AI & BIG DATA
Shaping today's innovations
Save up to 25% on AI & Big Data books, eBooks & Journals
Future Energy
Improved, Sustainable and Clean Options for our Planet
- 1st Edition - July 30, 2008
- Editor: Trevor Letcher
- Language: English
- eBook ISBN:9 7 8 - 0 - 0 8 - 0 8 8 7 0 6 - 7
- eBook ISBN:9 7 8 - 0 - 0 8 - 0 5 6 4 8 7 - 6
Future Energy will allow us to make reasonable, logical and correct decisions on our future energy as a result of two of the most serious problems that the civilized world has… Read more
Purchase options
Institutional subscription on ScienceDirect
Request a sales quoteFuture Energy will allow us to make reasonable, logical and correct decisions on our future energy as a result of two of the most serious problems that the civilized world has to face; the looming shortage of oil (which supplies most of our transport fuel) and the alarming rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide over the past 50 years (resulting from the burning of oil, gas and coal and the loss of forests) that threatens to change the world’s climate through global warming.
Future Energy focuses on all the types of energy available to us, taking into account a future involving a reduction in oil and gas production and the rapidly increasing amount of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. It is unique in the genre of books of similar title in that each chapter has been written by a scientist or engineer who is an expert in his or her field. The book is divided into four sections:
- Traditional Fossil Fuel and Nuclear Energy
- Renewable Energy
- Potentially Important New Types of Energy
- New Aspects to Future Energy Usage
Each chapter highlights the basic theory and implementation, scope, problems and costs associated with a particular type of energy. The traditional fuels are included because they will be with us for decades to come - but, we hope, in a cleaner form. The renewable energy types includes wind power, wave power, tidal energy, two forms of solar energy, bio-mass, hydroelectricity, geothermal and the hydrogen economy. Potentially important new types of energy include: pebble bed nuclear reactors, nuclear fusion, methane hydrates and recent developments in fuel cells and batteries.
- Written by experts in the key future energy disciplines from around the globe
- Details of all possible forms of energy that are and will be available globally in the next two decades
- Puts each type of available energy into perspective with realistic, future options
Students, professionals and researchers in energy engineering and the energy industry, as well as policymakers in government
PART I FOSSIL FUEL and NUCLEAR ENERGY
Chapter 1 The Future of Oil and Gas Fossil Fuels
A Goodwin
1 Introduction
2 Hydrocarbon Reserves
3 Hydrocarbon Recovery, Reserves, Production and Consumption
4 Global warming, Alternative Energy and CO2 Sequestration
5 Conclusion
Chapter 2 The Future of Clean Coal
M Balat
1 Introduction
2 Coal and Environmental Problems
3 Clean Coal Technologies
4 Cost and Plant Characteristics
5 Conclusion
Chapter 3 Nuclear Power (Fission)
S Green and D Kennedy
1 Introduction
2 UK cost benefit analysis for 2007 Energy White Paper
3 Other recent studies on nuclear generation costs
4 Global prospects for nuclear power
5 Conclusions
Chapter 4 The Alberta Oil Sands: Reserves and Supply Outlook
F Rahnama, K Elliott, RA Marsh and L Philip
1 Introduction
2 Bitumen Reserves in Alberta
3 Reserves Under Development
4 Bitumen Recovery Techniques
5 Short Term Bitumen Supply in Alberta
6 Long Term Bitumen Supply in Alberta
7 Supply Costs of Bitumen Production in Alberta
8 Conclusions
Chapter 5 The Future of Methane and Coal to Petrol and Diesel Technologies
AC Vosloo
1 Brief Description of the Methane and Coal to Petrol and Diesel Technologies
2 Factors that will Influence the Future Demand for CTL and GTL Technologies
3 Environmental Factors that will Influence the Application of CTL and GTL Technologies
4 Future Developments to Reduce the Capital and Operating Costs of CTL and GTL Plants
5 Conclusions
PART II RENEWABLE ENERGY
Chapter 6 Wind Energy
L Staudt
1 History and Present Status
2 Technical Issues
3 Commercial Issues
4 Environmental Issues
5 Conclusions
Chapter 7 Tidal Current Energy: Origins and Challenges
A Owen
1 Introduction
2 Tidal Current Drivers
3 Devices
4 Anchors and Fixings
5 Bio-fouling
6 Summary
Chapter 8 Wave Energy
R Alcorn
1 Background, Context and Drivers of wave Energy
