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The path to more sustainable energy systems [electronic resource] : how do we get there from here? / Ben W. Ebenhack and Daniel M. Martínez.

By: Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextPublication details: [New York, N.Y.] (222 East 46th Street, New York, NY 10017) : Momentum Press, 2013.Description: 1 electronic text (xiv, 192 p.) : ill., digital fileISBN:
  • 9781606502624 (electronic bk.)
  • 160650262X (electronic bk.)
Subject(s): Genre/Form: Additional physical formats: Print version:: No titleDDC classification:
  • 333.794 23
LOC classification:
  • TJ808 .E236 2013
Online resources: Available additional physical forms:
  • Also available in print.
Contents:
1. Concepts, definitions, measures -- 1.1 Defining energy -- 1.1.1 Work -- 1.1.2 Heat -- 1.1.3 Light -- 1.1.4 Electricity -- 1.1.5 Power -- 1.1.6 Efficiency -- 1.2 Key energy resource definitions -- 1.2.1 Sources and resources -- 1.2.2 Reserves -- 1.2.3 Production -- 1.2.4 Comparing units and magnitudes of measure -- 1.3 "Renewable" versus "Nonrenewable" energy -- 1.3.1 Stock and flow limitations -- 1.3.2 Fossil and nuclear fuels: nonrenewable, stock-limited energy -- 1.3.3 Solar energy: renewable, flow-limited energy -- 1.3.4 In-between resources: renewable, stock, and flow-limited energy -- 1.3.5 Briefly comparing current use of energy stocks and flows -- 1.4 Energy use in societies -- 1.4.1 Visualizing energy use -- 1.4.2 Energy use by economic sector -- 1.4.3 Energy use by example: the united states -- 1.5 Environmental impacts of energy use -- 1.5.1 Classification by pollutant or harm -- 1.5.2 Classification by scale -- 1.6 Defining sustainability and sustainable energy -- 1.6.1 Sustainability -- 1.6.2 Sustainable energy -- 1.7 Sources of energy and environmental information -- 1.7.1 United States Energy Information Administration -- 1.7.2 International Energy Agency -- 1.7.3 World Energy Council -- 1.7.4 World Resources Institute -- 1.7.5 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change -- 1.7.6 Industry reports --
2. "Nonrenewable" energy resources -- 2.1 Fossil fuels -- 2.1.1 Oil and gas -- 2.1.2 Coal -- 2.2 Nuclear fuels -- 2.2.1 Fission -- 2.2.2 Fusion -- 2.2.3 Uranium distribution -- 2.2.4 Uranium exploration and production --
3. "Renewable" energy resources -- 3.1 A note -- 3.2 Earth's energy allowance -- 3.3 The solar resource -- 3.3.1 Solar photovoltaic technology -- 3.3.2 Concentrating solar power -- 3.3.3 Passive solar energy -- 3.3.4 Solar energy distribution and installed capacity -- 3.4 Biomass and biofuel resources -- 3.4.1 Ethanol -- 3.4.2 Biodiesel -- 3.4.3 Biogas -- 3.4.4 Biomass and biofuels distribution and production -- 3.5 Hydropower -- 3.5.1 Hydro potential distribution -- 3.5.2 Tidal and wave power -- 3.6 Wind power -- 3.6.1 Wind turbines -- 3.6.2 Wind distribution and installed capacity -- 3.7 Geothermal -- 3.7.1 Geothermal distribution and installed capacity -- 3.7.2 Direct use applications --
4. Energy consumption in economic sectors -- 4.1 Broadly characterizing energy consumption -- 4.2 Energy consumption in industrialized society -- 4.3 The electric power sector -- 4.3.1 Electricity generation -- 4.3.2 Electricity delivery -- 4.3.3 Energy consumption in the electric power sector -- 4.4 The transportation sector -- 4.4.1 Vehicular technology -- 4.4.2 Automobiles versus mass transit -- 4.4.3 Commercial transportation -- 4.4.4 Energy consumption in the transportation sector -- 4.5 The industrial sector -- 4.5.1 Petroleum refining -- 4.5.2 The steel and aluminum industries -- 4.5.3 Energy consumption in the industrial sector -- 4.6 The residential and commercial sectors -- 4.6.1 Lighting -- 4.6.2 Heating -- 4.6.3 Cooling -- 4.6.4 Appliances -- 4.6.5 Consumer electronics -- 4.6.6 Energy consumption in the residential/commercial sectors -- 4.7 Improving energy efficiency in economic sectors --
5. Petroleum and other energy resource limits -- 5.1 Earth's energy resource "bank account" -- 5.2 Growth and limits -- 5.2.1 The growth function -- 5.2.2 Physical limits -- 5.3 Peak oil: understanding oil limits -- 5.3.1 Specific details -- 5.3.2 Analysis -- 5.3.3 A closer look at the character of a peak -- 5.3.4 What we can know -- 5.4 Limits of other resources -- 5.4.1 Solar energy limits -- 5.4.2 Wind energy limits -- 5.4.3 Hydro energy limits -- 5.4.4 Geothermal energy limits -- 5.5 What does all of this mean to sustainability? --
6. Environmental impact -- 6.1 The environment and humans: interconnected systems -- 6.1.1 The energy and environment focus -- 6.2 Characterizing environmental impacts -- 6.2.1 Toxins, poisons, and toxicity -- 6.2.2 Radiation -- 6.2.3 Human safety and welfare -- 6.2.4 Land use and ecosystem disruption -- 6.2.5 Water usage and pollution -- 6.2.6 Air emissions and pollution -- 6.2.7 Green house gas emissions and climate change -- 6.3 Environmental impacts of the sources -- 6.3.1 Coal -- 6.3.2 Oil and gas -- 6.3.3 Nuclear -- 6.3.4 The "renewables" -- 6.3.5 Biofuels and biomass -- 6.4 Comparing impacts --
