Visions for a Sustainable Energy Future

Visions for a Sustainable Energy Future PDF Author: Mark A. Gabriel
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 8770222576
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 267

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Book Description
This book offers a unique insight into the corporate health of energy companies in an evolving landscape of deregulation. Cutting across both historical and present-day situations, it demonstrates important elements vital to the success of energy companies coming out of a safe regulated structure and dealing with a new competitive environment. Targeted at corporate executives, energy professionals, the financial and investment communities, strategic planners and regulators, readers will find this resource helpful to understand how energy companies can meet the challenges of a competitive environment, what it will take to evolve into healthy energy companies, the impacts of deregulation and assessment of successful and unsuccessful strategies for energy companies, the role of technology in business/product reinvention and a successful business model, and the differences and similarities of electricity to other commodities-the challenges to generation, power delivery, environmental science and end-use sectors of the business.

Visions for a Sustainable Energy Future

Visions for a Sustainable Energy Future PDF Author: Mark A. Gabriel
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 8770222576
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 267

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book offers a unique insight into the corporate health of energy companies in an evolving landscape of deregulation. Cutting across both historical and present-day situations, it demonstrates important elements vital to the success of energy companies coming out of a safe regulated structure and dealing with a new competitive environment. Targeted at corporate executives, energy professionals, the financial and investment communities, strategic planners and regulators, readers will find this resource helpful to understand how energy companies can meet the challenges of a competitive environment, what it will take to evolve into healthy energy companies, the impacts of deregulation and assessment of successful and unsuccessful strategies for energy companies, the role of technology in business/product reinvention and a successful business model, and the differences and similarities of electricity to other commodities-the challenges to generation, power delivery, environmental science and end-use sectors of the business.

Energy and Climate

Energy and Climate PDF Author: Michael B. McElroy
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190490349
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 281

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Book Description
The climate of our planet is changing at a rate unprecedented in recent human history. The energy absorbed from the sun exceeds what is returned to space. The planet as a whole is gaining energy. The heat content of the ocean is increasing; the surface and atmosphere are warming; mid-latitude glaciers are melting; sea level is rising. The Arctic Ocean is losing its ice cover. None of these assertions are based on theory but on hard scientific fact. Given the science-heavy nature of climate change, debates and discussions have not played as big a role in the public sphere as they should, and instead are relegated to often misinformed political discussions and inaccessible scientific conferences. Michael B. McElroy, an eminent Harvard scholar of environmental studies, combines both his research chops and pedagogical expertise to present a book that will appeal to the lay reader but still be grounded in scientific fact. In Energy and Climate: Vision for the Future, McElroy provides a broad and comprehensive introduction to the issue of energy and climate change intended to be accessible for the general reader. The book includes chapters on energy basics, a discussion of the contemporary energy systems of the US and China, and two chapters that engage the debate regarding climate change. The perspective is global but with a specific focus on the US and China recognizing the critical role these countries must play in addressing the challenge of global climate change. The book concludes with a discussion of initiatives now underway to at least reduce the rate of increase of greenhouse gas emissions, together with a vision for a low carbon energy future that could in principle minimize the long-term impact of energy systems on global climate.

Energy Revolution

Energy Revolution PDF Author: Howard Geller
Publisher: Island Press
ISBN: 1610910664
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Book Description
The transformation from a carbon-based world economy to one based on high efficiency and renewables is a necessary step if human society is to achieve sustainability. But while scientists and researchers have made significant advances in energy efficiency and renewable technologies in recent years, consumers have yet to see dramatic changes in the marketplace—due in large part to government policies and programs that favor the use of fossil fuels. Energy Revolution examines the policy options for mitigating or removing the entrenched advantages held by fossil fuels and speeding the transition to a more sustainable energy future, one based on improved efficiency and a shift to renewable sources such as solar, wind, and bioenergy. The book: examines today's energy patterns and trends and their consequences describes the barriers to a more sustainable energy future and how those barriers can be overcome provides ten case studies of integrated strategies that have been effective in different parts of the world examines international policies and institutions and recommends ways they could be improved reviews global trends that suggest that the transition to renewables and increased efficiency is underway and is achievable Energy policy represents a linchpin for achieving a broader transition to a more sustainable economy. Energy Revolution offers a unique focus on policies and programs, and on the lessons provided by recent experience. It represents a key statement of the available options for reforming energy policy that have proven to be successful, and is an essential work for policymakers, researchers, and anyone concerned with energy and sustainability issues.

