PHS Digital Library: Earth Day: Energy

Library Resources

Energy Alternatives by David M. Haugen; Susan Musser; Vickey Kalambakal
ISBN: 9780737749625

Publication Date: 2010-07-16

For over 25 years, the Greenhaven Press Opposing Viewpoints Series has developed and set the standard for current-issue studies. With more than 90 volumes covering nearly every controversial contemporary topic, Opposing Viewpoints is the leading source for libraries and classrooms in need of current-issue materials. Each title explores a specific issue by placing expert opinions in a unique pro/con format. The viewpoints are selected from a wide range of highly respected and often hard-to-find sources and publications. By choosing from such diverse sources and including both popular and unpopular views, the Opposing Viewpoints editorial team has adhered to its commitment to editorial objectivity. Readers are exposed to many sides of a debate, which promotes issue awareness as well as critical thinking. In short, Opposing Viewpoints is the best research and learning tool for exploring the issues that continually shape and define our turbulent and changing world.
Blowout in the Gulf by William R. Freudenburg; Robert Gramling
ISBN: 9780262015837

Publication Date: 2010-10-18

On April 20, 2010, the gigantic drilling rig Deepwater Horizon blew up in the Gulf of Mexico, killing eleven crew members and causing a massive eruption of oil from BP's Macondo well. For months, oil gushed into the Gulf, spreading death and destruction. Americans watched real-time video of the huge column of oil and gas spewing from the obviously failed "blowout preventer." What was missing, though, was the larger story of this disaster. In Blowout in the Gulf, energy experts William Freudenburg and Robert Gramling explain both the disaster and the decisions that led up to it. Blowout in the Gulf weaves a fascinating narrative of failures, missteps, and bad decisions, explaining why this oil spill was a disaster waiting to happen -- and how making better energy choices will help prevent others like it.
Solar Energy by David E. Newton
ISBN: 9781610696951

Publication Date: 2015-10-26

This book provides an outstanding single-volume resource on the topic of solar energy for young adults and general audiences. * Provides an accessible and useful technical introduction to the various ways in which solar energy can be used for heat production and the generation of electricity * Outlines some of the critical environmental, technical, economic, and political issues that have prevented solar energy from becoming a more significant part of the nation's energy equation * Includes primary source documents such as relevant laws, court cases, position statements, and other items that allow readers to directly examine the history of solar energy

Energy and the Environment Series

Biofuels by John Tabak
ISBN: 0816070822

Publication Date: 2009-03-01

Obtaining sufficient supplies of energy in an environmentally responsible way is one of the biggest concerns of the 21st century. Of all the problems associated with energy production, none is more complex than those associated with the production of biofuels - or non-fossil fuels derived from biomass - including plant matter, animal wastes, and municipal wastes. Obtaining enough biomass to meet demand requires large tracts of forest to be intensively managed, and it also requires agricultural resources to be diverted from the production of food and feed and toward the production of fuel. Biofuels entail their own special kind of environmental and economic disruption. There are many types of biofuels, and they are all used in different ways. They are most often used for transportation purposes, usually blended with gasoline or diesel fuel, but they are also used to generate electricity and provide heat for residential and industrial use. Biofuel consumption may be as simple as throwing a log on a fire or as complex as burning a combustible gas derived from plant matter in a combined-cycle electricity-generating unit. Biofuels describes the most common types of biofuels and biofuel technologies and seeks to identify both the advantages and disadvantages associated with their use. This new, full-color book describes the ways that biofuels are used and the technical, social, policy, and environmental consequences of large-scale consumption.

Coal and Oil by John Tabak
ISBN: 9780816070831

Publication Date: 2009-03-01

Coal and oil are two of the world's most important sources of primary energy. A multi-trillion dollar infrastructure has been created to locate, produce, transport, process, and burn coal and oil. This infrastructure has made modern life possible. In some of the world's largest economies, coal-fired power plants generate at least half of all electricity, and in almost all nations, transportation is synonymous with oil consumption. ""Coal and Oil"" describes the history of these sources of energy. The technology of coal and oil - that is, the mining of coal and the drilling for oil as well as the processing of coal and the refining of oil - are discussed in detail, as are the methods by which these primary energy sources are converted into usable working energy. Special attention is given to the environmental effects, both local and global, associated with their use and the relationships that have developed between governments and these most important industries. This comprehensive new resource also focuses on global dependence on these resources.

