I finished reading Renewable and Alternative Energy Resources by Zachary Smith and Katrina Taylor quite some time ago, but hadn't an opportunity to write an entry on it until now. Unlike the previous book I read, Power Play: The Fight to Control The World's Electricity, this one is far less exciting to get through. Within the text, the authors identify and present renewable and alternative energy technologies that are available and under development, arguments for and against worldwide adoption of these technologies and how to make these technologies adoptable through different policy mechanisms. It also includes a nifty chronology of technological developments, events, and policies related to renewable and alternative energy. I found the information presented on the various renewable and alternative technologies available and how different parts of the world have pushed ahead in adopting these technologies to be entirely interesting.
Much discussion centers around wind and solar technologies, but not much centers around nuclear and hydrogen technologies. This book provides insight into the potential of developing these technologies. Mention “nuclear energy” to just about anyone and you may get a mixed reaction, after their minds race to documentaries on Chernobyl or Three Mile Island. Chernobyl and Three Mile Island were nuclear fission plants powered using uranium. Nuclear fission is discussed within the book, but far more interesting to me was information presented on nuclear fusion. Nuclear fusion, unlike fission, has a tremendous potential to transform the way electricity is generated. First, it relies on deuterium (found in the ocean and largely inexhaustible), but second, and more importantly, there is no radioactive waste, greenhouse gas emissions or acid deposition compounds to deal with like in the nuclear fission case. On the downside, scientist haven't been able to contain and sustain a reaction needed to make nuclear fusion an immediate possibility as a technology that may be used to generate electricity. Hydrogen and more importantly hydrogen fuel cells are another technology that seems to lack media attention and one with tremendous potential. One of things I keep reading about is lack of transmission to transport electricity generated through a renewable resource to areas where load exists. It made my head tilt to realize that hydrogen, an energy carrier, could be used to circumvent the troublesome, costly and tiresome aspect of building transmission. If I haven't lost you already: hydrogen is brought about through electrolysis which splits the water molecule into hydrogen and oxygen. Electrolysis is performed, at the moment, using electricity produced using fossil fuels. It was interesting to learn, from reading this book, that what we could be doing is siting this electrolysis process, which is very energy intensive, close to areas with vast renewable energy generating resources and transporting the product (hydrogen) to plants near load that can, using fuel cells, covert that product into electricity with a byproduct of steam/water which could be cycled back into generators to create even more electricity. Unfortunately, in the case of nuclear fusion, the technology is nowhere near the market penetration stage and with hydrogen fuel cells, the ability to maintain the fuel cells without continuous use is still a problem. Nevertheless, it was interesting to know that these incredible options exist, and we should be pursuing these options in addition to wind, solar, ocean energy, hydro, geothermal and biomass technologies to meet our energy needs.
The other section of the book that I thought was particularly interesting was in regards to how different parts of the world have begun adopting renewable and alternative technologies and in particular the information presented on China and India. Both nations have been under the microscope for their increasing rates of emissions as they continue to develop. But as economic growth continues, these countries have turned to renewable and alternative technologies to meet needs on an unimaginable scale. For example, the authors of the book point out that the Chinese government, faced with having 16 of the world's top 20 polluted cities, took action and started to invest in renewable and alternative technologies on an unimaginable scale. In 2005, the government declared that it would double the use of energy produced from renewable and alternative technologies. Today, the country is expected to meet their target well ahead of 2020 and the Global Wind Energy Council predicts that China will surpass Germany, Spain, and the United States as the world's largest wind producer by 2020. In India, the story is similar, but where distributed generation holds substantial promise as it allows the country to meet a national goal of providing electricity to its rural masses in the most cost effective manner. It was also interesting to learn that India, a developing nation, is the only developing nation to implement an electricity feed-in law and the first and only country to establish a Ministry of Renewable Energy devoted solely to the development and advancement of renewable energy. With all that commitment, it is no wonder that India has surpassed even Denmark to become the fourth largest producer of wind power in the world, and the second fastest growing market for wind.
