical Ecology and Applied Archaeology written by Christian Isendahl and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2019-01-10 with total page 732 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Oxford Handbook of Historical Ecology and Applied Archaeology presents theoretical discussions, methodological outlines, and case-studies describing the field of overlap between historical ecology and the emerging sub-discipline of applied archaeology to highlight how modern environments and landscapes have been shaped by humans. Historical ecology is based on the recognition that humans are not only capable of modifying their environments, but that all environments on earth have already been directly or indirectly modified. This includes anthropogenic climate change, widespread deforestations, and species extinctions, but also very local alterations, the effects of which may last a few years, or may have legacies lasting centuries or more. With contributions from anthropologists, archaeologists, human geographers, and historians, this volume focuses not just on defining human impacts in the past, but on the ways that understanding these changes can help inform contemporary practices and development policies. Some chapters present examples of how ancient or current societies have modified their environments in sustainable ways, while others highlight practices that had unintended long-term consequences. The possibilities of learning from these practices are discussed, as is the potential of using the long history of human resource exploitation as a method for building or testing models of future change. The volume offers overviews for students, researchers, and professionals with an interest in conservation or development projects who want to understand what practical insights can be drawn from history, and who seek to apply their work to contemporary issues.

Download or read book Research and Development Management written by Tugrul Daim and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-05-23 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book introduces readers to essential technology assessment and forecasting tools, demonstrating their use on the basis of multiple cases. As organizations in the high-tech industry need to be able to assess emerging technologies, the book presents cases in which formal decision-making models are developed, providing a framework for decision-making in the context of technology acquisition and development. Applications of different technology forecasting tools are also discussed for a range of technologies and sectors, providing a guide to keep R&D organizations abreast of technological trends that affect their business. As such, the book offers a valuable the theoretical and practical reference guide for R&D managers responsible for emerging and future technologies.

Download or read book Power Generation and the Environment written by Anco S. Blazev and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2021-01-07 with total page 1333 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Natural and man-made changes in the environment create a very complex picture. This book analyzes this picture and provides snapshots of different areas of interest and to make suggestions for future work on cleaning and stabilizing the Earth's environment. Starting with conventional energy generation and moving on to renewable energies, this book analyzes and calculates their environmental impact and the lesser known aspects of their "cradle-to-grave" life cycle such as the irreversible environmental damage done during the manufacturing of solar and wind equipment and during the installation, operation, and decommissioning of large scale hydro, solar, and wind power plants.

Download or read book Thermodynamics and Heat Power Ninth Edition written by Irving Granet and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2020-11-05 with total page 674 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The ninth edition of Thermodynamics and Heat Power contains a revised sequence of thermodynamics concepts including physical properties, processes, and energy systems, to enable the attainment of learning outcomes by Engineering and Engineering Technology students taking an introductory course in thermodynamics. Built around an easily understandable approach, this updated text focuses on thermodynamics fundamentals, and explores renewable energy generation, IC engines, power plants, HVAC, and applied heat transfer. Energy, heat, and work are examined in relation to thermodynamics cycles, and the effects of fluid properties on system performance are explained. Numerous step-by-step examples and problems make this text ideal for undergraduate students. This new edition: Introduces physics-based mathematical formulations and examples in a way that enables problem-solving. Contains extensive learning features within each chapter, and basic computational exercises for in-class and laboratory activities. Includes a straightforward review of applicable calculus concepts. Uses everyday examples to foster a better understanding of thermal science and engineering concepts. This book is suitable for undergraduate students in engineering and engineering technology.

Download or read book Green Utopianism written by Karin Bradley and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-03-21 with total page 311 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Utopian thought and experimental approaches to societal organization have been rare in the last decades of planning and politics. Instead, there is a widespread belief in ecological modernization, that sustainable societies can be created within the frame of the current global capitalist world order by taking small steps such as eco-labeling, urban densification, and recycling. However, in the context of the current crisis in which resource depletion, climate change, uneven development, and economic instability are seen as interlinked, this belief is increasingly being questioned and alternative developmental paths sought. This collection demonstrates how utopian thought can be used in a contemporary context, as critique and in exploring desired futures. The book includes theoretical perspectives on changing global socio-environmental relationships and political struggles for alternative development paths, and analyzes micro-level practices in co-housing, alternative energy provision, use of green space, transportation, co-production of urban space, peer-to-peer production and consumption, and alternative economies. It contributes research perspectives on contemporary green utopian practices and strategies, combining theoretical and empirical analyses to spark discussions of possible futures.