Vision 2050

Vision 2050 PDF Author: Hiroshi Komiyama
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 4431094318
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 166

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Book Description
Hiroshi Komiyama's "Vision 2050" is a plan for paving a road to global sustainability. It lays out a path to a sustainable future for humanity that could realistically be achieved by 2050 through the application of science and technology. A prominent Japanese academic and leader in global sustainability, Komiyama draws upon realistic assumptions and solid scientific concepts to create a vision that makes the living standards enjoyed by developed countries today possible for all people by 2050. "Vision 2050" is built upon three fundamental principles – increased energy efficiency, recycling, and development of renewable energy sources – and the book argues for the technological potential of all three. Specifically, Komiyama envisions a three-fold increase in overall energy efficiency and a doubling of renewable energy resources by 2050. "Vision 2050: Roadmap for a Sustainable Earth" is written to address the concerned citizen as well as to inspire an exchange of ideas among experts, policy makers, industrial leaders, and the general public.

Empowering the Great Energy Transition

Empowering the Great Energy Transition PDF Author: Scott Valentine
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231546424
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 306

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Book Description
At a time when climate-change deniers hold the reins of power in the United States and international greenhouse gas negotiations continue at a slow crawl, what options are available to cities, companies, and consumers around the world who seek a cleaner future? Scott Victor Valentine, Marilyn A. Brown, and Benjamin K. Sovacool explore developments and strategies that will help fast-track the transition to renewable energy. They provide an expert analysis of the achievable steps that citizens, organizational leaders, and policy makers can take to put their commitments to sustainability into practice. Empowering the Great Energy Transition examines trends that suggest a transition away from carbon-intensive energy sources is inevitable—there are too many forces for change at work to stop a shift to clean energy. Yet under the status quo, change will be too slow to avert the worst consequences of climate change. Humanity is on a path to incur avoidable social, environmental, and economic costs. Valentine, Brown, and Sovacool argue that new policies and business models are needed to surmount the hurdles separating the current consumption model from a sustainable energy future. Empowering the Great Energy Transition shows that with well-placed efforts, we can set humanity on a course that supports entrepreneurs and communities in mitigating the environmental harm caused by technologies whose time has come and gone.

Principles of Sustainable Energy Systems, Second Edition

Principles of Sustainable Energy Systems, Second Edition PDF Author: Frank Kreith
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 146655696X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 793

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Book Description
Completely revised and updated, Principles of Sustainable Energy Systems, Second Edition presents broad-based coverage of sustainable energy sources and systems. The book is designed as a text for undergraduate seniors and first-year graduate students. It focuses on renewable energy technologies, but also treats current trends such as the expanding use of natural gas from fracking and development of nuclear power. It covers the economics of sustainable energy, both from a traditional monetary as well as from an energy return on energy invested (EROI) perspective. The book provides complete and up-to-date coverage of all renewable technologies, including solar and wind power, biological processes such as anaerobic digestion and geothermal energy. The new edition also examines social issues such as food, water, population, global warming, and public policies of engineering concern. It discusses energy transition—the process by which renewable energy forms can effectively be introduced into existing energy systems to replace fossil fuels. See What’s New in the Second Edition: Extended treatment of the energy and social issues related to sustainable energy Analytic models of all energy systems in the current and future economy Thoroughly updated chapters on biomass, wind, transportation, and all types of solar power Treatment of energy return on energy invested (EROI) as a tool for understanding the sustainability of different types of resource conversion and efficiency projects Introduction of the System Advisor Model (SAM) software program, available from National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL), with examples and homework problems Coverage of current issues in transition engineering providing analytic tools that can reduce the risk of unsustainable fossil resource use Updates to all chapters on renewable energy technology engineering, in particular the chapters dealing with transportation, passive design, energy storage, ocean energy, and bioconversion Written by Frank Kreith and Susan Krumdieck, this updated version of a successful textbook takes a balanced approach that looks not only at sustainable energy sources, but also provides examples of energy storage, industrial process heat, and modern transportation. The authors take an analytical systems approach to energy engineering, rather than the more general and descriptive approach usually found in textbooks on this topic.

