Alternative energy is the current favorite buzzword among politicians and others, but we don't have a supportable and sustainable infrastructure to support it. Our political and economic systems are also too much in turmoil to be able to handle the changes needed. Yes, we need to wean ourselves off of our dependency on oil, but it will take time. We need a viable interim solution, and that is what "Viable Energy Now: When Energy, Economics, and Politics Converge" is all about. It looks at the intersection of politics and economics as it pertains to energy. It offers that all important viable alternative-clean burning synthetic fuels made from coal. It helps us understand the political and economic changes needed to make this transition to alternative fuels possible. In short, Viable Energy Now offers a set of realistic policies for us to meet the energy challenge of today and in the future. Carefully written and impeccably argued, it may just renew your outlook on politics and our ability to do something about it

The first offering from the "Fisher Investments On" investing series is a comprehensive guide to the Energy sector. The book can benefit both new and seasoned investors, covering everything from Energy sector basics to specific industry insights to practical investing tactics, including common pitfalls to avoid. Azelton and Teufel demonstrate a method for uncovering performance and risk-management opportunities--and show the readers how they can do it, too. Filled with detailed graphs and tables, unique insight, and practical advice, "Fisher Investments on Energy" can provide readers with a solid foundation in this sector.

For more information visit www.energy.fisherinvestments.com

Everybody is talking about energy independence." But is it really achievable,or even desirable? In this controversial, meticulously researched book, Robert Bryce exposes the false promises and political posturing behind the rhetoric. Gusher of Lies explains why the idea of energy independence appeals to voters while also showing that renewable sources like wind and solar cannot meet America's growing energy demand. Along the way, Bryce exposes the ethanol scam as one of the longest-running robberies ever perpetrated on American taxpayers. In a new foreword to this edition, he shows how energy independence rhetoric was used during the 2008 election, even as the heavily subsidized ethanol business fueled a growing global food crisis.

Indem wir Energie verbrauchen, wandeln wir sie in Nutzenergie um. Damit erfullen wir Energiedienstleistungen" etwa die Beheizung oder Beleuchtung von Raumen. Gegliedert nach verschiedenen Energiedienstleistungen stellen die Autoren die physikalisch-technischen Gesetzmassigkeiten dar. Hierbei zeigt sich, welche quantitative Bedeutung einzelne Energieverbrauchsbereiche haben und welche Moglichkeiten es gibt, Energie rationeller zu nutzen. Fur Ingenieure in der Energieversorgung und beratung sowie Studierende der Energietechnik und -wirtschaft."

The United States is about to face years of major, interrelated policy issues. Energy transition, peak oil, and the threat of global warming, together with heightened fears of terrorism, environmental and social issues are largely crowded out of public dialogue. What is needed is an analytical tool that addresses these issues in an integrated and transparent way. The Threshold 21 (T21) model customized to the USA, is such a tool. The purpose of this study is to analyze T21-USA, by highlighting its flexibility and transparency. The analysis shows that T21-USA is a good tool for understanding and analyzing validity, effectiveness and outcomes of complex energy policies. Despite its complexity, T21-USA is transparent and a user-friendly interface makes it an intuitive instrument that can be used by a broad audience, ranging from students to policy makers.

Sustainable Ethanol goes beyond the headlines, uncovering the benefits and limitations of North America's fuel ethanol industry. Ethanol production and use are becoming more efficient and less reliant on fossil fuel inputs. Learn about the technologies making ethanol make sense for our environment, economy, and security. Discover how the end of cheap oil is providing an opening for biofuels; how some cars get better fuel economy on 10% ethanol compared to ethanol-free gasoline; how the next generation of flex-fuel and hybrid electric vehicles could be optimized to get much better fuel economy on ethanol; how North America can produce significant quantities of biofuels without damaging our food production capacity; how sustainable farming methods are reducing ethanol's reliance on fossil fuels; and how cellulosic ethanol can be made from waste materials and soil-restoring perennial crops.

