Increased energy prices and the growing attention on global warming are motivating the creation of economically viable alternatives to fossil fuels. Nanotechnologies have been recognized as one effective approach to solve energy problems. Therefore, to promote the improvement of research and to foster professional collaboration among researchers in energy-related nanotechnologies, we organized a symposium on "Nanotechnology for a Sustainable Energy Economy" as a part of the 243rd American Chemical Society National Meeting, which took place March 25-29, 2012 in San Diego, California, USA. Forty-four contributors from 12 countries presented their research works from industrial, university, and national laboratories in nanotechnology areas related to energy and fuel technologies. This ACS Symposium Series book was developed from this symposium. This book presents a very useful and readable collection of reviews and research papers in nanotechnologies for energy conversion, storage, and utilization, offering new results which are sure to be of interest to researchers, students, and engineers in the field of nanotechnologies and energy. The book focuses on the following topics: Li batteries (Chapters 1-4), supercapacitors (Chapter 5), dye-sensitized solar cells (Chapter 6), photocatalysis (Chapters 7-9), fuel cells (Chapter 10), electrocatalysis (Chapter 11), and electron beam lithography (Chapter 12). All 12 chapters were recruited from oral presentations at the symposium.

The conditions of our overpopulated planet with ever-growing energy needs, fossil fuels in limited supplies, and inefficient energy use world-wide, are creating a global crisis. Science has a responsibility, as well as a grand opportunity, to solve these energy-based problems of society. Science's new nanotechnologies, and the creativity they bring, are particularly appropriate to solve these problems. For example, energy-saving lighting, coupled with improved harvesting and conversion of sunlight into electric energy, will have a great impact on society's energy needs. Also, development of energy efficient and low cost fuel cells, which could eventually replace car engines, has a potential to improve everyday life greatly. Nanomaterials offer an opportunity to develop new low-cost materials as environmentally friendly solutions and renewable energy sources, in order to meet society's energy needs. Fortunately, a wide spectrum of the scientific community has become interested in developing these nanomaterials in order to solve the above energy challenges. Nanomaterials offer unique mechanical, catalytic, electronic, and optical features, which are different from those of the analogous bulk material (1). This is because nanomaterials have scale-dependent properties, due to quantum size effects, which means the nanomaterial size (10 - 100 nm) is smaller than the mean free path of their electrons. Thus, nanomaterials have great promise for use in harvesting solar energy, hydrogen production and storage, fuel cells, catalysis, chemical, optical sensors, drug delivery systems (such as liposomes), and nanothermite reactions (2-4). Fluorine-containing nanomaterials generally have certain unique properties which are often improved relative to the analogous non-fluorinated nanomaterials, and which therefore could be engineered. Although fluorine has the highest electronegativity of all the elements, which means that bonds to fluorine are generally quite polar, it is also in the second period of the periodic table, so it also has a small atomic radius and forms strong bonds. This produces the following properties, which also are characteristic of and bring great advantages to fluorine nanomaterials: high thermal and chemical stability, resistance to degradation by solvents, low flammability, low moisture absorption, low surface tension or energy, low dielectric constant, and serving as a strong oxidant under high energy conditions (5). However, little attention has been given to fluorine-containing organic and inorganic nanomaterials, which are predicted to have these unusual characteristics. This book presents examples of four diverse classes of these nanomaterials.

This illuminating book analyses energy transitions, carbon dioxide emissions and the security of energy supply in Mediterranean countries. Unpacking the history of energy transitions, from coal to oil and natural gas, and from non-renewable to renewable energy sources, Silvana Bartoletto offers a comparative approach to the major trends in energy consumption, production, trade and security in Mediterranean countries in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.   Chapters illustrate the key similarities and differences between Mediterranean countries that have influenced energy supply and consumption patterns. Tracing economic convergence in the last century and highlighting its impact on energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions, this timely book offers critical insights into the problems of energy dependency and security in areas of political turmoil, as well as crucial insights into the future of the energy crisis. It concludes with a look to the future of energy consumption in the age of climate change and the slow but critical transition to renewable sources.   Enlightening and provocative, this book is key reading for scholars of political science and economics engaged with energy production and consumption, as well as those studying climate change. Its historical insights and overview of significant energy trends will also be useful for policymakers and climate scientists.

This thought-provoking book explores the concept of energy cultures as a means of understanding social and political relations and how energy injustices are created. Using Eastern Europe as an example, it examines the radical transition occurring as the region leaves behind the legacy of the Soviet Union, and the effects of the resulting power struggle between the energy cultures of Russia and the European Union. In this timely study, Michael Carnegie LaBelle applies an energy justice framework to an analysis of different national energy cultures, exposing both the domestic and international power relations that influence geopolitics in Eastern Europe. He assesses the entire energy value-chain in the region in this context, providing a radical critique of power dynamics within the energy system with the aim of fostering a just energy transition. Scholars interested in energy justice, conflict, policy and culture from across disciplines including law, politics, public policy, sociology and geography will find this book a fascinating read. It will also be useful to scholars of international relations and geopolitics for its analysis of the impact of EU energy policy on the countries examined, as well as of the relationship between the EU and Russia.

