Energy for the 21st century : a comprehensive guide to conventional and alternative sources

XIV, 401 S.

Ill.

Are we on Easter Island? -- Electricity and the utility industry -- Biomass -- Coal -- The story of big oil -- Oil -- Natural gas -- Nuclear and hydropower -- Sustainable energy -- Looking toward the future -- An energy strategy

Cover; Half Title; Title Page; Copyright Page; Table of Contents; List of Tables and Figures; Preface; 1 Are We on Easter Island?; Easter Island; The Mathematics of Extinction; Progress Is Our Most Important Product; The Unremitting Rise in Population; The Case of Double Exponential Growth; A Lesson in Fish; From Hunting to Farming; Energy Depletion; Notes; 2 Electricity and the Utility Industry; It Takes Energy to Make Energy; Energy for Electricity Generation; Enhancing Efficiency in Electricity Generation; Early History of Electricity; Generating Electricity

Generating Electricity CommerciallySystem Operation; Methods of Rate Regulation; Operating Models in an Era of Deregulation/Liberalization; Smart Meters/Smart Grids; Utility Pools; When Demand Exceeds Supply; The Real Lesson of California; Notes; 3 Biomass; Yesterday's Fuel; Today's Fuel; China; India; Indonesia; Brazil; Biomass for Electricity Generation; Biogas; Biofuels; Brazil-The Great Leap Forward for Biofuels; The Great Sugar-Corn Debate; The United States is Following Brazil's Footsteps in a More Complex Way; Cellulosic Ethanol; Biodiesel; Biodiesel Feedstocks; Biofuel Risks; Notes

4 CoalThe First Energy Crisis; The Origin and History of Coal; Coal and the Industrial Revolution; Coal and Railroads; Coal and Steel; Rise and Fall of King Coal; Types of Coal; Coal Mining; Coal in the Twenty-first Century; Role of Coal Among the Major Consumers; Case Against Coal; Clean-Coal Technologies; Eliminating Coal Not So Easy; Notes; 5 The Story of Big Oil; History of Lighting; History of Oil; Enter John D. Rockefeller; Enter Marcus Samuel; Spindletop; Spindletop and Shell; Emergence of Oil as a Strategically Vital Commodity; Era of the Seven Sisters; Opening Up the Middle East

Early Attempts at Oil Price ControlsEnter Saudi Arabia and Kuwait; Exit the Key Players; Shareholders and Stakeholders; Development of Saudi Arabia's Oil Fields; Shoes Begin to Fall; Next Shoe to Fall; Birth of OPEC; 1973 Oil Crisis; First Time of High Oil Prices; End of High Oil Prices; Era of Moderate Oil Prices; Second Time of High Oil Prices; It's Not Oil Prices Anymore, It's Oil Security; Oil and Diplomacy; Oil and Environmentalists; Role of Oil Companies After the Oil Crisis; A Changing World; Are Oil Companies' Margins All That Great?; Future Role of Oil Companies; Notes; 6 Oil

The Earth as an Oil ManufacturerFormation of Oil; Oil Exploration and Production; Drilling Rights; Drilling Equipment; Directional Drilling; Offshore Drilling Rigs; Evaluating a Well; Completing a Well; Moving the Oil to the Well; Maintaining Reservoir Pressure; Getting the Oil to a Refinery; Tankers and Barges; Oil Spills; Refining; Oil Reserves; Are We on a Slippery Slope?; Was 2004 a Watershed Year?; Synthetic Crude; Challenge of Oil: The Automobile; Vehicles That Use Alternative Fuels; Enhancing Engine Efficiency; Internalizing an Externality; Is This Politically Acceptable?; Notes

7 Natural Gas

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