Part philosophical ponderings on humanity's relationship to the universe, part scientific extrapolation on what technological advancement might bring to that understanding, this long essay, first published in Century Illustrated Magazine in June 1900, is yet another example of the genius of Serbian inventor NIKOLA TESLA (1857-1943), the revolutionary scientist who forever changed the scientific fields of electricity and magnetism. From the possibilities presented by robotics to the "civilizing potency of aluminum," from a "self-acting engine" to one of the first proposals to use solar power to run industrial civilization, and much more, this is a wide-ranging but illuminating look into the thoughts of an unsung hero of scientific philosophy.

Part philosophical ponderings on humanity's relationship to the universe, part scientific extrapolation on what technological advancement might bring to that understanding, this long essay, first published in Century Illustrated Magazine in June 1900, is yet another example of the genius of Serbian inventor NIKOLA TESLA (1857-1943), the revolutionary scientist who forever changed the scientific fields of electricity and magnetism. From the possibilities presented by robotics to the "civilizing potency of aluminum," from a "self-acting engine" to one of the first proposals to use solar power to run industrial civilization, and much more, this is a wide-ranging but illuminating look into the thoughts of an unsung hero of scientific philosophy.

The energy system needs to undergo major transformations before the system will fulfill sustainability criteria. To understand most of these changes, modelling of the system is necessary. This work sets out a modelling approach that is particularly suited to systems with significant geographical and temporal dependency - especially systems with a high share of renewable energy. The approach is implemented in a software tool called TASES. One scenario is presented comprising the existing european electricity grid with a high proportion of renewable energy added. A further example quantifies the competition of PV panels in the context of geographical dependency. Competitive limitations of a global grid with intermitting renewable energy derived from wind and sun are also investigated. The innovation of this modelling approach lies in the joint consideration of high temporal and spatial resolution to describe dispersed energy systems. The approach is particularly suitable for systems with a high percentage of renewable energies. Therefore the book is directed at people in charge of modelling or decision making especially in the framework of renewable energy carriers.

The book at hand ties up the most vital issues of the 21st Century: on one hand environmental degradation, and on the other our energy consumption that inflicts the former. The emphasis is on developing countries, as their energy consumption per capita is projected to rapidly grow. But what consequences does this bare for the environment, if several billion people enjoy the same standard of living as the reader and myself? The country perspectives of both South Africa and India are taken into consideration, as the book is comprised of two individual term papers from the Global Studies Program (GSP). For instance, currently, roughly 40% of India's 1.1 billion population have access to electricity. Already, this level of electricity consumption has significant ramifications for both the local and global climate. Henceforth, the assertion of energy crises seems to be justified, not only from the often debated constraints from the supply side; moreover, the increase in demand in developing countries needs to be considered as well. The author strongly advocates access to modern forms of energy for the poor, as this is one of the key pillars for economic growth and poverty alleviation. Essentially, the book addresses the need for the provision of affordable energy, and this needs to be accomplished in an environmentally sustainable manner. Thus, the book has been written for policy and decision makers, the development community, academia as well as the interested public.

Government guarantees can help persuade private investors to finance valuable new infrastructure. But because their costs are hard to estimate and usually do not show up in the government's accounts, governments can be tempted to grant too many guarantees. Drawing on a diverse range of disciplines, including finance, history, economics, and psychology, 'Government Guarantees' aims to help governments give guarantees only when they are justified. It reviews the history of government guarantees and identifies the cognitive and political obstacles to good decisions about guarantees. It then develops a framework for judging when governments should bear risk in an infrastructure project (seeking to make precise the oft-invoked principle that risks should be allocated to those best placed to manage them); explains how guarantees can be valued; and discusses how aspects of public-sector management can be modified to improve the likely quality of government decisions about guarantees. Although intended mainly for governments and those who advise them, the book may be of interest to others concerned about the problems of allocating and valuing exposure to risk. Similarly, although its focus is physical infrastructure, it may be relevant to people working on public-private partnerships in education, health, and other social services.