This book addresses the question: how effective are countries in promoting the innovation needed to facilitate an energy transition? Chapters explore energy policy and institutions, innovation policy in general, as well as energy innovation in key countries, including the US, Germany, the UK, China, Japan and Korea, and the EU. At the heart of Energy Innovation for the 21st Century is a fascinating set of international empirical case studies covering supply and demand side technologies at different levels of maturity. These are set within an analytical framework encompassing the functions of technological innovation systems and innovation metrics. The book explores energy, science and technology policies, contextualising the case studies to aid the assessment of the overall performance of innovation systems. Drawing together lessons for energy innovation policy and institutional design, this book is a much-needed resource for sustainability and innovation scholars and researchers. Policy-makers and practitioners will also benefit from the practical advice offered in this timely volume.

This book provides a comprehensive account of EU's renewable energy policy development as it traces the agenda-shaping, policy formulation and decision-making phases of the EU's secondary legislation on renewable energy - that is the three successive directives of 2001 (RES-E), 2009 (RED), and 2018 (RED II). It also explores the EU's energy policymaking dynamics and assess integration outcomes of these three policymaking instances in the renewable energy field from a comparative perspective. Enriched with elite interviews with the Brussels policy community, and drawing on European integration and public policy literature, the proposed book will resonate with and offer relevant insights to students, scholars, stakeholders, and policymakers interested in EU energy policy, in particular, and European integration, in general.

This book focuses specifically on the environmental issues related to the air pollution control and design. It is divided into four parts: (1) Fundamentals of air pollution control, (2) fundamentals of energy utilization, (3) gaseous control and design, and (4) particulate control and design, each consisting of four to six chapters. The topics covered in this book not only introduce the basic concepts of air pollution control and design but also address the fundamentals of energy utilization in the context of good engineering practice and policy instruments. It also features several innovative technologies and integrated methodologies relating to gaseous and particulate matter control and design. To facilitate technology integration and meet the need for comprehensive information on sustainable development, the book discusses a wide range of areas concerning the principles, applications, and assessment of air pollution control and design and thermodynamics, heat transfer, advanced combustion and renewable energy for energy utilization. It also features regulations and policy instruments adopted around the globe as well as several case studies. Presenting the emerging challenges, new concepts, innovative methodologies, and resolving strategies, as well as illustrative and inspiring case studies, it appeals to a wide range of readers, such as researchers, graduate students, engineers, policy makers, and entrepreneurs.

This second volume of the new ASME Press Book Series on Renewable Energy also edited by Dr. Rao and published by ASME Press is based on updated chapters from the classic 2011 Handbook of Energy and Power Generation in addition to new chapters appropriate for the title of this book. The discussions in this book cover varied aspects of Biomass and Waste Energy in use around the globe. Chapters 1 and 2 are revisions of chapters 14 and 15 of the 2011 ASME Handbook whereas chapters 3 through 5 are new chapters which deal with other aspects of Waste Energy. The book is addressed in over 200 pages with several graphics addressed by 9 experts from academia and practicing professionals from the U.S., and India. Global interest in Biomass and Waste Energy is apparent not only from the current usage but also from the untapped resources and its potential for greater usage. The book has an Index to help users easily navigate through the text and graphics.

The world’s economy is fuelled by energy. Depletion of resources and severe environmental effects resulting from the continuous use of fossil fuels has motivated an increasing amount of interest in renewable energy resources and the search for sustainable energy policies. This volume contains research papers presented at the 9th International conference on Energy and Sustainability. The changes required to progress from an economy mainly focussed on hydrocarbons to one taking advantage of sustainable renewable energy resources require considerable scientific research, as well as the development of new engineering systems. Energy policies and management are of primary importance to achieve the development of sustainability and need to be consistent with recent advances in energy production and distribution. In many cases, the challenges lie as much in the conversion from renewable energies (wind, solar, etc.) to useful forms (electricity, heat, fuel) at an acceptable cost including damage to the environment as in the integration of these resources into the existing infrastructure. The diverse topics covered by the papers in this book involve collaboration between different disciplines in order to arrive at optimum solutions, including studies of materials, energy networks, new energy resources, storage solutions, waste to energy systems, smart grids and many others. These research papers put a focus on sustainability across the multidisciplinary components of urban planning, the challenges presented by the increasing size of cities, the number of resources required and the complexity of modern society.