7. Global social contexts -- 7.1 Modern energy's essential role -- 7.2 Energy requirements to meet human needs and wants -- 7.2.1 Human needs -- 7.3 The advantage of consuming energy -- 7.3.1 In-depth: the energy/quality-of-life nexus -- 7.4 Consumerism -- 7.5 Energy security considerations -- 7.6 Comparing the values of different energy systems -- 7.6.1 Fossil fuels -- 7.6.2 Renewable resources -- 7.6.3 Nuclear power -- 7.6.4 Hydrogen and fuel cells -- 7.7 Externalities in energy value metrics --
8. Next steps -- 8.1 Entering a new age -- 8.1.1 The transition that brought us here -- 8.2 Petroleum's role in the next transition -- 8.2.1 Petroleum's response to the shortage -- 8.2.2 The time factor -- 8.2.3 Higher prices -- 8.3 Energy poverty's role in the transition -- 8.3.1 The need for an energy labor force -- 8.4 A brief note on climate change's role in the transition -- 8.5 Energy dreams -- 8.5.1 Easy energy transitions -- 8.5.2 Solar -- 8.5.3 Unproven technologies -- 8.5.4 Ridiculous technologies -- 8.6 Comparing the options -- 8.7 New lifestyles around sustainable energy -- 8.8 Optimized energy mixes for space and time -- 8.8.1 Using everything, as we always have -- 8.8.2 Context-based solutions -- 8.8.3 Local, decentralized energy development -- 8.8.4 Conservation -- 8.8.5 Evolving energy mixes -- 8.9 Brief summary of agency and industry forecasts -- 8.10 So, what is the path forward? -- Index.
Abstract: What do we want from sustainable energy? What is possible to achieve and when? Energy professionals and political leaders need a solid, holistic understanding of where the world finds its energy--the limits of that energy--and what must change in the future if we are to have a more environmentally sustainable world, all without sacrificing our modern technologically-based civilization. This book sheds some much needed light on that conundrum.
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Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Energy engineers, technology managers, and political leaders all need a solid, holistic understanding of where the world finds its energy--the limits of that energy--and what we will need to do in the future if we are to have a cleaner and environmentally sustainable world, all without sacrificing our modern technological-based civilization. This book will shed some much needed light on that conundrum. It * Provides a broad overview of our current energy sources, their uses and limitations and political and economic constraints * Clarifies the urgency behind the sweeping changes in the world's energy needs and available supplies * Offers a rational paradigm for how we can go about selecting the optimal mix of fossil, renewable and sustainable energy sources and how we can then aggressively move toward those more sustainable sources Drawing from a combined 40 years of teaching about energy and its applications, the authors offer a broad, balanced analysis of our current energy circumstances and how we can intelligently transition from our reliance on fossil fuels to more sustainable and renewable energy sources--solar, wind, nuclear, and bio-mass. With their grounding in the traditional petroleum industries, the authors embed their arguments for cleaner and more sustainable energy sources in the hard realities of energy economics. Those hard realities include the enormous "energy density" advantage that oil and gas currently provide over other alternative energies and how that must always enter into any rationale economic plan for future energy growth.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Concepts, definitions, measures -- 1.1 Defining energy -- 1.1.1 Work -- 1.1.2 Heat -- 1.1.3 Light -- 1.1.4 Electricity -- 1.1.5 Power -- 1.1.6 Efficiency -- 1.2 Key energy resource definitions -- 1.2.1 Sources and resources -- 1.2.2 Reserves -- 1.2.3 Production -- 1.2.4 Comparing units and magnitudes of measure -- 1.3 "Renewable" versus "Nonrenewable" energy -- 1.3.1 Stock and flow limitations -- 1.3.2 Fossil and nuclear fuels: nonrenewable, stock-limited energy -- 1.3.3 Solar energy: renewable, flow-limited energy -- 1.3.4 In-between resources: renewable, stock, and flow-limited energy -- 1.3.5 Briefly comparing current use of energy stocks and flows -- 1.4 Energy use in societies -- 1.4.1 Visualizing energy use -- 1.4.2 Energy use by economic sector -- 1.4.3 Energy use by example: the united states -- 1.5 Environmental impacts of energy use -- 1.5.1 Classification by pollutant or harm -- 1.5.2 Classification by scale -- 1.6 Defining sustainability and sustainable energy -- 1.6.1 Sustainability -- 1.6.2 Sustainable energy -- 1.7 Sources of energy and environmental information -- 1.7.1 United States Energy Information Administration -- 1.7.2 International Energy Agency -- 1.7.3 World Energy Council -- 1.7.4 World Resources Institute -- 1.7.5 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change -- 1.7.6 Industry reports --