The Solar Economy

The Solar Economy PDF Author: Hermann Scheer
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136547622
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 369

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Book Description
The global economy and our way of life are based on the exploitation of fossil fuels, which not only threaten massive environmental and social disruption through global warming but, at present rates of consumption, will run out within decades, causing huge industrial dislocation and economic collapse. Even before then, the conflicts it causes in the Middle East and elsewhere will be frighteningly exacerbated. The alternative exists: renewable energy from renewable sources - above all, solar. Substituting renewable for fossil resources will take a new industrial revolution to avert the worst of the damage and establish a new international order. It can be done, and it can be done in time. The Solar Economy, by one of the world's most effective analysts and advocates, lays out the blueprints, showing how the political, economic and technological challenges can be met using indigenous, renewable and universally available resources, and the enormous opportunities and benefits that will flow from doing so.

Visions of Energy Futures

Visions of Energy Futures PDF Author: Benjamin K. Sovacool
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429633998
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 271

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Book Description
This book examines the visions, fantasies, frames, discourses, imaginaries, and expectations associated with six state-of-the-art energy systems—nuclear power, hydrogen fuel cells, shale gas, clean coal, smart meters, and electric vehicles—playing a key role in current deliberations about low-carbon energy supply and use. Visions of Energy Futures: Imagining and Innovating Low-Carbon Transitions unveils what the future of energy systems could look like, and how their meanings are produced, often alongside moments of contestation. Theoretically, it analyzes these technological case studies with emerging concepts from various disciplines: utopianism (history of technology), symbolic convergence (communication studies), technological frames (social construction of technology), discursive coalitions (discourse analysis and linguistics), sociotechnical imaginaries (science and technology studies), and the sociology of expectations (innovation studies, future studies). It draws from these cases to create a synthetic set of dichotomies and frameworks for energy futures based on original data collected across two global epistemic communities— nuclear physicists and hydrogen engineers—and experts in Eastern Europe and the Nordic region, stakeholders in South Africa, and newspapers in the United Kingdom. This book is motivated by the premise that tackling climate change via low-carbon energy systems and practices is one of the most significant challenges of the twenty-first century, and that success will require not only new energy technologies, but also new ways of understanding language, visions, and discursive politics. The discursive creation of the energy systems of tomorrow are propagated in polity, hoping to be realized as the material fact of the future, but processed in conflicting ways with underlying tensions as to how contemporary societies ought to be ordered. This book will be essential reading for students and scholars of energy policy, energy and environment, and technology assessment.

Global Renewables Outlook: Energy Transformation 2050

Global Renewables Outlook: Energy Transformation 2050 PDF Author: International Renewable Energy Agency IRENA
Publisher: International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)
ISBN: 9292602500
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 318

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Book Description
This outlook highlights climate-safe investment options until 2050, policies for transition and specific regional challenges. It also explores options to eventually cut emissions to zero.

A Better Planet

A Better Planet PDF Author: Daniel C. Esty
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 030024889X
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 416

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Book Description
A practical, bipartisan call to action from the world’s leading thinkers on the environment and sustainability Sustainability has emerged as a global priority over the past several years. The 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change and the adoption of the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals through the United Nations have highlighted the need to address critical challenges such as the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, water shortages, and air pollution. But in the United States, partisan divides, regional disputes, and deep disagreements over core principles have made it nearly impossible to chart a course toward a sustainable future. This timely new book, edited by celebrated scholar Daniel C. Esty, offers fresh thinking and forward-looking solutions from environmental thought leaders across the political spectrum. The book’s forty essays cover such subjects as ecology, environmental justice, Big Data, public health, and climate change, all with an emphasis on sustainability. The book focuses on moving toward sustainability through actionable, bipartisan approaches based on rigorous analytical research.