Clean Energy,Climate and Carbon

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

With the general reader in mind, Clean Energy, Climate and Carbon outlines the global challenge of decreasing greenhouse gas emissions. It covers the changing concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide through time and its causes, before considering the promise and the limitations of a wide range of energy technologies for decreasing carbon dioxide emissions.

Despite the need to decrease carbon dioxide, the global use of fossil fuels is increasing and is likely to continue to do so for some decades to come. With this in mind, the book looks at the range of clean energy technologies and considers in detail, what for many people is the unfamiliar clean energy technology of carbon capture and storage (CCS). How can we capture carbon dioxide from flue gases? How do we transport it? How do we store it in suitable rocks? What are suitable rocks and where do we find them? How do we know the carbon dioxide will remain trapped once it is injected underground? What does CCS cost and how do those costs compare with other technology options?

The book also explores the political environment in which the discussion on clean energy technology options is occurring. What will a price on carbon do for technology uptake and what are the prospects of cutting our emissions by 2020 and of making even deeper cuts by 2050? What will the technology mix look like by that time?

For people who are concerned about climate change, or who want to learn more about clean energy technologies, including CCS, this is the definitive view of the opportunities and the challenges we face in decreasing emissions despite a seemingly inexorable global increase in energy demand.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Clean energy and climate change are important concerns for many citizens, and this well-illustrated book is designed to educate the public about these subjects. Cook (Univ. of Melbourne, Australia) is a geologist with expertise related to the science and engineering aspects of capturing and storing carbon dioxide in geological formations. Since coal and natural gas are expected to be fuels for electrical energy generation for many years to come, carbon dioxide separation, transport, and sequestration in geological formations provide the way forward to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The book includes chapters on separation processes to capture carbon dioxide, transport processes to move it to locations where it can be used for enhanced oil recovery or sequestered in deep saline aquifers, sequestration alternatives, and risks associated with geological storage. The author provides a good review of current carbon sequestration activities. Separate chapters address policy and cost issues. A list of acronyms with their definitions, books and reports for additional reading, and data source references round out the text. Summing Up: Recommended. All readership levels. L. E. Erickson Kansas State University