Sustainable Energy: Choosing Among Options

Human survival depends on a continuing energy supply, but the need for ever-increasing amounts of energy poses a dilemma: How can we provide the benefits of energy to the population of the globe without damaging the environment, negatively affecting social stability, or threatening the well-being of future generations? The solution will lie in finding sustainable energy sources and more efficient means of converting and utilizing energy. This textbook is designed for advanced undergraduate and graduate students as well as others who have an interest in exploring energy resource options and technologies with a view toward achieving sustainability. It clearly presents the trade-offs and uncertainties inherent in evaluating and choosing different energy options and provides a framework for assessing policy solutions.Sustainable Energy includes illustrative examples, problems, references for further reading, and links to relevant Web sites. Outside the classroom, the book is a resource for government, industry, and nonprofit organizations. The first six chapters provide the tools for making informed energy choices. They examine the broader aspects of energy use, including resource estimation, environmental effects, and economic evaluations. Chapters 7-15 review the main energy sources of today and tomorrow, including fossil fuels, nuclear power, biomass, geothermal energy, hydropower, wind energy, and solar energy, examining their technologies, environmental impacts, and economics. The remaining chapters treat energy storage, transmission, and distribution; the electric power sector; transportation; industrial energy usage; commercial and residential buildings; and synergistic complex systems. Sustainable Energy addresses the challenges of integrating diverse factors and the importance for future generations of the energy choices we make today.

William A. Peters is Executive Director of the Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies at MIT.