I picked up this book because I wanted an overview of renewable and alternative energy technologies and how they were being used in different parts of the world: I got just that from reading this book. What I also liked tremendously about reading it was how, in an unbiased format, the authors presented the information. Beyond just my immediate interests, it was also amazing to learn about various arguments for and against the worldwide adoption of renewable and alternative technologies and different policy mechanisms used for encouraging their production and use.
Much discussion centers around wind and solar technologies, but not much centers around nuclear and hydrogen technologies. This book provides insight into the potential of developing these technologies. Mention “nuclear energy” to just about anyone and you may get a mixed reaction, after their minds race to documentaries on Chernobyl or Three Mile Island. Chernobyl and Three Mile Island were nuclear fission plants powered using uranium. Nuclear fission is discussed within the book, but far more interesting to me was information presented on nuclear fusion. Nuclear fusion, unlike fission, has a tremendous potential to transform the way electricity is generated. First, it relies on deuterium (found in the ocean and largely inexhaustible), but second, and more importantly, there is no radioactive waste, greenhouse gas emissions or acid deposition compounds to deal with like in the nuclear fission case. On the downside, scientist haven't been able to contain and sustain a reaction needed to make nuclear fusion an immediate possibility as a technology that may be used to generate electricity. Hydrogen and more importantly hydrogen fuel cells are another technology that seems to lack media attention and one with tremendous potential. One of things I keep reading about is lack of transmission to transport electricity generated through a renewable resource to areas where load exists. It made my head tilt to realize that hydrogen, an energy carrier, could be used to circumvent the troublesome, costly and tiresome aspect of building transmission. If I haven't lost you already: hydrogen is brought about through electrolysis which splits the water molecule into hydrogen and oxygen. Electrolysis is performed, at the moment, using electricity produced using fossil fuels. It was interesting to learn, from reading this book, that what we could be doing is siting this electrolysis process, which is very energy intensive, close to areas with vast renewable energy generating resources and transporting the product (hydrogen) to plants near load that can, using fuel cells, covert that product into electricity with a byproduct of steam/water which could be cycled back into generators to create even more electricity. Unfortunately, in the case of nuclear fusion, the technology is nowhere near the market penetration stage and with hydrogen fuel cells, the ability to maintain the fuel cells without continuous use is still a problem. Nevertheless, it was interesting to know that these incredible options exist, and we should be pursuing these options in addition to wind, solar, ocean energy, hydro, geothermal and biomass technologies to meet our energy needs.
The other section of the book that I thought was particularly interesting was in regards to how different parts of the world have begun adopting renewable and alternative technologies and in particular the information presented on China and India. Both nations have been under the microscope for their increasing rates of emissions as they continue to develop. But as economic growth continues, these countries have turned to renewable and alternative technologies to meet needs on an unimaginable scale. For example, the authors of the book point out that the Chinese government, faced with having 16 of the world's top 20 polluted cities, took action and started to invest in renewable and alternative technologies on an unimaginable scale. In 2005, the government declared that it would double the use of energy produced from renewable and alternative technologies. Today, the country is expected to meet their target well ahead of 2020 and the Global Wind Energy Council predicts that China will surpass Germany, Spain, and the United States as the world's largest wind producer by 2020. In India, the story is similar, but where distributed generation holds substantial promise as it allows the country to meet a national goal of providing electricity to its rural masses in the most cost effective manner. It was also interesting to learn that India, a developing nation, is the only developing nation to implement an electricity feed-in law and the first and only country to establish a Ministry of Renewable Energy devoted solely to the development and advancement of renewable energy. With all that commitment, it is no wonder that India has surpassed even Denmark to become the fourth largest producer of wind power in the world, and the second fastest growing market for wind.
I picked up this book because I wanted an overview of renewable and alternative energy technologies and how they were being used in different parts of the world: I got just that from reading this book. What I also liked tremendously about reading it was how, in an unbiased format, the authors presented the information. Beyond just my immediate interests, it was also amazing to learn about various arguments for and against the worldwide adoption of renewable and alternative technologies and different policy mechanisms used for encouraging their production and use.
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