A nuclear physicist hailed by Time magazine as one of the world’s top “leaders and visionaries on the environment” presents the basics of the world energy system, its pressing problems, and technical and non-technical solutions. Addresses in a Q&A format issues such as wind and wave energy, geothermal energy, nuclear waste disposal problems, acid rain, the greenhouse gas effect, carbon capture and storage, smart grinds, the Kyoto Protocol, and “cap and trade”.

(ENERGY * ENVIRONMENT * WORLD ENERGY SYSTEMS)

Energy efficiency will determine which cities will thrive in the future. Explores why cities have different energy metabolisms and discusses innovative approaches to the problem of expensive energy consumption. Looks at dozens of cities and suburbs in the US and Europe to understand the factors that affect their energy use: behavior, climate, water supply, building quality, transportation, etc. Assesses promising solutions such as green buildings, energy-efficient neighborhoods, congestion pricing, transit-oriented development, symbiotic infrastructure, water conservation, and planning approaches that can bring about change.

(ENERGY * CITIES: ENERGY EFFICIENCY)

Scholars assess the transformations in energy security policy that flow from recognition of global climate change, explore through case studies the key policy responses formulated in the Asia-Pacific (Australia, Japan, India, China, Russia), and identify potential synergies between energy policy and climate mitigation efforts. Topics include energy security and climate security under conditions of the anthropocene, energy efficiency, national energy security, constrained use of fossil fuels, energy governance, and emission trends.

(ENERGY SECURITY * CLIMATE CHANGE * ASIA/PACIFIC)

Explores critical energy issues: 1) the factors driving energy policy decisions in Washington, Brussels, European capitals, and US states, 2) energy mixes in the future, 3) similarities and differences, convergence and divergences in Europe and America, 4) cooperation on energy issues; and 5) the desirability of a transatlantic energy alliance.

(ENERGY * ENERGY: US AND EUROPE COOPERATION * TRANSATLANTIC RELATIONS)

Scientists have spent decades--and billions of dollars in government and industry funding--developing the fuel cell. Engineering a fuel cell that is both durable and affordable has proved extraordinarily difficult. By exploring the gap between the theory and practice of fuel cell power, Eisler looks at the history of science, technology, and society after WWII to track the rise of utopian discourse in science and engineering.

(SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY * ENERGY * FUEL CELLS PROBLEMS)

Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe and can be converted to nonpolluting, zero-emission, renewable energy. When burned in an internal combustion engine, it produces mostly harmless water vapor. The author The Forever Fuel: The Story of Hydrogen covers the major aspects of hydrogen production, storage, transportation, fuel use, and safety. Hydrogen is not an energy source but a carrier, like electricity, and has recently been used in new hydrogen and fuel-cell cars from GM, Daimler, BMW, Honda, and Toyota. Phasing in hydrogen will take effort and money, but, if we consider the real costs of fossil fuels (pollution, climate change), we would be wise to promote its development.

(ENERGY * HYDROGEN * FUEL CELLS)

Former chairman of the German Economic Association warns that the Earth is getting warmer, yet the dominant policy approach of curbing consumption of fossil energy has been ineffective. The relentlessly rising curve of CO2 output does not show the slightest downward turn. The owners of carbon resources are pre-empting future regulation by accelerating production of fossil fuel while they can. Thus, the “Green Paradox” where expected future reduction in carbon consumption has the effect of accelerating climate change. Sinn calls for a supply-side solution to curbing consumption of fossil energy: inducing the owners of carbon resources to leave more of their wealth underground. The swift introduction of a “Super-Kyoto” system – gathering all consumer countries into a cartel by means of a worldwide, coordinated cap-and-trade system supported by source taxes on capital income – can spoil the resource owners’ appetite for financial assets. We can only have a chance of staving off climate disaster by shifting our focus from local demand to worldwide supply.

(CLIMATE CHANGE * ENERGY * GLOBAL WARMING: SOLUTION)

Nothing has more impact on our lives than the supply of and demand for energy. Its procurement dominates our economy and foreign policy more than any other factor. But the “energy question” is more confusing, contentious, and complicated than ever before. Will nuclear power ever be really safe? Will wind and solar energy ever be really viable? Are natural gas deposits in Pennsylvania a windfall of historic proportions or a false hope? Muller provides the answers in this guide to our energy priorities.

(ENERGY * ENERGY POLICY: PRIORITIES)

Liquid transportation fuels have always been critical to eco­nomic development, but volatile oil prices and abrupt changes in global climate have led to concerns about US energy security and greenhouse gas emissions from using fos­sil fuels. Discusses the possible outcome of increasing biofuels production to meet the biofuel consumption mandated by the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS2); describes biofuels produced in 2010 and those projected to be produced and consumed by 2022; reviews model projections and other estimates of the relative impact on the price of land; discusses potential environmental harm and benefits of biofuels production, and barriers to achieving the RFS2 consumption mandate.

(ENERGY * RENEWABLE FUEL * BIOFUELS)

Brings together the latest data, policy developments, and the experience of another year to provide analysis and insight into global energy markets, for the next 25 years. This edition gives the latest energy demand and supply projections for different future scenarios, broken down by country, fuel and sector. It also gives special focus to topical energy sector issues: Russia's energy prospects and their implications for global markets, the role of coal in driving economic growth in an emissions-constrained world, implications of a possible delay in oil and gas sector investment in the Middle East and North Africa, how high-carbon infrastructure "lock-in" is making the 2°C climate change goal more challenging and expensive to meet, the scale of fossil fuel subsidies, support for renewable energy (and its impact on energy, economic and environmental trends), a "Low Nuclear Case" to investigate what a rapid slowdown in the use of nuclear power would mean for the global energy landscape, and the scale and type of investment needed to provide modern energy to the billions of the world’s poor that do not have it.

(ENERGY * WORLD ENERGY OUTLOOK)