£138.95
Publication Date:
30 Apr 2008
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Description
For more information on this title, including student exercises, please visit, http://www.people.ex.ac.uk/DAColey/ Energy and Climate Change: Creating a Sustainable Future provides an up-to-date introduction to the subject examining the relationship between energy and our global environment. The book covers the fundamentals of the subject, discussing what energy is, why it is important, as well as the detrimental effect on the environment following our use of energy. Energy is placed at the front of a discussion of geo-systems, living systems, technological development and the global environment, enabling the reader to develop a deeper understanding of magnitudes. Learning is re-enforced, and the relevance of the topic broadened, through the use of several conceptual veins running through the book. One of these is an attempt to demonstrate how systems are related to each other through energy and energy flows. Examples being wind-power, and bio-mass which are really solar power via another route; how the energy used to evaporate sea water must be related to the potential for hydropower; and where a volcanos energy really comes from. With fermi-like problems and student exercises incorporated throughout every chapter, this text provides the perfect companion to the growing number of students taking an interest in the subject.
Contents
Preface xiii 1 Introduction 1 Part I Energy: Concepts, History and Problems 7 2 Energy 9 2.1 What is energy? 9 2.2 Units 11 2.3 Power 13 2.4 Energy in various disguises 14 2.5 Energy quality and exergy 21 2.6 Student exercises 25 3 The planet's energy balance 27 3.1 The sun 27 3.2 The earth 31 3.3 Comparisons 41 3.4 Student exercises 43 4 A history of humankind's use of energy 45 4.1 Energy and society 46 4.2 Wealth, urbanization and conflict 66 4.3 Our current level of energy use 69 4.4 Student exercises 74 5 Sustainability, climate change and the global environment 77 5.1 Sustainability 77 5.2 Climate change 79 5.3 Other concerns 114 5.4 Debating climate change and answering the sceptics 127 5.5 The atmosphere 134 5.6 Student exercises 139 6 Economics and the environment 143 6.1 Key concepts 143 6.2 Environmental economics 154 6.3 Student exercises 158 7 Combustion, inescapable inefficiencies and the generation of electricity 159 7.1 Combustion 159 7.2 Calorific values 161 7.3 Inescapable inefficiencies 161 7.4 Heat pumps 165 7.5 Double Carnot efficiencies 168 7.6 The generation of electricity from heat 168 7.7 Student exercises 177 Part II Unsustainable Energy Technologies 179 8 Coal 183 8.1 History 184 8.2 Extraction 185 8.3 The combustion of coal 186 8.4 Technologies for use 187 8.5 Example applications 190 8.6 Global resource 193 8.7 Student exercises 196 9 Oil 199 9.1 Extraction 200 9.2 The combustion of oil 204 9.3 Technologies for use 205 9.4 Example application: the motor car 205 9.5 Global resource 208 9.6 Student exercises 210 10 Gas 211 10.1 Extraction 211 10.2 The combustion of gas 214 10.3 Technologies for use 214 10.4 Example application: the domestic boiler 215 10.5 Global resource 216 10.6 Student exercises 220 11 Non-conventional hydrocarbons 221 11.1 Oil shale 221 11.2 Tar sands 222 11.3 Methane hydrate 223 11.4 Student exercises 226 12 Nuclear power 227 12.1 Physical basis 227 12.2 Technologies for use 229 12.3 Environmental concerns 239 12.4 Waste 244 12.5 World resource 245 12.6 Example applications 248 12.7 Is nuclear power the solution to global warming? 