Energy: The Basics

Energy: The Basics offers a concise and engaging introduction to energy, answering critical questions and providing accessible definitions of essential concepts and developments in the field.

People rarely stop to think about where the energy they use to power their everyday lives comes from and when they do it is often to ask a worried question: is mankind’s energy usage killing the planet? How do we deal with nuclear waste? What happens when the oil runs out? Energy: The Basics answers these questions, but it also does much more. In this engaging yet even-handed introduction, readers are introduced to:

• the concept of ‘energy’ and what it really means
• the ways energy is currently generated and the sources used
• new and emerging energy technologies such as solar power and biofuels
• the impacts of energy use on the environment including climate change

This new edition has been updated throughout and includes a new chapter on energy storage, along with new material on transportation energy and batteries.

Featuring explanatory diagrams and an extensive further reading list, this book is the ideal starting point for anyone interested in the impact and future of the world’s energy supply.

Harold Schobert has nearly a half-century of experience in energy, primarily research and development on coal science and technology. For the last ten years he has been an independent consultant and provider of expert witness services. Before partially retiring in 2013, he was Professor of Fuel Science at Penn State University where, among many other activities, he served as director of the Earth and Mineral Sciences Energy Institute and, for 25 years, taught an introductory course on energy intended for students not pursuing science or engineering degrees. The proposed second edition of Energy: The Basics is an outgrowth of that course. Previous to joining the Penn State faculty, Schobert was manager of the Coal Science Division in the University of North Dakota Energy Research Center. Schobert is the author of thirteen previous books, nearly 200 papers in peer-reviewed journals and several hundred additional papers published in conference preprints or proceedings.