Introduction to Renewable Energy (Energy and the Environment)

Introduction to Renewable Energy, Second Edition covers the fundamentals of renewable energy and serves as a resource to undergraduates in renewable energy courses, non-specialists within the energy industries, or anyone working to support the successful implementation of renewable energy.

The second edition discusses developments that have occurred since the publication of the first edition and considers the growing environmental impact of human activity on planet Earth. Dedicated to converging science and technology in a way that ensures a sustainable future, this book outlines the basics of renewable energy and focuses on current and developing policies that support the shift to renewable energy. New in the second edition, the book addresses bioenergy, energy balance, biodiesel, photovoltaic applications, and climate change.

The authors take a multidisciplinary approach and share their observations on trending technologies (including neuroscience, artificial intelligence, virtual reality (VR), nanotechnology, and genetic engineering) that they predict will have a significant impact in the next 25 years. Attributing the major problems in the world to overconsumption and overpopulation, they outline solutions that depend on global and local policies and work to reduce consumption, population growth, greenhouse gas emissions, environmental pollution, and military expenditures.

In addition, the book proposes possible answers to our energy dilemma that include:

• Reduced demand of fossil fuels to depletion rate
• Transition to zero population growth and the beginning of a steady-state society
• A tax placed on carbon
• Implementing more policies and incentives to increase conservation and efficiency and to decrease the emissions of carbon dioxide

"… a basic introduction to renewable energy… for non-engineering and physics students... a balanced book in terms of content and topics covered … with limited interests for professionals working in the field."
—Radian Belu, University of Alaska Anchorage, USA

Vaughn C. Nelson, PhD, has been involved with renewable energy since the early 1970s. Dr. Vaughn has published numerous papers and is the author of three books, including Wind Energy (2009, 2nd Ed 2013) and Introduction to Renewable Energy (2011) from CRC Press. His primary work has been on wind resource assessment, education and training, applied R&D, and rural applications of wind energy. He has received three awards from the American Wind Energy Association. His degrees include a PhD in physics from the University of Kansas; an EdM from Harvard University; and a BSE from Kansas State Teachers College.

Kenneth Starcher has a BS in physics/computer science at West Texas State University (1980). He received an MS in engineering technology at WTAMU (1995). Starcher has been a field worker at the Alternative Energy Institute (AEI) Wind Test Center since 1980. He has been the educational funnel for onsite training and public information for students and public workshops for AEI, and has served as a trainer at wind and solar training workshops locally, nationally, and internationally. He has also served as a research technician, research associate, assistant director, director, and associate director for AEI over the past 35 years.