Alternative Energy

Collection by Cassandra Verhaegen (12 items)

Does your computer run on solar power? Nuclear? Something else?

Includes the following tags:

See More
The Powers That Be
by Scott L. Montgomery
University of Chicago Press, 2010

Thirty years ago, our global energy landscape did not look remarkably different from what it does today. Three or four decades from now, it certainly will: dwindling oil reserves will clash with skyrocketing demand, as developing nations around the world lead their citizens into the modern energy economy, and all the while, the grave threat of catastrophic climate change looms ever larger. Energy worries are at an all-time high—just how will we power our future?

With The Powers That Be, Scott L. Montgomery cuts through the hype, alarmism, and confusion to give us a straightforward, informed account of where we are now, and a map of where we’re going. Starting with the inescapable fact of our current dependence on fossil fuels—which supply 80% of all our energy needs today—Montgomery clearly and carefully lays out the many alternative energy options available, ranging from the familiar, like water and solar, to such nascent but promising sources as hydrogen and geothermal power. What is crucial, Montgomery explains, is understanding that our future will depend not on some single, wondrous breakthrough; instead, we should focus on developing a more diverse, adaptable energy future, one that draws on a variety of sources—and is thus less vulnerable to disruption or failure.

An admirably evenhanded and always realistic guide, Montgomery enables readers to understand the implications of energy funding, research, and politics at a global scale. At the same time, he doesn’t neglect the ultimate connection between those decisions and the average citizen flipping a light switch or sliding behind the wheel of a car, making The Powers That Be indispensible for our ever-more energy conscious age.

See More
1
Straight Up
by Joseph J. Romm
Island Press, 2010
In 2009, Rolling Stone named Joe Romm to its list of "100 People Who Are Changing America." Romm is a climate expert, physicist, energy consultant, and former official in the Department of Energy. But it’s his influential blog, one of the "Top Fifteen Green Websites" according to Time magazine, that’s caught national attention. Climate change is far more urgent than people understand, Romm says, and traditional media, scientists, and politicians are missing the story.
 
Straight Up draws on Romm’s most important posts to explain the dangers of and solutions to climate change that you won’t find in newspapers, in journals, or on T.V. Compared to coverage of Jay-Z or the latest philandering politician, climate change makes up a pathetically small share of news reports. And when journalists do try to tackle this complex issue, they often lack the background to tell the full story. Despite the dearth of reporting, polls show that two in five Americans think the press is actually exaggerating the threat of climate change. That gives Big Oil, and others with a vested interest in the status quo, a huge opportunity to mislead the public.
 
Romm cuts through the misinformation and presents the truth about humanity’s most dire threat. His analysis is based on sophisticated knowledge of renewable technologies, climate impacts, and government policy, written in a style everyone can understand. Romm shows how a 20 percent reduction in global emissions over the next quarter century could improve the economy; how we can replace most coal and with what technologies; why Sarah Palin wears a polar bear pin; and why controversial, emerging technologies like biochar have to be part of the solution.
 
The ultimate solution, Romm argues, is bigger than any individual technology: it’s citizen action. Without public pressure, Washington and industry don’t budge. With it, our grandkids might just have a habitable place to live.
 
“The Web’s most influential climate-change blogger” and “Hero of the Environment 2009”
—Time Magazine
 
“I trust Joe Romm on climate.”
—Paul Krugman, New York Times
 
“America’s fiercest climate-change activist-blogger” and one of “The 100 People Who Are Changing America”
— Rolling Stone
 
“One of the most influential energy and environmental policy makers in the Obama era”
— U.S. News & World Report
 
“The indispensable blog”
—Thomas Friedman, New York Times

 
“One of the most influential energy and environmental policy makers in the Obama era”
— U.S. News & World Report
 
“The indispensable blog”
—Thomas Friedman, New York Times
See More
2
Steering a New Course
by Deborah Gordon and Warren Leon
Island Press, 1991

Steering a New Course offers a comprehensive survey and analysis of America's transportation system -- how it contributes to our environmental problems and how we could make it safer, more efficient, and less costly.

See More
3
Solar Photovoltaic Energy
by Anne Labouret and Michel Villoz
preface by Jean-Louis Bal
translated by Jeremy Hamand
The Institution of Engineering and Technology, 2010
This professional manual on photovoltaic energy gives designers, installers and managers the tools and methods for:
See More
4
Energy and the Ecological Economics of Sustainability
by John Peet
Island Press, 1992

Energy and the Ecological Economics of Sustainability examines the roots of the present environmental crisis in the neoclassical economics upon which modern industrial society is based. The author explains that only when we view ourselves in the larger context of the global ecosystem and accept the physical limits to what is possible can sustainability be achieved.

See More
5
Electrical Design for Ocean Wave and Tidal Energy Systems
edited by Raymond Alcorn and Dara O'Sullivan
The Institution of Engineering and Technology, 2013
Renewable energy is expected to play a major part in future energy supplies, both to reduce the impact on the world climate and also to make up for any shortfall in conventional energy sources. Ocean energy has the potential to make a significant contribution to future renewable energy supplies as identified in recent reports from the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change and the International Energy Agency. Ocean energy is an emerging industry sector and there are a number of promising developments under way. Significant commercial deployments in the gigawatt range are envisaged over the next 10 to 20 years in Europe, USA, Asia and South America.
See More
6
The Crisis in Energy Policy
by John M. Deutch
Harvard University Press, 2011

Our future depends on what we do about energy. This stark fact, clear since the oil embargo of the 1970s, has been hammered home through crisis after crisis—and yet our government has failed to come up with a coherent energy policy. John Deutch, with his extraordinary mix of technical, scholarly, corporate, and governmental expertise in the realm of energy, is uniquely qualified to explain what has stood in the way of progress on this most pressing issue. His book is at once an eye-opening history of the muddled practices that have passed for energy policy over the past thirty years, and a cogent account of what we can and should learn from so many breakdowns of strategy and execution.