Download or read book Applied Photovoltaics written by Richard Corkish and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-09-05 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A reliable, accessible and comprehensive guide for students of photovoltaic applications and renewable energy engineering. This thoroughly considered textbook from a group of leading influential and award-winning authors is brimming with information and is carefully designed to meet the needs of its readers. Along with exercises and references at the end of each chapter, the book features a set of detailed technical appendices that provide essential equations, data sources and standards. Starting from basics with 'The Characteristics of Sunlight' the reader is guided step-by-step through semiconductors and p-n junctions; the behaviour of solar cells; cell properties ad design; and PV cell interconnection and module fabrication. The book covers stand-alone photovoltaic systems; specific purpose photovoltaic systems; remote are power supply systems; and grid-connected photovoltaic systems. There is also a section on photovoltaic water pumping system components and design. Applied Photovolatics is well illustrated and readable with an abundance of diagrams and illustrations, and will provide the reader with all the information needed to start working with photovoltaics.

Download or read book Energy Systems Evaluation Volume 1 written by Jingzheng Ren and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2021-06-01 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents various methods for sustainability assessment of energy systems, under various different conditions and scenarios. It answers the questions of how to measure the sustainability of energy systems by adopting appropriate metrics and methods. This book provides readers with a comprehensive view of the frontiers of sustainability assessment methods for energy system analysis. It presents various methodologies, allowing readers to understand: the complete metrics for sustainability assessment; life cycle thinking for sustainability assessment of energy systems; and the advanced sustainability assessment methods for energy systems. This book is of interest to researchers, engineers, decision makers, and postgraduate students within the field of energy systems, sustainability, and decision analysis.

Download or read book Our Energy Future written by Christian Ngo and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2012-11-27 with total page 357 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Wiley Survival Guide on our Energy Future Concerned about our energy future? Turn to this guide for easy-to-grasp and up-to-date coverage of the many aspects of the energy value chain: Oil and natural gas Coal Fossil fuels and the greenhouse effect Energy from water Biomass Solar energy Geothermal energy Wind energy Nuclear energy Electricity Energy storage Transportation Housing Smart energy consumption Hydrogen Armed with the knowledge in this book, students, teachers, decision-makers, politicians, and consumers can form educated and informed opinions on the future of energy and its impact on the economy, health, and the environment.

Download or read book Annual Magazine Subject index written by and published by . This book was released on 1923 with total page 668 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Dramatic index for 1912-16, 1919-49 accompanied by an appendix: The Dramatic books and plays (in English) (title varies slightly). This bibliography was incorporated in the main list in 1917-18.

Download or read book The Magazine Subject index written by and published by . This book was released on 1923 with total page 660 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contains the cumulation of the subject index issued in the quarterly numbers of the Bulletin of bibliography and magazine subject-index.

Download or read book The Permaculture City written by Toby Hemenway and published by Chelsea Green Publishing. This book was released on 2015-07-31 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Permaculture is more than just the latest buzzword; it offers positive solutions for many of the environmental and social challenges confronting us. And nowhere are those remedies more needed and desired than in our cities.The Permaculture City provides practical guidance and plenty of examples for creating abundant food, energy security, close-knit communities, local and meaningful livelihoods, and sustainable policies in our cities and towns. Permaculturists have learned that the same nature-based approach that works so beautifully for growing food—connecting the pieces of the landscape together in harmonious ways—applies perfectly to many of our other needs. This book shows, in the stories of the innovators who are doing it as well as in how-to instructions, how permaculture design can help towndwellers solve the challenges of meeting our needs for food, water, shelter, energy, community, and livelihood in sustainable, resilient ways.