Natural Gas and Hydrogen by John Tabak
ISBN: 9781438116846

Publication Date: 2009-01-01

Whether solid, liquid, or gaseous, the phase of a fuel has important implications for how it can be used. In US approximately 20 per cent of the nation's electricity is obtained from natural gas-fired power plants. This book describes the technology and scale of the infrastructure that has evolved to produce, transport, and consume natural gas.

Nuclear Energy by John Tabak
ISBN: 9780816070855

Publication Date: 2009-04-01

Commercial nuclear power has long been one of the most controversial of all power-generating technologies, but the debate has not always been particularly informed. In order to understand the contribution that nuclear power makes today and its potential for the future, one must appreciate the various branches of physics, engineering, mathematics, economics, and the environment, as well as the way that power is supplied to the grid. It also helps to apply the same ideas and standards to the evaluation of competing technologies. Neither an endorsement nor a condemnation of nuclear power, ""Nuclear Energy"" provides objective information that is accessible - assuming only a modest knowledge of high school algebra on the part of the reader - and broad in scope. This new title discusses the physics and technology of energy production, reactor design, nuclear safety, the relationship between commercial nuclear power and nuclear proliferation, and attempts made by the United States to resolve the problem of nuclear waste disposal. It concludes by contrasting the nuclear policies of Germany, the United States, and France. Harold Denton, former Director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, is questioned about the commercial nuclear industry in the United States.

Solar and Geothermal Energy by John Tabak
ISBN: 0816070865

Publication Date: 2009-04-01

Solar energy and geothermal energy have a good deal in common. They are abundant and widely, if unevenly, distributed. They are two of the least environmentally disruptive sources of power available. They are also, for the most part, expensive to develop, and compared to more conventional sources of energy, relatively little power is produced from either one. ""Solar and Geothermal Energy"" describes two of the least objectionable means by which electricity is generated today. In addition to describing the nature of solar and geothermal energy and the processes by which these sources of energy can be harnessed, this accessible new book details how they are used in practice to supply electricity to the power markets. In particular, students are introduced to the difference between base load and peak power and some of the practical differences between harnessing an intermittent energy source (solar) and a source that can work virtually continuously (geothermal). Each section also contains a discussion of some of the ways that governmental policies have been used to encourage the growth of these sectors of the energy markets. An interview is included with John Farison, Director of Process Engineering for Calpine Corporation at the Geysers Geothermal Field, one of the world's largest and most productive geothermal facilities, in which he discusses some of the challenges of running and maintaining output at the facility.

Wind and Water by John Tabak
ISBN: 0816070873

Publication Date: 2009-04-01

There are enormous reserves of energy in the winds and the tides and in the temperature difference between the upper and lower regions of the oceans. If the energy produced from wind and water were converted into electrical energy, it would satisfy the electricity demands of the entire world many times over. However, this kind of conversion isn't possible - not now or in the future. ""Wind and Water"" describes conventional hydropower, or wind power, and some of the newer technologies (with less certain futures) that are being introduced to harness the power of ocean currents, ocean waves, and the temperature difference between the upper and lower layers of the ocean. The strengths and limitations of each technology are discussed as well as mathematical models that describe the maximum amount of energy that can be harnessed by such devices. This comprehensive new volume also examines how these power producers benefit from government support and the economics of operating these types of generating stations. An interview with Dr. Stan Bull, former Associate Director for Science and Technology at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, is included in which he shares his views about how scientific research is - and should be - managed, nurtured, and evaluated.

Earth Day: Energy

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Library Resources

Energy and the Environment Series

Guide to the Energy of the Earth

How Do Solar Panels Work?

Infographics