The future of energy / Brian F. Towler.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Front Cover; The Future of Energy; Copyright; Contents; Preface; Acknowledgments; Chapter 1: The History and Culture of Energy; The Towler Principle; The History of Energy Use; The Movement to Oil; Summary; Chapter 2: How Is Energy Measured; Hydrocarbon Fuels; Wood Fuels; Units of Power; Chapter 3: Energy Science and Thermodynamics; The First Law of Thermodynamics; The Second Law of Thermodynamics; Chapter 4: Environmental Issues; The Carbon Dioxide Issue; Coal; Oil; Natural Gas; Wind; Solar; Hydroelectric; Nuclear; Chapter 5: Crude Oil; U.S. World Oil Production and the Peak Oil Theory. The U.S. Gas Supply Analogy to World Oil ProductionNew Supplies of Oil in the United States and the Implications for the World Oil Market; The World Picture; The Future of Oil; Chapter 6: Natural Gas; The World Picture; Liquefied Natural Gas; Natural Gas Production in the United States; Natural Gas Storage; The Price of Gas; State Production and Transportation of Natural Gas in USA; Fracture Stimulation Techniques; Liquid Transportation Fuels from Natural Gas; The Future of Natural Gas; Chapter 7: Nuclear Energy; The Uranium Fuel Cycle; Fast Breeder Reactors; Uranium Reserves and Sources. Nuclear Power Plant SafetyThe Three Mile Island Incident; The Chernobyl Disaster; The Fukushima-Daiichi Incident; Nuclear Fusion Reactors; The Future of Nuclear Power; Chapter 8: Solar Power; Photovoltaics; Concentrated Solar Power; Solar Efficiency of CSP Installations; Selected Location Studies; Environmental Issues; Economics; The Future of Solar Energy; Chapter 9: Wind Energy; Wind Energy Statistics; Physics and Engineering of Wind Power; Carbon Dioxide Emissions and Pollution; Land Use Issues; The Portsmouth Abbey Wind Turbine; Impact on Birds, Bats and Other Flying Wildlife. Impacts on PeopleSafety; Health and Esthetics; Energy Reliability; Energy Storage; Summary; Chapter 10: Hydroelectricity; Hydroelectric Basics; The Columbia River Hydroelectric System; The Grand Coulee Dam; The Other Columbia River Dams; Pumped Hydroelectric Storage; Summary; Chapter 11: Geothermal Energy; The Geysers Dry Steam Geothermal Power Plant; Other Geothermal Applications; Enhanced Geothermal Systems; Environmental Issues; The Future of Geothermal Energy; Chapter 12: Ethanol, Biodiesel, and Biomass; Ethanol Production; Fuel Economy of Ethanol; Biodiesel Production. Direct Conversion of Woody Biomass into Gasoline, Diesel and Other Liquid FuelsEnvironmental Issues; The Future of Biomass; Chapter 13: Coal and Clean Coal Technologies; World Coal Production; U.S. Coal Production; Australian Coal Production; Chinese Coal Production; Health, Safety, and Environmental Issues in Coal Use; Clean Coal Technologies; Coal to Liquids Technologies; Underground Coal Gasification; The Future of Coal; Chapter 14: Carbon Capture and Storage; Carbon Emissions; Phase Behavior of Carbon Dioxide; Carbon Capture Methods; Carbon Storage Concepts; Carbon Storage Projects.

Available to OhioLINK libraries.

Using the principle that extracting energy from the environment always involves some type of impact on the environment, The Future of Energy discusses...
the sources, technologies, and tradeoffs involved in meeting the world's energy needs. A historical, scientific, and technical background set the stage for discussions on a wide range of energy sources, including conventional fossil fuels like oil, gas, and coal, as well as emerging renewable sources like solar, wind, geothermal, and biofuels. Readers will learn that there are no truly "green" energy sources―all energy usage involves some tradeoffs―and will understand these tradeoffs and other issues involved in using each energy source.Each potential energy source includes discussions of tradeoffs in economics, environmental, and policy implicationsExamples and cases of implementing each technology are included throughout the bookTechnical discussions are supported with equations, graphs, and tablesIncludes discussions of carbon capture and sequestration as emerging technologies to manage carbon dioxide emissions