The United Kingdom is committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by at least eighty per cent by 2050, a target that will only be achieved by transforming the way that energy is supplied and used. At the same time there are anxieties about the security of energy provision in terms of European dependency on natural gas and the reliability of electricity supply. This book explores in detail those factors which could help or hinder the attainment of the UK's climate change targets, and how these factors interact with the parallel objective of maintaining a robust and secure energy system. The book is the result of a major national energy research effort by the UK Energy Research Centre, which includes some of the UK's leading energy experts. The results and recommendations are essential reading for policymakers, professionals, researchers, and anyone concerned with achieving large-scale reductions in carbon emissions, both from the UK and internationally. Energy 2050 begins by exploring the evolution of the UK energy system over recent decades: the trends, technologies and environmental impacts related to energy use, and the structures and institutions of governance that have influenced this evolution. It then moves on to changes in energy policy to emphasise decarbonization and resilience, and introduce the approach to scenarios and modelling used in the rest of the book. Later chapters explore different aspects of the uncertainties that may enable or constrain the creation of a low-carbon, resilient UK energy system, related to accelerated technology development, the creation of an infrastructure to support de-centralized energy and microgeneration, to lifestyle and behaviour change, and to public attitudes to wider environmental impacts associated with energy system change.

Throughout the world, the threat of climate change is pressing governments to accelerate the deployment of technologies to generate low carbon electricity or heat. But this is frequently leading to controversy, as energy and planning policies are revised to support new energy sources or technologies (e.g. offshore wind, tidal, bioenergy or hydrogen energy) and communities face the prospect of unfamiliar, often large-scale energy technologies being sited near to their homes. Policy makers in many countries face tensions between 'streamlining' planning procedures, engaging with diverse publics to address what is commonly conceived as 'NIMBY' (not in my back yard) opposition, and the need to maintain democratic, participatory values in planning systems. This volume provides a timely, international review of research on public engagement, in contexts of diverse, innovative energy technologies. Public engagement is conceived broadly - as the interaction between how developers and other key actors engage with publics about energy technologies (including assumptions held about the methods used, such as the provision of financial benefits or the holding of deliberative events), and how individuals and groups engage with energy policies and projects (including indirectly through the media and directly through emotional and behavioural responses). The book's contributors are leading experts in the UK, Europe, North and South America and Australia drawn from a variety of relevant social science disciplinary perspectives. The book makes a significant contribution to our existing knowledge, as well as providing interested professionals, policymakers and members of the public with a timely overview of the critical issues involved in public engagement with low carbon energy technologies.

The first book to look at how energy companies can develop brands as they move to more sustainable energy solutions. The world is facing climate crisis, and never before has the world been looking at the energy industry to solve the delivery of power in ways that do not damage the planet. Includes insights from energy business leaders and is therefore more than an academic thesis, but a practical guide to resolving these branding and sustainability challenges.

The UK has declared a 'climate emergency' and pledged to become carbon neutral by 2050. So how do we get there? Drawing on actions, policies and technologies already emerging around the world, Chris Goodall sets out the ways to achieve this. His proposals include: -Building a huge over-capacity of wind and solar energy, storing the excess as hydrogen. -Using hydrogen to fuel our trains, shipping, boilers and heavy industry, while electrifying buses, trucks and cars. -Farming - and eating - differently, encouraging plant-based alternatives to meat -paying farmers to plant and maintain woodlands. -Making fashion sustainable and aviation pay its way, funding synthetic fuels and genuine offsets. -Using technical solutions to capture CO2 from the air, and biochar to lock carbon in the soil. What We Need To Do Now is an urgent, practical and inspiring book that signals a green new deal for Britain.

Local Energy Governance: Opportunities and Challenges for Renewable and Decentralised Energy in France and Japan examines the extent of the energy transition taking place at a local level in France and Japan, two countries that share ambitious targets regarding the reduction of GHG emissions, their share of renewable energy and their degree of market liberalization. This book observes local energy policies and initiatives and applies an institutional and legal analysis to help identify barriers but also opportunities in the development of renewable energies in the territories. The book will highlight governance features that incubate energy transition at the local level through interdisciplinary contributions that offer legal, political, sociological and technological perspectives. Overall, the book will draw conclusions that will also be informative for other countries aiming at promoting renewable energies. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of energy policy and energy governance.

