The historical development of the civil nuclear power generation industry is examined in the light of the need to meet conflicting energy-supply and environmental pressures over recent decades. It is suggested that fission (thermal and fast) reactors will dominate the market up to the period...

Thermodynamic methods of (energy and exergy) analysis are employed to illustrate energy use in industry. The scope for increasing energy efficiency, and the extent of exergetic [`]improvement potential' are examined. Poor thermodynamic performance is principally the result of exergy losses in...

A simple, low-cost solar water heater has been developed for operation in Mediterranean Europe or regions of similar latitude (40-45° north). It takes the form of a trapezoidal-shaped water store in direct contact with an inclined flat-plate solar collector assembly. This cross-section...

Biofuels have been identified as a potential short-term solution for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from road transport. Currently, '1st generation' biofuels are produced from food crops, but there are concerns with the indirect effects of utilising edible crops for fuel. There is...

The influence of thermodynamics on the emerging transdisciplinary field of 'ecological economics‘ is critically reviewed from an interdisciplinary perspective. It is viewed through the lens provided by the 'bioeconomist' Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen (1906–1994) and his advocacy of 'the Entropy...

The carbon and environmental footprints associated with the global production of biofuels have been computed from a baseline of 2007–2009 out until 2019. Estimates of future global biofuel production were adopted from OECD–FAO and related projections. In order to determine the footprints...

Electricity generation contributes a large proportion of the total greenhouse gas emissions in the United Kingdom (UK), due to the predominant use of fossil fuel (coal and natural gas) combustion for this purpose. A range of future UK energy scenarios has been employed to determine their...

Energy, exergy and exergoeconomic analysis are often used for assessing large energy conversion systems. However exergy and exergoeconomic analysis are rarely used when small or medium scale energy generation systems, such as community CHP/CCHP plants or microcogeneration systems are evaluated.

Bioenergy from lignocellulosic biomass offers the potential to provide a significant source of clean, low carbon and secure energy. In recent years, a number of studies have been carried out to assess the environmental performance of lignocellulosic ethanol fuel. However, the complexity of...