2 What is Ocean Wave Energy
3 The Energy Resource and How it is Measured
4 Forecasting and Prediction
5 Challenges and Benefits
6 Converter Types
7 Device Rating
8 Modern Devices
9 Economics of Wave Energy
10 Alternative Output
11 Future
Chapter 9 Bio-Mass
P Champagne
1 Introduction
2 Bio-mass Resources
3 Bio-energy and Bio-fuels
4 Bio-mass to Energy Conversion Process
5 Bio-economics
6 Limitations and Knowledge Gaps
Chapter 10 Concentrating Solar Power
R Pitz-Paal
1 Introduction – Concept and Basic Characteristics
2 State of the Art
3 Cost Reduction Potential
4 Further Options
Chapter 11 Hydroelectric Power
D Spreng and M Balmer
1 History and Development
2 Technology
3 Hydropower and Sustainability
4 Economics of Hydropower
5 Hydropower in Liberalised Electricity Markets
Chapter 12 Geothermal Energy
JL Renner
1 Heat Flow and Subsurface Temperatures
2 Tectonic Controls
3 Types of Geothermal Systems
4 Worldwide Geothermal Potential
5 Worldwide Geothermal Development
6 Methods for Electrical Generation
7 Direct Use of Geothermal Energy
8 Environmental Constraints
9 The Future
10 Source of Additional Information
Chapter 13 Solar Energy: Photovoltaics
D Infield
1 Background
2 The Solar Resource
3 Outline of the Conversion Process
4 Manufacturing Processes
5 Applications
6 Brief Summary of Research Challenges
PART III POTENTIALLY IMPORTANT NEW TYPESOF ENERGY
Chapter 14 The Pebble Bed Modular Reactor
D Matzner
1 Historical Preface
2 Reactor Unit
3 Nuclear Safety
4 Technological Applications
5 Project Status
Chapter 15 Fuel Cells and Batteries
J Salminen, D Steingard and T Kallio
1 Fuel Cells
2 Batteries
3 Concluding Remarks
Chapter 16 Methane Hydrates
E Allison
1 Background
2 Detection and Quantification
3 Production Technology
4 Economics
5 Time Scale for Development
Chapter 17 Nuclear Fusion
L Grisham
1 What is Nuclear Fusion
2 Desirable Characteristics of Fusion Power
3 Why Fusion Power id Difficult
4 Approaches to Fusion Reactors
5 Economics of Fusion Energy
6 Prospects for Fusion Energy
PART IV NEW ASPECTS TO FUTURE ENERGY
Chapter 18 Carbon Capture and Storage for Greenhouse effect Mitigation
D Tondeur and F Teng
1 Introductory Aspects
2 The Capture Techniques
3 Geological Storage of CO2
4 Costs
5 Conclusions
Chapter 19 Smart Energy Houses of the Future – self supporting in energy and zero emission
R Wing
1 Design and Construction of Energy Efficient Buildings
2 Design of Very Low or Zero Energy Housing
3 Future Technical Developments and Demonstration Projects
4 Guidelines for Future Energy Efficient Housing
Chapter 20 The Prospects for Electricity and Transport Fuels to 2050
G Dutton and M Page
1 Introduction
2 Energy Future Scenarios
3 Primary Energy Policy Drivers
4 Future Energy Fuel Options and supply Structures for Transport
5 Future Energy Supply Structures for Electricity
6 Conclusions
- No. of pages: 400
- Language: English
- Edition: 1
- Published: July 30, 2008
- Imprint: Elsevier Science
- eBook ISBN: 9780080887067
- eBook ISBN: 9780080564876
TL
Trevor Letcher
Professor Trevor Letcher is an Emeritus Professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, and living in the United Kingdom. He was previously Professor of Chemistry, and Head of Department, at the University of the Witwatersrand, Rhodes University, and Natal, in South Africa (1969-2004). He has published over 300 papers on areas such as chemical thermodynamic and waste from landfill in peer reviewed journals, and 100 papers in popular science and education journals. Prof. Letcher has edited and/or written 32 major books, of which 22 were published by Elsevier, on topics ranging from future energy, climate change, storing energy, waste, tyre waste and recycling, wind energy, solar energy, managing global warming, plastic waste, renewable energy, and environmental disasters. He has been awarded gold medals by the South African Institute of Chemistry and the South African Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Journal of Chemical Thermodynamics honoured him with a Festschrift in 2018. He is a life member of both the Royal Society of Chemistry (London) and the South African Institute of Chemistry. He is on the editorial board of the Journal of Chemical Thermodynamics, and is a Director of the Board of the International Association of Chemical Thermodynamics since 2002.
Affiliations and expertise
Emeritus Professor, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South AfricaRead Future Energy on ScienceDirect