Conflict Resolution of the Boruca Hydro-Energy Project is a case study that aims to profile best practices for sustainable development, indigenous human rights, and conflict resolution. In 2003, a joint project was developed between the United Nations University of Peace and the International Peace and Conflict Resolution program at Arcadia University to study the Boruca hydroelectrical conflict in Costa Rica. The aim was to bring together theory and practice and to reveal the link between peace and conflict resolution and sustainable development. Through partnerships with the Kan Tan Ecological Project and the indigenous communities in the region, and field studies to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and local Civil Society Organizations, faculty and students utilized the mediation framework to identify the needs and interests of the primary conflict stakeholders. Conflict Resolution of the Boruca Hydro-Energy Project represents the culmination of this fieldwork and tests the mediation framework as suitable model for the resolution of environmental conflicts in Latin America. The Boruca project, proposed in the 1970s by the state-run corporation Instituto Costarricense De Electridad (ICE), will build a dam in the Boruca Canyon, changing the flow of the Terraba River and creating an artificial lake of 25.000 hectares. The largest of its kind in Central America, this project will generate approximately 1,500 megawatts and increase Costa Rica's energy production capability by as much as 50%. For ICE, not only will the project satisfy national electrical demand, it will also stimulate economic growth, assist in the development of new technological corridors and new tourism projects, increase employment opportunities, and improve the quality of life for indigenous peoples living in Boruca area. For the indigenous population, however, the project represents a violation of their fundamental human rights since it will force the relocation of 2,000 to 3,000 indigenous peoples, flood areas of archeological and cultural significance to them, and affect their livelihood due to the resulting changes in the biodiversity. They also fear the social and environmental impacts of more tourism in the area. The increasingly dysfunctional communication between the Boruca people and ICE over the past 30 years has led to a breakdown of trust and a stalling of the project's development. Conflict Resolution of the Boruca Hydro-Energy Project follows these conflicts and the process by which the government-owned utility tried to find common ground between all stakeholders. Ultimately, it tests the mediation framework as an appropriate approach to the resolution of development conflicts, exploring the transferability of this approach to other countries in Latin America. This case study provides unique insights into Latin American environmental and development politics and will be of interest to any student, faculty, or policymaker looking to assess the mediation framework.

This new volume covers the important issues related to environmental emissions from SI and CI engines as well as their formation and various pollution mitigation techniques. The book addresses aspects of improvements in engine modification, such as design modifications for enhanced performance, both with conventional fuels as well as with new and alternative fuels. It also explores some new combustion concepts that will help to pave the way for complying with new emission concepts. Alternative fuels are addressed in this volume to help mitigate harmful emissions, and alternative power sources for automobiles are also discussed briefly to cover the switch over from fueled engines to electrics, including battery-powered electric vehicles and fuel cells. The authors explain the different technologies available to date to overcome the limitations of conventional prime movers (fueled by both fossil fuels and alternative fuels). Topics examined include: * Engine modifications needed to limit harmful emissions * The use of engine after-treatment devices to contain emissions * The development of new combustion concepts * Adoption of alternative fuels in existing engines * Switching over to electrics-advantages and limitations * Specifications of highly marketed automobiles * Emission measurement methods

With the continuous migration of people towards metropolitan areas in search of employment, the demands for core services and energy, coupled with an increasing awareness of the impact of climate change, have placed the management and planning of global urban energy under a lot of pressure. Trends toward urban energy service transformations that offer greater affordability, reliability, efficiency and adaptability provide hope for a global sustainable future. At the same time, there are also limits to these transitions, as well as risks involved. For example, on one end of the spectrum, our urban energy future includes land use sprawl, high fossil fuel use, pollution, and unhealthy urban conditions. On the other side of this transition spectrum is more energy choices, and healthier, more livable cities, along with less energy use and fewer greenhouse gas emissions. What the future might hold for transforming the world's cities depends upon an understanding of the risks of current trajectories and the opportunities for and limitations to developing sustainable urban energy systems.This edited volume brings together leading experts on the prospects and challenges of urban energy innovation and on related-economic, social and environmental sustainability transitions. The focus of the volume is on multidisciplinary reviews, research informing technologies and policies for sustainability, and analytical insights addressing rapid urbanization and changes across a diverse typology of global cities. The volume will include an overview of the current state of urban energy systems. It will also document and evaluate urban energy prospects for a sustainable, resilient future.

