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Renewable energy: Sources for fuels and electricity
Book reviews
of the variability of climate and the ability of the modellers to reproduce some aspects of periodicity. This is precisely how a great number of researchers are devoting their time and this chapter is highly recommended. Finally, a summary of future prospects in modelling is presented in Part Six. This should be well suited to the target audience: obviously a broad constituency. In this capacity, the book is a remarkable effort. The effectiveness derives from the breadth of consistency of prose, and coverage, attention to the detail. Readers are entertained with some of the best scientific writing to be found - essential in describing complex subjects. What the reader should be aware of is that, although the text covers the full range of topics required for global system modelling, it does not cover the entire problem of climate change. Global climate change is envisioned to encompass a larger frame of reference, which would include the effects of the solar cycles, paleoclimatic and geologic evidence. In addition, ecological systems are important aspects. One cannot read a book of this scope and ambition without feeling a few pangs of disappointment. Perso-
nally, I am sorry that there is not more on climate change detection, model verification, and data acquisition (such as satellite imagery). This is fertile ground for graduate students approaching climate change from geography, geophysics, oceanography, ecological sciences and other diverse fields. Just as the act of modelling a physical system is an essential step in understanding that system, the compilation of a wide range of subjects serves to provide a uniform picture of an evolving field, which both informs about the status of current competence and makes progress towards a more thorough understanding. In summary, this text is an invaluable background and reference volume for those involved with GCMs, and indeed invaluable for evaluation of the modellng effort. Readers should not look for a complete survey, which has yet to be written, but will find the book well worth reading. George Blumberg School of Geography University of Oxford Oxford, UK
Optimism for renewable energy RENEWABLE ENERGY: SOURCES FOR FUELS AND ELECTRICITY edited by T B Johansson, H Kelly, A M N Reddy and R H Williams Earthscan Publications,
London, 1993
The main thesis of this book is that renewable energy sources can meet a large portion of the projected world’s energy growth in the next sixty years or so at a price that is comparable or less than that for conventional (fossil fuel) or nuclear fuel sources. This optimistic thesis is primarily due to the major technological advances that have been made in the renewable energy field over the last decade. The editors, all recognized as the foremost experts in the renewable energy field,
176
feel that there are many advantages of pursuing such a renewable energy scenario including: environmental benefits (significant decreases in projected carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions); a diversification of energy production sources; reducing the chances of nuclear weapons proliferation by the avoidance of nuclear power; and encouraging land restoration (growing willows on abandoned fields, for instante) The book should be considered the encyclopedia of renewable energy sources as it brings together all the latest data available. It is 1160 pages long, divided into 23 chapters and includes discussion on biomass (two chapters); biogasification; geothermal energy; wind energy (two chapters);
solar power (seven chapters including two discussing photovoltaics); and hydropower. All the chapters are written by individuals who are highly competent in their respective field: for instance, Robert Williams is the first author on the chapter discussing biogasification, and David Hall is the first author of the second biomass chapter. On the whole I found the book an extremely useful up to date reference text and I would recommend it for academics in the energy field, as well as for utility analysts, politicians, students, and anybody else who wanted to have the latest assessment of renewable energy sources on hand. However, I do not feel that the book, as I suspect the editors intended it to be, is a persuasive enough document to lead to major changes in the energy production field. There are two reasons for this: first, the social and political aspects of renewable energy sources are largely ignored. The majority of the chapters have little or no discussion of social-political factors of renewable energy sources, and, when they are brought up, the authors to a large extent do not refer to the existing body of social scientific knowledge available on renewables. Second, some of the authors seem too optimistic. The technological as well as social and political problems that may also arise with the use of some renewable energy sources are hardly discussed (except in the hydropower chapter). This gives the reader an unfairly biased view. As a result, I would recommend the editors (who are to my knowledge all physicists) to consider editing a second book together with several well known social scientists doing energy work. This book should be a direct follow up to the first, and should be entitled something like the ‘Social and Political Constraints of the Commercial Utilization of Renewable Energy Sources - how can they be solved?‘. Ragnar E Lofstedt Centre for Environmental Strategy University of Surrey Guildford, UK
