The Future of Energy Use

Following the success of its predecessor, this second edition provides essential analysis of the use of different forms of energy and their environmental and social impacts. It examines conventional, nuclear and renewable sources and technologies, using relevant case studies and providing a vital link between technology and related policy issues. The new edition has been comprehensively developed and updated, including new text, diagrams and tables, with entire new sections that reflect the significant changes that have occurred since the first edition. New material includes: a stronger focus on climate change policy and energy security; a discussion of the long run marginal costs of oil; coverage of the biofuels debate in both the developed and developing worlds; an outline of developments in the built environment (including transport issues); and the relationship between behavior and energy use. It reviews policy shifts with relation to energy efficiency, carbon capture and storage, combined heat and power, and combined cycle gas turbines. There is new coverage of nuclear waste, storage and proliferation, and new material on microgeneration and biofuels, as well as essential new information on carbon markets and the hydrogen economy. The result is a unique introduction and guide to all the vital issues within energy for students, academics and professionals new to the field.

Phil O'Keefe is Director of ETC UK, a not-for-profit development organization, and Professor of economic development and environmental management at Northumbria University, UK. Dr Geoff O'Brien is a senior lecturer at Northumbria University. Professor Nicola Pearsall is the Director of Northumbria Photovoltaics Applications Centre (NPAC) and group leader for the Energy Systems and Materials research group in the School of Computing, Engineering and Information Sciences, Northumbria University.