2. "Nonrenewable" energy resources -- 2.1 Fossil fuels -- 2.1.1 Oil and gas -- 2.1.2 Coal -- 2.2 Nuclear fuels -- 2.2.1 Fission -- 2.2.2 Fusion -- 2.2.3 Uranium distribution -- 2.2.4 Uranium exploration and production --

3. "Renewable" energy resources -- 3.1 A note -- 3.2 Earth's energy allowance -- 3.3 The solar resource -- 3.3.1 Solar photovoltaic technology -- 3.3.2 Concentrating solar power -- 3.3.3 Passive solar energy -- 3.3.4 Solar energy distribution and installed capacity -- 3.4 Biomass and biofuel resources -- 3.4.1 Ethanol -- 3.4.2 Biodiesel -- 3.4.3 Biogas -- 3.4.4 Biomass and biofuels distribution and production -- 3.5 Hydropower -- 3.5.1 Hydro potential distribution -- 3.5.2 Tidal and wave power -- 3.6 Wind power -- 3.6.1 Wind turbines -- 3.6.2 Wind distribution and installed capacity -- 3.7 Geothermal -- 3.7.1 Geothermal distribution and installed capacity -- 3.7.2 Direct use applications --

4. Energy consumption in economic sectors -- 4.1 Broadly characterizing energy consumption -- 4.2 Energy consumption in industrialized society -- 4.3 The electric power sector -- 4.3.1 Electricity generation -- 4.3.2 Electricity delivery -- 4.3.3 Energy consumption in the electric power sector -- 4.4 The transportation sector -- 4.4.1 Vehicular technology -- 4.4.2 Automobiles versus mass transit -- 4.4.3 Commercial transportation -- 4.4.4 Energy consumption in the transportation sector -- 4.5 The industrial sector -- 4.5.1 Petroleum refining -- 4.5.2 The steel and aluminum industries -- 4.5.3 Energy consumption in the industrial sector -- 4.6 The residential and commercial sectors -- 4.6.1 Lighting -- 4.6.2 Heating -- 4.6.3 Cooling -- 4.6.4 Appliances -- 4.6.5 Consumer electronics -- 4.6.6 Energy consumption in the residential/commercial sectors -- 4.7 Improving energy efficiency in economic sectors --