Fears of climate change-induced catastrophe have caused many to consider nuclear energy as a viable alternative to fossil fuels. There are increasing calls for U.S. nuclear energy policy to promote a major expansion of nuclear-generated electricity in the United States and abroad. Charles D. Ferguson argues that such thinking neglects the risks and costs of massive nuclear expansion.

Consistency and Credibility? identifies in its first part the extent of correlation between actual environmental performance, the use of physical environmental performance indicators and corporate environmental reporting in the paper and electricity industries in Germany and the UK. The results suggest environmental performance is mainly country-related, possibly due to differences in environmental legislation. This implies that any assessment of the relationship between environmental and economic performance of firms needs to be based on actual environmental performance data and cannot take reporting quality or information about the intensity of use of specific tools, such as environmental performance indicators as a proxy variable. The second part of the book therefore analyses the relationship between environmental and economic performance. Based on the results, the book's second part concludes that for firms in environmentally-intensive industries it is difficult to create a positive link between their environmental and economic performance, and that market settings as well as strategy considerations both can have an effect, but situational aspects determine which of these dominates. Consistency and Credibility? provides useful information for practitioners as well as deeper insights for academics about the link of environmental reporting and environmental performance measurement and how this interacts with economic success. It thus reveals valuable strategic insights in how aiming for corporate sustainability can help to create business success and which factors are critical for achieving this.

While consumer utility subsidies are widespread in both the water and electricity sectors, their effectiveness in reaching and distributing resources to the poor is the subject of much debate. Water, Electricity, and the Poor brings together empirical evidence on subsidy performance across a wide range of countries. It documents the prevalence of consumer subsidies, provides a typology of the many variants found in the developing world, and presents a number of indicators useful in assessing the degree to which such subsidies benefit the poor, focusing on three key concepts: beneficiary incidence, benefit incidence, and materiality. The findings on subsidy performance will be useful to policy makers, utility regulators, and sector practitioners who are contemplating introducing, eliminating, or modifying utility subsidies, and to those who view consumer utility subsidies as a social protection instrument.

In his pathbreaking "Resource Wars," world security expert Michael Klare alerted us to the role of resources in conflicts in the post-cold-war world. Now, in "Blood and Oil," he concentrates on a single precious commodity, petroleum, while issuing a warning to the United States--its most powerful, and most dependent, global consumer.
Since September 11 and the commencement of the "war on terror," the world's attention has been focused on the relationship between U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East and the oceans of crude oil that lie beneath the region's soil. Klare traces oil's impact on international affairs since World War II, revealing its influence on the Truman, Eisenhower, Nixon, and Carter doctrines. He shows how America's own wells are drying up as our demand increases; by 2010 the United States will need to import 60 percent of its oil. And since most of this supply will have to come from chronically unstable, often violently anti-American zones--the Persian Gulf, the Caspian Sea, Latin America, and Africa--our dependency is bound to lead to recurrent military involvement.
With clarity and urgency, "Blood and Oil" delineates the United States' predicament and cautions that it is time to change our energy policies, before we spend the next decades paying for oil with blood.

You have never seen a book like this before! The information, data and presentation scheme make this book unique! The book describes the utmost importance of thorough planning and preparations to streamline the execution of your project, in order to avoid the spectacular cost and schedule overruns often encountered on today's mega-projects in the oil and gas industry. It explains, in practical terms, which strategic principles, tools, techniques, structure and organization you need to have in place to assure yourself that your project will meet the cost and schedule targets. The book focuses on the all-important Commissioning phase, the stage of the game where all the poor planning and preparations manifest themselves as costly delays. The book should be mandatory on all project managers' desks, and in all management students' curriculums.