This book sheds light on how the modern 3-bladed wind turbine came into being, and who, how and what in the proceeding period caused the success. It looks back over three decades to find the roots of this exciting development, a long cavalcade of developers, inventors, and manufacturers including the Danish authors who themselves were part of the breakthrough. Written for non-specialists, the book covers minimal science, emphasizing the story of how wind power became a worldwide 30-billion-euro business employing nearly one million people.

This book addresses key questions on biofuels within agrarian political economy, political sociology and political ecology. Contributions are based on fresh empirical materials from different parts of the world. The book starts with four key questions in agrarian political economy: Who owns what? Who does what? Who gets what? And what do they do with the surplus wealth? It also addresses the emergent social and political relations in the biofuel complex and, given the impacts on natural resources and sustainability, engages with questions about people-environment interactions. At the same time, the book is concerned with the politics of representation, that is, what are the discursive frames through which biofuels are promoted and/or opposed? The book analyses the institutional structures, and cultures of energy consumption on which a biofuels complex depends, and the alternative political and ecological visions emerging that call the biofuels complex into question. Across sixteen chapters presenting material from five regions across the North-South divide and focusing on fourteen countries including Brazil, Indonesia, India, USA and Germany, these topics are addressed within the following themes: global (re)configurations; agro-ecological visions; conflicts, resistances and diverse outcomes; state, capital and society relations; mobilising opposition, creating alternatives; and change and continuity. This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of Peasant Studies.

Sustainable Transport Fuels Business Briefing explains, for a global business audience, the latest developments in the world of sustainable transport. Not the vehicles or modes of transport themselves, but their means of propulsion. New technologies and players are coming and going with bewildering speed. Some observers are putting their money on electric vehicles, others on hybrids; some see electric vehicles as a mere stepping stone to hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles, already being seen on city streets. The mere mention of biofuels often provokes fierce arguments about their sustainability, yet they, too, are here to stay and will be filling more and more fuel tanks. By the time you finish this book, you will understand not only the pros and cons of all these technologies, the programs around the world furthering their development, and the players large and small, but also the catalysts for change, and the successful partnerships and innovative business models being employed. You'll be able to make informed decisions about investments, whether you're considering a new fleet, haulage or mobility of any kind, or whether to install an electric vehicle charging point in your property.

Renewable and carbon-neutral energy have been promoted as the future of energy production in the United States. Non-traditional energy sources show promise as alternatives to fossil fuels and may provide a sustainable source of energy in increasingly uncertain energy markets. However, these new sources of energy face their own set of political, administrative, and legal challenges. Green vs. Green explores how mixed land ownership and existing law and regulation present serious challenges to the development of alternative energy sources in the United States. Analytically examining and comparing five green energy sectors; wind, solar, geothermal, biofuel and hydro power, Ryan M. Yonk, Randy T. Simmons, and Brian C. Steed argue that discussing alternative energy without understanding these pitfalls creates unrealistic expectations regarding the ability to substitute "green" energy for traditional sources. The micro-goals of protecting individual areas, species, small-scale ecosystems, and other local environmental aims often limits ability to achieve macro-goals like preventing global climate change or transitioning to large-scale green energy production. Statutes and regulations designed to protect environmental and cultural integrity from degradation directly conflict with other stated environmental ends. Although there is substantial interest in adding clean energy to the grid, it appears that localized environmental interests interfere with broader environmental policy goals and the application of existing environmental laws and regulations may push us closer to gridlock. Green vs. Green provides a fascinating look into how existing environmental law created or will create substantial regulatory hurdles for future energy generations.