254 12.8 Student exercises 257 13 Hydropower 259 13.1 History 259 13.2 Technologies for use 261 13.3 Example application: Itaipu hydroelectric station 268 13.4 Environmental impacts 271 13.5 Pumped storage 273 13.6 Global resource 273 13.7 Student exercises 275 14 Transport and air quality 277 14.1 Present day problems 278 14.2 Air quality and health 282 14.3 Example application: air quality in Exeter, UK 290 14.4 Student exercises 290 15 Figures and philosophy: an analysis of a nation's energy supply 291 15.1 The economy 293 15.2 Production 294 15.3 Consumption 294 15.4 Oil and gas production 296 15.5 Prices 298 15.6 Fuel poverty 302 15.7 Carbon emissions 303 15.8 Sustainable energy in the UK: the current state of play 303 15.9 Student exercises 307 Part III Climate Change: Predictions and Policies 309 16 Future world energy use and carbon emissions 311 16.1 The world's future use of energy 312 16.2 Student exercises 322 17 The impact of a warmer world 323 17.1 Climate models 324 17.2 Natural variability and model reliability 326 17.3 Future climate change 331 17.4 Impacts 331 17.5 Costing the impact 343 17.6 Student exercises 343 18 Politics in the greenhouse: contracting and converging 345 18.1 Climate negotiations 348 18.2 Another approach 355 18.3 Bringing it all together 358 18.4 Conclusion 364 18.5 Student exercises 364 Part IV Sustainable Energy Technologies 365 IV.1 Current world sustainable energy provision 367 19 Energy efficiency 371 19.1 Cogeneration 372 19.2 Reducing energy losses 374 19.3 Energy recovery 383 19.4 Energy efficiency in buildings 386 19.5 Student exercises 394 20 Solar power 397 20.1 Passive solar heating 398 20.2 Heat pumps 405 20.3 Solar water heating 409 20.4 Low temperature solar water heating 409 20.5 Example application: solar water heating, Phoenix Federal Correction Institution, USA 416 20.6 High temperature solar power 417 20.7 Low temperature water-based thermal energy conversion 422 20.8 OECD resource 423 20.9 Student exercises 424 21 Photovoltaics 427 21.1 History 427 21.2 Basic principles 427 21.3 Technologies for use 431 21.4 Electrical characteristics 433 21.5 Roof-top PV 436 21.6 Example application: Doxford Solar Office, UK 439 21.7 OECD resource 440 21.8 Student exercises 440 22 Wind power 441 22.1 History 444 22.2 Technologies for use 447 22.3 The modern horizontal axis wind turbine 459 22.4 Environmental impacts 462 22.5 OECD resource 467 22.6 Example application: Haroy Island Wind Farm, Sandoy, Norway 468 22.7 Student exercises 469 23 Wave power 471 23.1 Wave characteristics 472 23.2 Technologies for use 474 23.3 Example application: the Pelamis P-750 wave energy converter 478 23.4 Student exercises 478 24 Tidal and small-scale hydropower 481 24.1 Tides 482 24.2 Small-scale hydropower 490 24.3 OECD resource 496 24.4 Student exercises 498 25 Biomass 499 25.1 History 499 25.2 Basic principles 500 25.3 Technologies for use 502 25.4 Example application: anaerobic digester, Walford College Farm, UK 510 25.5 Global resource 511 25.6 OECD resource 513 25.7 Student exercises 514 26 Geothermal 515 26.1 Background 515 26.2 History 519 26.3 Resource and technology 520 26.4 Technologies for use 523 26.5 Environmental problems 525 26.6 World resource 525 26.7 OECD resource 526 26.8 Example application: Hacchobaru geothermal power station, Kokonoe-machi, Japan 526 26.9 Student exercises 528 27 Fast breeders and fusion 529 27.1 Fast breeder reactors 529 27.2 Fusion 532 27.3 Example application: JET Torus, Culham, UK 535 27.4 Student exercises 537 28 Alternative transport futures and the hydrogen economy 539 28.1 Improving energy efficiency 541 28.2 Alternative transport fuels and engines 544 28.3 Hydrogen powered vehicles and the hydrogen economy 550 28.4 Fuel cells 552 28.5 Example application: the greening of natural gas 558 28.6 Student exercises 559 29 Carbon sequestration and climate engineering 561 29.1 Capture technologies 562 29.2 Storage technologies 563 29.3 The reflection of solar radiation 567 29.4 Example application: Statoil, Sleipner West gas field, North Sea 568 29.5 Student exercises 569 30 A sustainable, low carbon future? 571 30.1 Methodology and assumptions 572 30.2 Results 572 30.3 Worldwide reductions 578 30.4 Conclusion 581 30.5 What can I do? 581 30.6 Student exercises 582 References 583 Appendix 1 National energy data 593 Appendix 2 Answers to in-text problems 613 Appendix 3 Bibliography and suggested reading 641 Appendix 4 Useful data 643 Index 649
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