Opportunities Beyond Carbon presents climate change as potentially the 'best crisis we ever had'. It maps the many opportunities for communities large and small, local and international, making the transition to a low carbon economy. John O'Brien has compiled essays by key politicians, investors, business people, activists and academics on how to make the most of the current predicament. This fresh, lucid and practical optimism for the future offers a foundation for an entirely new and proactive attitude to climate change.

This book provides an outstanding single-volume resource on the topic of solar energy for young adults and general audiences. While how much longer the world's supply of fossil fuels will last is debatable, it is a fact that the fossil fuels that we depend on so heavily today are non-renewable resources that will inevitably be exhausted-making the need to shift to alternative sources of energy such as solar extremely important. Solar Energy: A Reference Handbook presents encyclopedic coverage of the social, political, economic, and environmental issues associated with the development and use of solar energy in the United States and around the world. This book provides an in-depth description of the ways solar power has been used for at least 2,000 years. It outlines how humankind has utilized various forms of energy from the sun by way of photovoltaic cells, concentrating or focusing solar power, active and passive solar heating, and other mechanisms; and provides perspectives on today's solar energy issues from a variety of subject experts. Readers will better understand not only the advantages and disadvantages of solar power but also the critical nature of energy production to sustaining life on earth, thereby underscoring the importance of developing solar power and other alternative sources of energy to meet the world's energy needs in coming decades. The book also includes profiles of key individuals and organizations related to the field of solar energy, a chronology of important events in the history of solar energy, and a glossary that defines the key terms used in discussing the topic of solar energy. Provides an accessible and useful technical introduction to the various ways in which solar energy can be used for heat production and the generation of electricity Outlines some of the critical environmental, technical, economic, and political issues that have prevented solar energy from becoming a more significant part of the nation's energy equation Includes primary source documents such as relevant laws, court cases, position statements, and other items that allow readers to directly examine the history of solar energy

Peru is classified as one of the deadliest countries in the world for environmental defenders, where activists face many forms of violence. Through an ethnographic and systematic comparison of four gold mining conflicts in Peru, Resisting Extractivism presents a vivid account of subtle and routine forms of violence, analyzing how meaning making practices render certain types of damage and suffering noticeable while occluding others. The book thus builds a ground-up theory of violence—how it is framed, how it impacts people's lived experiences, and how it can be confronted. By excavating how the everyday interactions that underlie conflicts are discursively concealed and highlighted, this study assists in the prevention and transformation of violence over resource extraction in Latin America. The book draws on a controlled, qualitative comparison of four case studies, extensive ethnographic research conducted over fourteen months of fieldwork, analysis of over 900 archives and documents, and unprecedented access to more than 250 semi structured interviews with key actors across industry, the state, civil society, and the media. Michael Wilson Becerril identifies, traces, and compares these dynamics to explain how similar cases can lead to contrasting outcomes-insights that may be usefully applied in other contexts to save lives and build better futures.

The Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences (CRAES) has conducted the Environmental exposure related activity pattern research of Chinese population (Adults). Exposure Factors Handbook of Chinese Population (Adults) was compiled based on the results from this study. Highlights of the Chinese Exposure Factors Handbook is a brief introduction to the content of Exposure Factors Handbook of Chinese Population (Adults). In each chapter, definitions, possible influence factors, and survey methods have been introduced, followed by recommended values for urban/rural areas, different genders, age groups and regions with information of mean, median and P5, P25, P75, P95 values. With the abundant data and tables, readers are provided with an accessible and comprehensive overview of Chinese exposure factors.

Cement production is known to be a polluting and energy-intensive industry. Cement plants account for 5 percent of global emissions of carbon dioxide and one of the main causes of global warming. However, cement it is literally the glue of progress. Designing Green Cement Plants provides the tools and techniques for designing new large cement plants that would promote sustainable growth, preserve natural resources to the maximum possible extent and make least possible additions to the Greenhouse Gases that cause global warming. Brief and but authoritative, this title embraces new technologies and methods such as Carbon Capture and Sequestration, as well as methods for harnessing renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. The author also discusses the efficient use of energy and materials through the use recycling. In addition, this book also examines thepossibilities of developing green cement substitutes such as Calera, Caliix, Novacem, Aether and Geopolymer cements.