This book dispels common myths about electricity and electricity policy and reveals how government policies manipulate energy markets, create hidden costs, and may inflict a net harm on the American people and the environment. Climate change, energy generation and use, and environmental degradation are among the most salient—and controversial—political issues today. Our country's energy future will be determined by the policymakers who enact laws that favor certain kinds of energy production while discouraging others as much as by the energy-production companies or the scientists working to reduce the environmental impact of all energy production. The Reality of American Energy: The Hidden Costs of Electricity provides rare insights into the politics and economics surrounding electricity in the United States. It identifies the economic, physical, and environmental implications of distorting energy markets to limit the use of fossil fuels while increasing renewable energy production and explains how these unseen effects of favoring renewable energy may be counterproductive to the economic interests of American citizens and to the protection of the environment. The first two chapters of the book introduce the subject of electricity policy in the United States and to enable readers to understand why policymakers do what they do. The remainder of the book examines the realities of the major electricity sources in the United States: coal, natural gas, nuclear, hydrodynamic, wind, biomass, solar, and geothermal. Each of these types of energy sources is analyzed in a dedicated chapter that explains how the electricity source works and identifies how politics and public policy shape the economic and environmental impacts associated with them.

Written by one of the world's leading scholars in the field, this book provides a unique perspective on the connections between energy justice and human rights. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, the author offers an accessible discussion about the implementation of energy justice in practice. The book explores the rise of justice issues in the energy sector, the interdisciplinary nature of energy justice, the economics of energy justice and provides a practical case study on distributive justice. The penultimate chapter focuses on human rights and energy justice in a world first, and explores the topic from the perspective of the opportunity of last resort. This 'opportunity of last resort' is the national courts and is the place where societies can seek to have justice enforced through a variety of human rights being protected. Finally, energy justice risks are highlighted alongside the author's proposed framework for the next generation of energy justice scholars.

This book provides a critical approach to research on the social acceptance of renewable energy infrastructures and on energy transitions in general by questioning prevalent principles and proposing specific research pathways and lines of inquiry that look beyond depoliticised, business-as-usual discourses and research agendas on green growth and sustainability. It brings together authors from different socio-geographical and disciplinary backgrounds within the social sciences to reflect upon, discuss and advance what we propose to be five cornerstones of a critical approach: overcoming individualism and socio-cognitivism; repoliticisations - recognising and articulating power relations; for interdisciplinarity; interventions - praxis and political engagement with research; and overcoming localism and spatial determinism: As such, this book offers academics, students and practitioners alike a comprehensive perspective of what it means to be critical when inquiring into the social acceptance of renewable energy and associated infrastructures.

Reliability, Risk and Safety: Back to the Future covers topics on reliability, risk and safety issues, including risk and reliability analysis methods, maintenance optimization, human factors, and risk management. The application areas range from nuclear engineering, oil and gas industry, electrical and civil engineering to information technology and communication, security, transportation, health and medicine or critical infrastructures. Significant attention is paid to societal factors influencing the use of reliability and risk assessment methods, and to combinatorial analysis, which has found its way into the analysis of probabilities and risk, from which quantified risk analysis developed. Integral demonstrations of the use of risk analysis and safety assessment are provided in many practical applications concerning major technological systems and structures. Reliability, Risk and Safety: Back to the Future will be of interest to academics and engineers interested in nuclear engineering, oil and gas engineering, electrical engineering, civil engineering, information technology, communication, and infrastructure.

This book presents an overview of both the theory and experimental methods required to realize high efficiency solar absorber devices. It begins with a historical description of the study of spectrally selective solar absorber materials and structures based on optical principles and methods developed over the past few decades. The optical properties of metals and dielectric materials are addressed to provide the background necessary to achieve high performance of the solar absorber devices as applied in the solar energy field. In the following sections, different types of materials and structures, together with the relevant experimental methods, are discussed for practical construction and fabrication of the solar absorber devices, aiming to maximally harvest the solar energy while at the same time effectively suppressing the heat-emission loss. The optical principles and methods used to evaluate the performance of solar absorber devices with broad applications in different physical conditions are presented. The book is suitable for graduate students in applied physics, and provides a valuable reference for researchers working actively in the field of solar energy.

This book provides an in-depth analysis of the concept of the Circular Economy (CE), as well as an assessment of the drivers and barriers for circular practices by firms, and its implications for managers in firms and public policy makers. It includes proposals for policy frameworks and instruments that will encourage the uptake of CE practices. The book is presented in three linked parts. The first part of the book provides a broad view of the topic, put into the wider context of sustainability. In the second part, the drivers of and barriers to the uptake of the CE are analysed, with a special focus on the micro-level not seen often in the previous studies on the CE. This book is of interest to researchers, policy makers and post-graduate students in areas such as environmental management and economics.