Three goals drive any comprehensive energy policy: develop an effective approach to climate change; transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy technologies; and increase the efficiency of energy use to reduce dependence on imported oil. Why has every effort in this direction eventually fallen short? Deutch identifies the sources of this failure in our popular but unrealistic goals, our competing domestic and international agendas, and our poor analysis in planning, policy-making, and administering government programs. Most significantly, The Crisis in Energy Policy clarifies the need to link domestic and global considerations, as well as the critical importance of integrating technical, economic, and political factors. Written for experts and citizens alike, this book will strengthen the hand of anyone concerned about the future of energy policy.

See More
7
Apollo's Fire
by Jay Inslee and Bracken Hendricks
Island Press, 2009
In 1961, President John F. Kennedy ignited America’s Apollo Project and sparked a revolution in space exploration. Today the New Apollo Energy Project is poised to revolutionize the production of energy and thereby save our planet. The nation that built the world’s most powerful rockets, its most advanced computers, and its most sophisticated life support systems is ready to create the world’s most powerful solar energy systems, its most advanced wind energy turbines, and its most sophisticated hybrid cars. This will result in nothing less than a second American Revolution. Who are the dreamers in California who believe they can use mirrors and liquid metal to wring more electricity from a ray of sunshine than anyone else on earth can?
 
Who are the innovators who have built a contraption that can turn the energy of a simple wave off the Oregon coast into burnt toast in Idaho? Who are the scientists in Massachusetts who have invented a battery that now runs your hand drill and will soon run your car? Readers will meet them all in this book. They will learn how the new energy economy will grow, the research that is required, and the legislation that must be passed to make the vision a reality.
 
This is a thoughtful, optimistic book, based on sound facts. No one before has tied together the concepts of economic growth and greenhouse gas reductions with such concrete examples. No one has previously told the real stories of the people who are right now on the front lines of the energy revolution. The co-authors, one a U.S. Congressman who is the primary sponsor of the New Apollo Energy Act, and the other the founder of the Apollo Alliance, have joined their experience, expertise, and passion for a clean energy future to lay out the path to stop global warming and gain energy independence.
See More
8
Scenarios for a Future Electricity Supply
by Gregor Czisch
The Institution of Engineering and Technology, 2011
This book pursues the fundamental idea of using renewable energies in a rational and economic way in order to develop a climate-friendly electricity supply. As the most cost efficient solution, an electricity network for the whole of Europe and parts of Africa and Asia must be found. The sources of renewable and partly decentralised electricity generation could be connected in a comprehensive power supply to meet the electricity needs of an entire region.
See More
9
Renewable Resource Policy
by David A. Adams
Island Press, 1993

Renewable Resource Policy is a comprehensive volume covering the history, laws, and important national policies that affect renewable resource management. The author traces the history of renewable natural resource policy and management in the United States, describes the major federal agencies and their functions, and examines the evolution of the primary resource policy areas.

The book provides valuable insight into the often neglected legal, administrative, and bureaucratic aspect of natural resource management. It is a definitive and essential source of information covering all facets of renewable resource policy that brings together a remarkable range of information in a coherent, integrated form.

See More
10
Energy
by Christian Ngô
preface by Bernard Bigot
translated by Jeremy Hamand
The Institution of Engineering and Technology, 2010
This book is aimed at students and professionals as well as anyone interested in having a global vision and perspective on energy.
See More
11
Chasing the Wind
by Rody Johnson
University of Tennessee Press, 2014
Over the past few decades, the vexing problems of climate change and finite resources
have ignited contentious global debates about alternative energy technologies. In this lucid,
balanced book, Rody Johnson investigates the development and deployment of one
such technology—wind power—and, in particular, the ways in which a heated battle over
that energy source played out in an Appalachian community.

Johnson’s wide-ranging account examines the history of wind power; its capacity and
output in comparison to such sources as fossil fuels, other renewables, and nuclear energy;
the infrastructural challenges of transmitting electricity from wind farms to end users;
global efforts to curb carbon emissions, including the Kyoto treaty; the role of public
policy, government subsidies, and tax breaks; and the differences and similarities between
wind power regimes in the United States and Europe.

Interwoven throughout this discussion is the compelling narrative of how, beginning
in 2005, the proposed construction of a wind farm along mountain ridges in Greenbrier
County, West Virginia, pitted locals against each other—a story that puts a human face on
the arguments about wind power’s promise of clean, renewable energy and its potentially
negative effects, including bird and bat kills, a disfigured natural landscape, and noise
pollution. Drawing on countless hours he spent attending public meetings and interviewing
those on both sides of the issue, Johnson not only pictures the Greenbrier County
struggle in illuminating detail but also makes valuable comparisons between it and similarly
pitched battles in another West Virginia county, where a wind farm had already been
built, and in Florida, where plans to erect beachside wind turbines next to a nuclear plant
faltered.

Concluding with a thoughtful, realistic assessment of a 2012 study suggesting that
the country has the capability of receiving 80 percent of its electrical generation from
renewables by 2050, Chasing the Wind makes a vital contribution to the ongoing dialogue
regarding America’s energy challenges and what is likely required to meet them.
See More
12
Click here to go to the beginning.