An award-winning journalist and Pulitzer Prize finalist offers an insightful, no-holds-barred exploration of today s most controversial yet promising new energy technology: fracking.
Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, is the process of injecting fluid into the ground at extremely high pressure in order to fracture shale rocks and release the oil and natural gas inside. It has been the subject of three major films, countless news articles, and has become a hotly contested topic both for its environmental impact and its positive effect on the economy and job creation.
In "Frackistan," Russell Gold examines both sides of the arguments and illuminates the truth of this frequently misunderstood technology. It is a thrilling journey filled with memorable and colorful characters: a green-minded Texas oilman who created the first modern frack; an Oklahoman natural gas empire builder who gave the world an enormous new supply of energy but was brought down by his own success; and a cast of many. Gold melds his natural gift for engaging, in-depth storytelling and reportage with his insight into the energy industry to bring to life the fascinating history of how this major new source is changing the way we use energy.
"Frackistan" is not simply the story of fracking: It is the compelling and thought-provoking story of the modern global economy and how the United States and the world have been forever changed.

The advances in microsystems offer new opportunities and capabilities to develop systems for biomedical applications, such as diagnostics and therapy. There is a need for a comprehensive treatment of microsystems and in particular for an understanding of performance limits associated with the shrinking scale of microsystems. The new edition of Microsystems for Bioelectronics addresses those needs and represents a major revision, expansion and advancement of the previous edition. This book considers physical principles and trends in extremely scaled autonomous microsystems such as integrated intelligent sensor systems, with a focus on energy minimization. It explores the implications of energy minimization on device and system architecture. It further details behavior of electronic components and its implications on system-level scaling and performance limits. In particular, fundamental scaling limits for energy sourcing, sensing, memory, computation and communication subsystems are developed and new applications such as optical, magnetic and mechanical sensors are presented. The new edition of this well-proven book with its unique focus and interdisciplinary approach shows the complexities of the next generation of nanoelectronic microsystems in a simple and illuminating view, and is aimed for a broad audience within the engineering and biomedical community.

NB: Due to the inadvertent assignment of a previously used ISBN, this book was originally published under an incorrect identifying number. The book has now been given its own unique ISBN and is otherwise identical in every way to the original publication. Feeding Everyone No Matter What presents a scientific approach to the practicalities of planning for long-term interruption to food production. The primary historic solution developed over the last several decades is increased food storage. However, storing up enough food to feed everyone would take a significant amount of time and would increase the price of food, killing additional people due to inadequate global access to affordable food. Humanity is far from doomed, however, in these situations - there are solutions. This book provides an order of magnitude technical analysis comparing caloric requirements of all humans for five years with conversion of existing vegetation and fossil fuels to edible food. It presents mechanisms for global-scale conversion including: natural gas-digesting bacteria, extracting food from leaves, and conversion of fiber by enzymes, mushroom or bacteria growth, or a two-step process involving partial decomposition of fiber by fungi and/or bacteria and feeding them to animals such as beetles, ruminants (cows, deer, etc), rats and chickens. It includes an analysis to determine the ramp rates for each option and the results show that careful planning and global cooperation could ensure the bulk of humanity and biodiversity could be maintained in even in the most extreme circumstances.

In Silver by Fire, Silver by Mercury: A Chemical History of Silver Refining in New Spain and Mexico, 16th to 19th Centuries, Saul Guerrero combines historical research with geology and chemistry to refute the current prevailing narrative of a primitive effort dominated by mercury and its copious emissions to the air. Based on quantitative historical data, visual records and geochemical fundamentals, Guerrero analyses the chemical and economic reasons why two refining processes had to share production, creating along the way major innovations in the chemical recipes, milling equipment, mercury recycling practice, and industrial architecture and operations. Their main environmental impact was lead fume and the depletion of woodlands from smelting, and the transformation of mercury into calomel during the patio process.