The New Energy Crisis

Global warming reveals that world energy consumption is on an unsustainable path. This updated second edition of The New Energy Crisis examines the impact of climate change on energy economics and geopolitics, exploring key issues such as energy poverty, renewable and nuclear energy, and focusing on the implications of the Fukushima crisis.

The New Energy Crisis comes from the recent intrusion of climate change issues into energy economics and geopolitics. Global warming reveals that the current evolution of the world energy consumption is on an unsustainable path. This book explores economic and geopolitical tensions and reinforces ways to overcome the crisis.

Blackouts, rising gas prices, changes to the Clean Air Act, proposals to open wilderness and protected offshore areas to gas drilling, and increasing dependence on natural gas for electricity generation. What do all these developments have in common, and why should we care? In this timely expose, author Julian Darley takes a hard-hitting look at natural gas as an energy source that rapidly went from nuisance to crutch. Darley outlines the implications of our increased dependence on this energy source and why it has the potential to cause serious environmental, political, and economic consequences. In High Noon for Natural Gas readers can expect to find a critical analysis of government policy on energy, as well as a meticulously researched warning about our next potentially catastrophic energy crisis. Did you know that: Natural Gas (NG) is the second most important energy source after oil; In the U.S. alone, NG is used to supply 20% of all electricity and 60% of all home heating; NG is absolutely critical to the manufacture of agricultural fertilizers; In the U.S. the NG supply is at critically low levels, and early in 2003 we came within days of blackouts and heating shutdowns; Matt Simmons, the world's foremost private energy banker, is now warning that economic growth in the U.S. is under threat due to the looming NG crisis?

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.

Thoroughly revised and updated edition of this comprehensive survey of resource depletion.

Examines the inadequacy of America's supply of energy resources, the political and economic ratifications of a growing dependency on foreign countries for energy, and the problem of developing new sources of energy while protecting the environment.

Explores the implications of fossil fuel consumption and the 'peak oil' theory.

In Art & Energy, Barry Lord argues that human creativity is deeply linked to the resources available on earth for our survival. By analyzing art, artists, and museums across eras and continents, Lord demonstrates how our cultural values and artistic expression are formed by our efforts to access and control the energy sources that make these cultures possible.