"By far the most helpful, entertaining, up-to-date and accessible treatment of the energy-economy-environment problematique available." --John P. Holdren, "Scientific American"A fiercely independent and irresistibly entertaining look at the economic, political and technological forces that are reshaping the world's management of energy resources, Power to the People has been hailed as "as good a manifesto for the new energy world as you will find." (Fred Pearce, New Scientist). The Economist's Environment and Energy correspondent, Vijay V. Vaitheeswaran sees great opportunity in the energy realm today, and he documents an energy revolution already under way. From the corporate boardroom of a Texas oil titan who denies the reality of global warming, to a think tank nestled in the Rocky Mountains where a visionary named Amory Lovins is developing hydrogen fuel-cell technology that could make the internal combustion engine obsolete, Vaitheeswaran gamely pursues the people who hold the keys to our future. Avoiding the traditional divide that pits free markets against the wisdom of conservation and the need for clean energy, "Power to the People" debunks myths without debunking hope.

After the shocking collapse of Enron in fall, 2001 came an equally shocking series of disclosures about how America's seventh-largest company had destroyed itself. There were unethical deals, offshore accounts, and accounting irregularities. There were Wall Street analysts who seemed to have been asleep on the job. There were the lies top executives told so that they could line their own pockets while workers and shareholders lost billions. But after all these disclosures, the question remains: Why? Why did a thriving, innovative company with rock-solid cash flow and reliable earnings suddenly flame out in a maelstrom of corruption, fraud and skulduggery? The answer, Texas business journalist Robert Bryce reveals in this incisive and entertaining book, is that bad business practices begin with human beings. Pipe Dreams traces Enron's astounding transformation from a small regional gas pipeline company into an energy Goliath...and then tracks step-by-step, business decision by business decision, extra-marital affair by extra-marital affair, how, when and why the culture of Enron began to go rotten, and who was responsible. The story of Enron's fall isn't just a story about accounting procedures it's a story about people. Bryce tells that story with all the personality, passion, humour, and inside dope you'd hope for, and the result is an un-putdownable read in the tradition of Barbarians at the Gate and The Predators' Ball.

The discovery of the Black Giant in 1930 was the largest oil strike in the U.S. at that time, and its gushers changed the face of the oil industry. Oilmen, promoters, oil patch workers, and the nation's unemployed streamed into the tiny hamlets of East Texas for their share, but they faced wars between "big oil" and independent oilmen, bootleg or "hot oil," martial law, and legalized price-fixing. Yet the Black Giant turned out to be the salvation of the drought-stricken farmers, helped in the fight against Germany and Japan, and made lots of folks "Texas rich." The characters, times, and oil industry skulduggery are recalled and explained in dozens of sidebars full of humorous facts and trivia. The author, law professor at Washington College of Law, The American University, practiced oil and gas law for over 35 years and focused on oil and gas matters during the Arab oil embargo for the U.S. Department of the Interior.

The Guide to Commercial-Scale Ethanol Production and Financing was produced by the Solar Energy Research Institute on behalf of the U. S. Department of Energy. It is aimed at facilitating the production and adoption of alcohol fuels on a wide scale throughout the United States. The guide was conceived and developed as a special aid to entrepreneurs who have interest in the business of alcohol fuel production on a commercial scale.

Globalization, privatization, and liberalization of energy markets are dramatically changing the nature of services to the energy sector. But the providers of the services underpinning the production, transport, and distribution of energy are likewise changing the nature of services to the energy sector. Firms are increasingly supplying energy services through crossborder trade, the establishment of a local presence in foreign countries, and the temporary entry of skilled personnel and equipment. Global trade negotiations have not encompassed all ramifications of this sector, which is vital to the world economy. Peter C. Evans examines current efforts to deepen trade commitments regarding energy services. The author reviews benefits of and barriers to liberalization of the energy market, analyzes the deficiencies of the current trade regime and the implications of extending GATS rules to the energy sector, considers the most meaningful additional commitments in the energy trade sector, explores issues yet to be negotiated, and forecasts prospects for a comprehensive GATS agreement on energy services.