This book examines the coordination of renewable energy policies in the European Union using an innovative theoretical approach to explain national policy making. David Jacobs asks, why are national support instruments for electricity from renewable energy sources converging, even though the harmonisation of these frameworks at the European level has failed? Which causal mechanisms lead to cross-national policy similarities? And what are the implications for policy coordination in the EU? The author traces the evolution of feed-in tariffs - the most successful and most widely used support mechanism for renewable electricity - in Germany, Spain and France. He reveals increasing cross-national policy similarities in feed-in tariff design - despite the failure of harmonizing instruments at the European level. He explains these increasing policy similarities by applying policy convergence theory. Policy convergence can occur voluntarily, based on transnational communication, regulatory competition and technological innovations and these findings have important implications for European policy steering. The key to this book is the interrelation of an innovative theoretical concept (coordination of policies in the international arena via voluntary cooperation) with a very topical empirical research focus - the promotion of renewable energies in the EU. It will be essential reading for scholars and students of environmental policy, comparative politics and European studies.

In recent years, the federal government's increasing inability to address major societal challenges has arguably hampered America's commitment to renewable energy initiatives. Individual U.S. states have stepped into this void and adopted their own policies, leading some to believe that the states can propel America's renewable energy industry forward. There is no guarantee, however, that the states will invent their own pioneering policies rather than copy existing templates from each other. Moreover, we know very little about how legislative and regulatory dynamics within America's states might accelerate or hinder renewable energy policy creation. In Following in Footsteps or Marching Alone?, Srinivas Parinandi explores how the states have devised their own novel policies, and how the political workings of legislatures and public utilities commissions have impacted state renewable energy policy design. Through the meticulous study of nearly three decades of state-level renewable energy policy-making, he finds that their creation is primarily driven by legislatures, and that ideologically liberal legislatures largely push the envelope. To the extent that public utilities commissions craft these policies, they do so with an eye toward avoiding pushback from electric utility companies. The book suggests that a limit of having a predominantly state-driven renewable energy effort can lead to uneven and patchwork-based policy development outcomes, and a possible solution is to try to more successfully federalize these issues. Parinandi urges readers, scholars, and policy practitioners to consider whether a state-led effort is adequate enough to handle the task of building momentum for renewable energy in one of the world's largest electricity markets.

In recent years, the federal government's increasing inability to address major societal challenges has arguably hampered America's commitment to renewable energy initiatives. Individual U.S. states have stepped into this void and adopted their own policies, leading some to believe that the states can propel America's renewable energy industry forward. There is no guarantee, however, that the states will invent their own pioneering policies rather than copy existing templates from each other. Moreover, we know very little about how legislative and regulatory dynamics within America's states might accelerate or hinder renewable energy policy creation. In Following in Footsteps or Marching Alone?, Srinivas Parinandi explores how the states have devised their own novel policies, and how the political workings of legislatures and public utilities commissions have impacted state renewable energy policy design. Through the meticulous study of nearly three decades of state-level renewable energy policy-making, he finds that their creation is primarily driven by legislatures, and that ideologically liberal legislatures largely push the envelope. To the extent that public utilities commissions craft these policies, they do so with an eye toward avoiding pushback from electric utility companies. The book suggests that a limit of having a predominantly state-driven renewable energy effort can lead to uneven and patchwork-based policy development outcomes, and a possible solution is to try to more successfully federalize these issues. Parinandi urges readers, scholars, and policy practitioners to consider whether a state-led effort is adequate enough to handle the task of building momentum for renewable energy in one of the world's largest electricity markets.

The greatest challenge of our time is to build a world based on the sustainable use of renewable power. Our massive dependence on fossil fuels has upset the very climatic system that made human evolution possible. The global economy and its financial system are in jeopardy, running hot on overtly cheap yet increasingly costly and fast depleting oil. A 100% renewable world is seen by many as an impossible dream in anything but the very long term. But not only do a growing number of initiatives and plans dare to make the change but many have already achieved it. This rich collection presents a series of pioneering efforts and their champions, and the paths to their successes. Ranging from initiatives by individuals to visions for companies, communities and entire countries, it defeats tired economic and technical counter-arguments, showing how the schemes featured not only can and do work but do so economically and with available technology. The book is introduced by incisive writing by Peter Droege, explaining the challenges and framing a roadmap towards a 100% renewable reality.