Global Environmental
Change 1994 Volume 4 Number
2
of the variability of climate and the ability of the modellers to reproduce some aspects of periodicity. This is precisely how a great number of researchers are devoting their time and this chapter is highly recommended. Finally, a summary of future prospects in modelling is presented in Part Six. This should be well suited to the target audience: obviously a broad constituency. In this capacity, the book is a remarkable effort. The effectiveness derives from the breadth of consistency of prose, and coverage, attention to the detail. Readers are entertained with some of the best scientific writing to be found - essential in describing complex subjects. What the reader should be aware of is that, although the text covers the full range of topics required for global system modelling, it does not cover the entire problem of climate change. Global climate change is envisioned to encompass a larger frame of reference, which would include the effects of the solar cycles, paleoclimatic and geologic evidence. In addition, ecological systems are important aspects. One cannot read a book of this scope and ambition without feeling a few pangs of disappointment. Perso-
nally, I am sorry that there is not more on climate change detection, model verification, and data acquisition (such as satellite imagery). This is fertile ground for graduate students approaching climate change from geography, geophysics, oceanography, ecological sciences and other diverse fields. Just as the act of modelling a physical system is an essential step in understanding that system, the compilation of a wide range of subjects serves to provide a uniform picture of an evolving field, which both informs about the status of current competence and makes progress towards a more thorough understanding. In summary, this text is an invaluable background and reference volume for those involved with GCMs, and indeed invaluable for evaluation of the modellng effort. Readers should not look for a complete survey, which has yet to be written, but will find the book well worth reading. George Blumberg School of Geography University of Oxford Oxford, UK
Optimism for renewable energy RENEWABLE ENERGY: SOURCES FOR FUELS AND ELECTRICITY edited by T B Johansson, H Kelly, A M N Reddy and R H Williams Earthscan Publications,
London, 1993
The main thesis of this book is that renewable energy sources can meet a large portion of the projected world’s energy growth in the next sixty years or so at a price that is comparable or less than that for conventional (fossil fuel) or nuclear fuel sources. This optimistic thesis is primarily due to the major technological advances that have been made in the renewable energy field over the last decade. The editors, all recognized as the foremost experts in the renewable energy field,
176
feel that there are many advantages of pursuing such a renewable energy scenario including: environmental benefits (significant decreases in projected carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions); a diversification of energy production sources; reducing the chances of nuclear weapons proliferation by the avoidance of nuclear power; and encouraging land restoration (growing willows on abandoned fields, for instante) The book should be considered the encyclopedia of renewable energy sources as it brings together all the latest data available. It is 1160 pages long, divided into 23 chapters and includes discussion on biomass (two chapters); biogasification; geothermal energy; wind energy (two chapters);
solar power (seven chapters including two discussing photovoltaics); and hydropower. All the chapters are written by individuals who are highly competent in their respective field: for instance, Robert Williams is the first author on the chapter discussing biogasification, and David Hall is the first author of the second biomass chapter. On the whole I found the book an extremely useful up to date reference text and I would recommend it for academics in the energy field, as well as for utility analysts, politicians, students, and anybody else who wanted to have the latest assessment of renewable energy sources on hand. However, I do not feel that the book, as I suspect the editors intended it to be, is a persuasive enough document to lead to major changes in the energy production field. There are two reasons for this: first, the social and political aspects of renewable energy sources are largely ignored. The majority of the chapters have little or no discussion of social-political factors of renewable energy sources, and, when they are brought up, the authors to a large extent do not refer to the existing body of social scientific knowledge available on renewables. Second, some of the authors seem too optimistic. The technological as well as social and political problems that may also arise with the use of some renewable energy sources are hardly discussed (except in the hydropower chapter). This gives the reader an unfairly biased view. As a result, I would recommend the editors (who are to my knowledge all physicists) to consider editing a second book together with several well known social scientists doing energy work. This book should be a direct follow up to the first, and should be entitled something like the ‘Social and Political Constraints of the Commercial Utilization of Renewable Energy Sources - how can they be solved?‘. Ragnar E Lofstedt Centre for Environmental Strategy University of Surrey Guildford, UK
Global Environmental
Change 1994 Volume 4 Number
2