Energy

Preface ; Part I: ENERGY - the basic concepts ; Chapter 1: ENERGY - the basic concepts ; What are forces? ; What is work? ; What is energy? ; Which are the common forces in nature? ; What is friction? ; How does one measure energy? ; Can energy be created from nothing? ; What is the First Law of Thermodynamics? ; How much energy do humans need to keep alive? ; How much energy do humans need for other activities? ; What are the sources of energy we use? ; What is the origin of the energy we use? ; At what rate is energy consumption growing? ; What is the role of population growth in energy growth? ; Why is energy consumption <"per capita>" growing? ; What is the relationship between energy and development? ; What is energy intensity? ; What is the Human Development Index (HDI)? ; What is the gross national happiness (GNH)? ; Part II: THE WORLD'S PRESENT ENERGY SYSTEMS ; Chapter 2: Energy Sources ; What are the primary energy sources? ; What are secondary energy sources? ; Why are there losses in converting energy sources? ; What is a Sankey diagram? ; Chapter 3: Fossil Fuels ; What do we know about coal? ; What do we know about oil? ; What is abiotic oil? ; How is the price of oil evolving? ; What do we know about gas? ; What is the expected life of fossil fuel reserves? ; How unevenly are reserves of fossil fuels distributed around the world? ; Chapter 4: Renewables ; What is biomass? ; What are hydroelectric plants? ; What is wind energy? ; What are photovoltaic panels? ; What is solar thermal energy? ; What is solar low temperature thermoelectricity? ; What is wave energy? ; What is tidal energy? ; What is geothermal energy? ; What is the potential of renewables energies? ; How much land is needed to produce energy from renewables? ; Chapter 5: Nuclear Power ; What is nuclear power? ; Why has the growth of nuclear energy declined after 1985? ; What are the problems of nuclear waste disposal? ; What is the nuclear renaissance? ; What is nuclear fusion? ; Part III. THE PROBLEMS OF THE PRESENT SYSTEM ; Chapter 6: Exhaustion of fossil fuels ; Are fossil fuels being exhausted? ; What is the <"peak oil debate>"? ; Chapter 7: Energy Security ; What is energy security? ; What sorts of problems do developing countries face in accessing energy? ; Chapter 8: Environmental problems ; Why are environmental problem so important today? ; Which are the local environmental problems? ; What is urban air pollution? ; What is indoor air pollution? ; Which are the regional environmental problems? ; What is acid rain? ; Which are the global environmental problems? ; What is the greenhouse gas effect? ; What is the connection between global warming and energy? ; What is the IPCC (International Panel on Climate Change)? ; What are the facts concerning climate change? ; What are the forecasts of climate models? ; What are the environmental impacts from renewable sources? ; What are the impacts of hydroelectricity plants? ; How serious are oil leakages and spills? ; Is deforestation caused by energy use? ; What is the Ecological Footprint? ; Chapter 8: Energy costs ; What are the costs of energy? ; What are leaning curves? ; What are externalities? ; How big are energy subsidies? ; Part IV : TECHNICAL SOLUTIONS AND POLICIES ; Chapter 9: Energy efficiency ; What is the potential of energy efficiency? ; What are the advantages of energy efficiency? ; What are the barriers to energy conservation? ; What is the potential for energy efficiency in power production? ; What is the potential of energy efficiency in buildings? ; How can we increase energy efficiency in buildings? ; What is building retrofitting? ; What is the impact of urbanization on energy use? ; What is the energy efficiency potential in industry? ; What is the energy efficiency potential in transportation? ; What is the <"rebound>" effect? ; Chapter 10: Renewables ; What are the prospects for increased use for renewables? ; Chapter 11: New technologies ; What is cogeneration? ; What is the role of new technologies for fossil fuels? ; What is CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage) ; What is the future of transportation? ; Are natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas and hydrogen alternatives for ; transportation? ; Are electrical powered vehicles feasible? ; What are fuel cells? ; How much progress is being made in battery storage? ; What is the role of energy storage? ; What is the role of long distance electricity transmission? ; What are smart grids? ; What are the prospects of biomass? ; Is ethanol a good substitute for gasoline? ; What are the prospects of biodiesel? ; Is there competition between bioenergy and food? ; Chapter 12: Policies ; What policy targets for renewable energy? ; What are biofuels mandates? ; What is Renewables Portfolios Standards (RPS)? ; What are CAFE standards? ; What are <"feed in tariffs>"? ; What is the Climate Convention? ; What is the Kyoto Protocol? ; What is <"cap and trade>"? ; What are carbon taxes? ; What is technological <"leapfrogging>"? ; What is sustainable development? ; Part V: NON-TECHNICAL SOLUTIONS ; What is the relationship between energy and lifestyles? ; Is technological development the only driving force for changing lifestyles? ; What is the impact of transportation modes on lifestyles? ; What are the major determinants of lifestyles changes? ; Appendix I Decimal prefixes ; Appendix II Energy units conversion factors