5. Petroleum and other energy resource limits -- 5.1 Earth's energy resource "bank account" -- 5.2 Growth and limits -- 5.2.1 The growth function -- 5.2.2 Physical limits -- 5.3 Peak oil: understanding oil limits -- 5.3.1 Specific details -- 5.3.2 Analysis -- 5.3.3 A closer look at the character of a peak -- 5.3.4 What we can know -- 5.4 Limits of other resources -- 5.4.1 Solar energy limits -- 5.4.2 Wind energy limits -- 5.4.3 Hydro energy limits -- 5.4.4 Geothermal energy limits -- 5.5 What does all of this mean to sustainability? --

6. Environmental impact -- 6.1 The environment and humans: interconnected systems -- 6.1.1 The energy and environment focus -- 6.2 Characterizing environmental impacts -- 6.2.1 Toxins, poisons, and toxicity -- 6.2.2 Radiation -- 6.2.3 Human safety and welfare -- 6.2.4 Land use and ecosystem disruption -- 6.2.5 Water usage and pollution -- 6.2.6 Air emissions and pollution -- 6.2.7 Green house gas emissions and climate change -- 6.3 Environmental impacts of the sources -- 6.3.1 Coal -- 6.3.2 Oil and gas -- 6.3.3 Nuclear -- 6.3.4 The "renewables" -- 6.3.5 Biofuels and biomass -- 6.4 Comparing impacts --

7. Global social contexts -- 7.1 Modern energy's essential role -- 7.2 Energy requirements to meet human needs and wants -- 7.2.1 Human needs -- 7.3 The advantage of consuming energy -- 7.3.1 In-depth: the energy/quality-of-life nexus -- 7.4 Consumerism -- 7.5 Energy security considerations -- 7.6 Comparing the values of different energy systems -- 7.6.1 Fossil fuels -- 7.6.2 Renewable resources -- 7.6.3 Nuclear power -- 7.6.4 Hydrogen and fuel cells -- 7.7 Externalities in energy value metrics --

8. Next steps -- 8.1 Entering a new age -- 8.1.1 The transition that brought us here -- 8.2 Petroleum's role in the next transition -- 8.2.1 Petroleum's response to the shortage -- 8.2.2 The time factor -- 8.2.3 Higher prices -- 8.3 Energy poverty's role in the transition -- 8.3.1 The need for an energy labor force -- 8.4 A brief note on climate change's role in the transition -- 8.5 Energy dreams -- 8.5.1 Easy energy transitions -- 8.5.2 Solar -- 8.5.3 Unproven technologies -- 8.5.4 Ridiculous technologies -- 8.6 Comparing the options -- 8.7 New lifestyles around sustainable energy -- 8.8 Optimized energy mixes for space and time -- 8.8.1 Using everything, as we always have -- 8.8.2 Context-based solutions -- 8.8.3 Local, decentralized energy development -- 8.8.4 Conservation -- 8.8.5 Evolving energy mixes -- 8.9 Brief summary of agency and industry forecasts -- 8.10 So, what is the path forward? -- Index.

Restricted to libraries which purchase an unrestricted PDF download via an IP.

What do we want from sustainable energy? What is possible to achieve and when? Energy professionals and political leaders need a solid, holistic understanding of where the world finds its energy--the limits of that energy--and what must change in the future if we are to have a more environmentally sustainable world, all without sacrificing our modern technologically-based civilization. This book sheds some much needed light on that conundrum.

Also available in print.

Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest, 2015. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest affiliated libraries.

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

System requirements: Adobe Acrobat reader.

Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on May 29, 2013).

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Writing for an international audience, Ebenhack (petroleum engineering, Marietta College) and Martinez (environmental science, Univ. of Southern Maine) address the potential pathways to more sustainable energy systems. They begin by describing the present state of energy in both developed and developing countries. This provides the background for chapters that address peak oil, environmental impacts, social contexts, and climate change. Small-scale localized energy production has the potential to be of significant value in developing countries where infrastructure costs for supporting broad distribution is a major obstacle. The authors indicate that the growth of solar and wind energy will be a significant part of the transition to more sustainable energy systems over the next 50 years, especially in developing countries where there is a great need to increase the availability of energy. The work includes numerous useful references. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, researchers/faculty, professionals/practitioners, policy makers, and informed general audiences. L. E. Erickson Kansas State University

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