Alternative Energy Demystified 2nd Edition

DeMYSTiFieD fuels your knowledge of tricky subjects like alternative energy If you think a Maglev train is a child's toy, or learning about fusion makes your brain reach critical mass, Alternative Energy DeMYSTiFieD, Second Edition will power up your knowledge of this topic's fundamental concepts and theories at your own pace. This practical guide eases you into this field of science, starting at primitive heating sources such as coal and wood. As you progress, you will master the science behind alternative energies such as evaporative cooling, fuel-cell vehicles, aeroelectric power, and more. You will understand the difference between conventional fluorescent and compact fluorescent lamps as well as the benefits of large-scale wind power. Detailed examples make it easy to understand the material, and end-of-chapter quizzes and a final exam help reinforce key ideas. It's a no-brainer! You'll learn about: Passive solar heating Thermal-mass cooling Propulsion with biofuels Electric vehicles Large-scale hydropower Semiconductor lamps Geothermal power Simple enough for a beginner, but challenging enough for an advanced student, Alternative Energy DeMYSTiFieD, Second Edition is your shortcut to a working knowledge of this timely topic.

Will appeal to engineering and science students, teachers, consumers, and energy-related corporations Covers the environment, transportation, efficiency, and cost

DeMYSTiFieD fuels your knowledge of tricky subjects like alternative energy If you think a Maglev train is a child's toy, or learning about fusion makes your brain reach critical mass, Alternative Energy DeMYSTiFieD, Second Edition will power up your knowledge of this topic's fundamental concepts and theories at your own pace. This practical guide eases you into this field of science, starting at primitive heating sources such as coal and wood. As you progress, you will master the science behind alternative energies such as evaporative cooling, fuel-cell vehicles, aeroelectric power, and more. You will understand the difference between conventional fluorescent and compact fluorescent lamps as well as the benefits of large-scale wind power. Detailed examples make it easy to understand the material, and end-of-chapter quizzes and a final exam help reinforce key ideas. It's a no-brainer! You'll learn about: Passive solar heating Thermal-mass cooling Propulsion with biofuels Electric vehicles Large-scale hydropower Semiconductor lamps Geothermal power Simple enough for a beginner, but challenging enough for an advanced student, Alternative Energy DeMYSTiFieD, Second Edition is your shortcut to a working knowledge of this timely topic.

The second edition of Alternative Energy: Political, Economic, and Social Feasibility builds on first edition material, but with significant updates on dramatic changes within the renewable energy sector over the last decade. The book discusses the basic technical aspects of major renewable energy systems and technological developments; the impact of politics on energy policy using contemporary theories of public policy (such as, Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF), Punctuated Equilibrium (PE), Narrative Policy Framework, and Policy Diffusion), as well as discussing the evolution of the social feasibility of renewable energy. Alternative energy solutions, such as nuclear power, are expanded to discuss nuclear power developments and feasibility in the post-Fukushima policy environment. International commitment to renewable energy is also addressed.

This book integrates economic, social, environmental, policy and engineering issues related to renewable energy. It covers fundamentals, including the transfer of energy, as well as the limitations of natural resources. Starting with solar power, the text illustrates how energy from the sun is transferred and stored; used for heating, cooling and lighting; collected and concentrated and converted into electricity. This new edition has been updated throughout and adds new information on bioenergy, energy balance, biodiesel, photovoltaic applications and climate change.

Alternative Energy Sources is designed to give the reader, a clear view of the role each form of alternative energy may play in supplying the energy needs of the human society in the near future (20-50 years). The two first chapters on "energy demand and supply" and "environmental effects," set the tone as to why alternative energy is essential for the future. The third chapter gives the laws of energy conversion processes, as well as the limitations of converting one energy form to another. The section on exergy gives a quantitative background on the capability/potential of each energy source to produce power. The fourth, fifth and sixth chapters are expositions of fission and fusion nuclear energy, the power plants that may produce power from these sources and the issues that will frame the public debate on nuclear energy. The following five chapters include descriptions of the most common renewable energy sources (wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, hydroelectric) some of the less common sources (e.g. tidal and wave energy). The emphasis of these chapters will be on the global potential of each source, the engineering/technical systems that are used in harnessing the potential of each source, the technological developments that will contribute to wider utilization of the sources and environmental effects associated with their wider use. The last three chapters are: "energy storage," which will become an important issue if renewable energy sources are used widely. The fourteen chapters in the book have been chosen so that one may fit a semester University course around this book. At the end of every chapter, there are 10-20 problems and 1-3 suggestions of semester projects that may be assigned to students for further research.

"This second edition maintains the book's basis on fundamentals, whilst including experience gained from the rapid growth of renewable energy technologies as secure national resources and for climate change mitigation, more extensively illustrated with case studies and worked problems. The presentation has been improved throughout, along with a new chapter on economics and institutional factors. Each chapter begins with fundamental theory from a scientific perspective, then considers applied engineering examples and developments, and includes a set of problems and solutions and a bibliography of printed and web-based material for further study. Common symbols and cross referencing apply throughout, essential data are tabulated in appendices. Sections on social and environmental aspects have been added to each technology chapter." -- back cover.

Where does the energy we use come from? It's absolutely vital to every single thing we do every day, but for most people, it is utterly invisible. Flick a switch and the lights go on. It might as well be magic. Science writer Jeremy Shere shows us in Renewable: The World-Changing Power of Alternative Energy that energy is anything but magical. Producing it in fossil fuel form is a dirty, expensive—but also hugely profitable— enterprise, with enormous but largely hidden costs to the entire planet. The cold, hard fact is that at some point we will have wrung the planet dry of easily accessible sources of fossil fuel. And when that time comes, humankind will have no choice but to turn—or, more accurately, return—to other, cleaner, renewable energy sources. What will those sources be? How far have we come to realizing the technologies that will make these sources available? To find the answers, Shere began his journey with a tour of a traditional coal-fueled power plant in his home state of Indiana. He then continued on, traveling from coast to coast as he spoke to scientists, scholars and innovators. He immersed himself in the green energy world: visiting a solar farm at Denver's airport, attending the Wind Power Expo and a wind farm tour in Texas, investigating turbines deep in New York City's East River, and much more. Arranged in five parts—Green Gas, Sun, Wind, Earth, and Water—Renewable tells the stories of the most interesting and promising types of renewable energy: namely, biofuel, solar, wind, geothermal, and hydropower. But unlike many books about alternative energy, Renewable is not obsessed with megawatts and tips for building home solar panels. Instead, Shere digs into the rich, surprisingly long histories of these technologies, bringing to life the pioneering scientists, inventors, and visionaries who blazed the way for solar, wind, hydro, and other forms of renewable power, and unearthing the curious involvement of great thinkers like Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, and Nicola Tesla. We are at an important crossroads in the history of renewable technologies. The possibilities are endless and enticing, and it has become increasingly clear that renewable energy is the way of the future. In Renewable, Jeremy Shere's natural curiosity and serious research come together in an entertaining and informative guide to where renewable energy has been, where it is today, and where it's heading.