The new edition of this thoroughly considered textbook provides a reliable, accessible and comprehensive guide for students of photovoltaic applications and renewable energy engineering. Written by a group of award-winning authors it is brimming with information and is carefully designed to meet the needs of its readers. Along with exercises and references at the end of each chapter, it features a set of detailed technical appendices that provide essential equations, data sources and standards. The new edition has been fully updated with the latest information on photovoltaic cells, modules, applications and policy. Starting from basics with 'The Characteristics of Sunlight' the reader is guided step-by-step through semiconductors and p-n junctions; the behaviour of solar cells; cell properties and design; and PV cell interconnection and module fabrication. The book covers stand-alone photovoltaic systems; specific purpose photovoltaic systems; remote area power supply systems; grid-connected photovoltaic systems and water pumping. Applied Photovoltaics is highly illustrated and very accessible, providing the reader with all the information needed to start working with photovoltaics.

The potential for energy transformation from geothermal heat is limitless. For millennia natural sources of this energy, in the form of thermal springs, have been used by populations for heating, cooking and bathing. Modern-day usage has been extended to electricity generation from binary cycle power plants, heat extraction from geothermal heat pumps and use in greenhouses for industrial crop growing. Perspectives for Geothermal Energy in Europe highlights the status of geothermal energy in countries where natural sources of this energy are available. It concludes with a presentation of current geothermal policy and regulations within Europe, and discussion of how this fits in with the EU Energy and Climate Framework.Suitable for students, academics and practitioners in the fields of energy studies, geology and the earth sciences, electrical engineering and environmental economics, this book is the first comprehensive review of the practicalities of geothermal extraction and use in Europe.

Interest in biomass energy resources from forests, farms and other sources has been rapidly increasing in recent years because of growing concern with reducing carbon dioxide emissions and developing alternatives to increasingly scarce, expensive and insecure oil supplies. The uniqueness of this book is its coverage of biomass energy markets in the US from an economic as well as technical perspective. Existing books typically focus on single markets or technical aspects at the exclusion of economics, and have given greater coverage to biomass energy outside the US. This edited collection has three main parts. Part One provides a historical overview of forest biomass energy use in the US; the major technologies, economics, market prospects, and policies. Part Two presents forest biomass energy assessments, including life cycle and sustainability perspectives, and Part Three includes five sets of regional case studies. After reviewing the history of wood energy use in the US and technology options, the book shows that forests could displace sixteen per cent of domestic transportation fuel use in 2030. Renewable Energy from Forest Resources in the United States includes a Foreword from Chris Flavin, President of the Worldwatch Institute.

Effective policy is vital for creating greener economies, new jobs and industries, for securing energy supplies and for protecting the climate and environment. As renewable energy is fundamental to achieving all of these objectives, it too needs the best possible policy to drive it. Feed-in tariffs have proven to deliver the fastest, most cost-effective and inclusive deployment, by allowing anyone to sell renewable energy into the grid and get a long term, guaranteed return for it. This book, from authors who have spent years working on feed-in tariff design and advocacy, provides a broad and detailed resource on feed-in tariffs and other renewable energy support schemes. It shares many lessons on good and bad design and implementation, as well as discussing the challenges faced by policy, and renewable energy in general. Powering the Green Economy: - Situates renewable energy and feed-in tariffs within the context of the global moves towards a green economy - Provides an introduction to feed-in tariffs and brings developments in key countries around the world up to date - Investigates effective design for developed and emerging economies - Explores technical, social and political issues - Analyses other support schemes - Describes the barriers to renewable energy - Presents a blueprint for campaigning successfully for feed-in tariffs Written in a clear, practical style, this is a must-read for policymakers, businesses, investors, campaigners, academics, community groups and anyone concerned with creating successful and sustainable energy policy.

Effective policy is vital for creating greener economies, new jobs and industries, for securing energy supplies and for protecting the climate and environment. As renewable energy is fundamental to achieving all of these objectives, it too needs the best possible policy to drive it. Feed-in tariffs have proven to deliver the fastest, most cost-effective and inclusive deployment, by allowing anyone to sell renewable energy into the grid and get a long term, guaranteed return for it. This book, from authors who have spent years working on feed-in tariff design and advocacy, provides a broad and detailed resource on feed-in tariffs and other renewable energy support schemes. It shares many lessons on good and bad design and implementation, as well as discussing the challenges faced by policy, and renewable energy in general. Powering the Green Economy: - Situates renewable energy and feed-in tariffs within the context of the global moves towards a green economy - Provides an introduction to feed-in tariffs and brings developments in key countries around the world up to date - Investigates effective design for developed and emerging economies - Explores technical, social and political issues - Analyses other support schemes - Describes the barriers to renewable energy - Presents a blueprint for campaigning successfully for feed-in tariffs Written in a clear, practical style, this is a must-read for policymakers, businesses, investors, campaigners, academics, community groups and anyone concerned with creating successful and sustainable energy policy.

Rapidly developing countries such as China and India are the real main players in the climate debate, with the potential for massive increases in their carbon emissions in coming years. Brazil is often included in their number, yet this country is in fact notable for its exceptionally high reliance on energy from renewable sources approaching fifty per cent. However, the fact that much of this energy comes from hydropower and biofuels, and recent discoveries of massive oil reserves off of the Brazilian coast, are a recipe for controversy.

In this detailed account, Antonio Dias Leite sets out the development of Brazil's energy mix. Beginning with the history of energy provision and use, he then moves on to tackle the various sources in detail: hydropower, biomass and other renewables, as well as fossil fuels and nuclear power. In each case he examines growth, distribution, environmental and socio-economic issues (such as deforestation and displacement of indigenous communities) and potential for future development highlighting what has worked, and what hasn't. The book ends by examining Brazilian approaches to energy efficiency, and by positioning Brazil in the world context.

This is a major contribution to the discussion around climate change mitigation that will be key reading for policymakers and researchers concerned with the future role and impacts of rapidly developing countries.

Can renewable energy provide reliable power? Will it need extensive backup? The energy available from wind, waves, tides and the sun varies in ways that may not match variations in energy demand. Assimilating these fluctuations can affect the operation and economics of electricity networks, markets and the output of other forms of generation. Is this a significant problem, or can these new sources be integrated into the grid system without the need for extensive backup or energy storage capacity? This book examines the significance of the issue of variability of renewable electricity supplies, and presents technical and operational solutions to the problem of reconciling the differing patterns of supply and demand. Its chapters are authored by leading experts in the field, who aim to explain and quantify the impacts of variability in renewable energy, and in doing so, dispel many of the myths and misunderstandings surrounding the topic.

A feed-in tariff is a renewable energy law that obliges energy suppliers to buy electricity produced from renewable resources at a fixed price, usually over a fixed period - even from householders. These legal guarantees ensure investment security, and the support of all viable renewable energy technologies. Supporters argue that the feed-in model, if implemented effectively around the world, would greatly assist the energy revolution that is so desperately required; through CO2 reduction, market creation and development, job creation and improved energy security. Feed-in Tariffs is a concise introduction to feed-in laws, examining the experience of countries that have implemented this model. The author argues that the policy should be implemented anywhere with a suitable national power grid infrastructure, and identifies variations on the policy for those areas without. Alternative models and support schemes are examined to provide policy makers with the information required to consider the implementation of feed-in tariffs, and to introduce the concept to renewable energy technology manufacturers, producers, investors and supporters. With a foreword by Hermann Scheer. Published with the World Future Council.

An impending energy crisis is looming globally, which has led to the use of effluents from paper mills for enhanced oil recovery (EOR), CO2 flooding and wastewater treatment by biosurfactants, and the current market demand for cost-competitive and environment-friendly alternatives to synthetic chemicals. This up-to-date book on petroleum technology provides a comprehensive review of the background and recent advances in the field of petroleum technology and highlights various facets of the fascinating world of upstream, midstream and downstream petroleum technologies. It comprises 25 chapters, each representing the progress, prospects and challenges in petroleum research, and focuses on the tremendous progress made by the scientific community in this research field. The book covers in detail EOR processes, reservoir engineering, production operation and optimisation, pipeline transportation and storage, CO2 capture and sequestration, wastewater management and innovative treatment, refining technologies, environmental chemistry, and biochemistry and biotechnology for the petroleum industry.