Advances in Chemical Engineering, Volume 58 in this long-running serial, highlights new advances in the field with this new volume presenting interesting and timely chapters written by an international board of authors. - Provides the authority and expertise of leading contributors from an international board of authors - Presents the latest release in the Advances in Chemical Engineering series

Authored by 50 top academic, government and industry researchers, this handbook explores mature, evolving technologies for a clean, economically viable alternative to non-renewable energy. In so doing, it also discusses such broader topics as the environmental impact, education, safety and regulatory developments. The text is all-encompassing, covering a wide range that includes hydrogen as an energy carrier, hydrogen for storage of renewable energy, and incorporating hydrogen technologies into existing technologies.

In this ready reference, top academic researchers, industry players and government officers join forces to develop commercial concepts for the transition from current nuclear or fossil fuel-based energy to renewable energy systems within a limited time span. They take into account the latest science and technology, including an analysis of the feasibility and impact on the environment, economy and society. In so doing, they discuss such complex topics as electrical and gas grids, fossil power plants and energy storage technologies. The contributions also include robust, conceivable and breakthrough technologies that will be viable and implementable by 2020.

Hydrogen energy is the most versatile energy source: its advantages include the minimization of pollution and land use compared to traditional fossil fuels, high energy density, and the possibility of generation using renewable sources (such as water splitting). This book focuses on the main advances and challenges in the production, storage, transportation and commercialization of hydrogen energy.

A thermodynamic system is defined according to its environment and its compliance. This book promotes the classification of materials from generalized thermodynamics outside the equilibrium state and not solely according to their chemical origin. The author goes beyond standard classification of materials and extends it to take into account the living, ecological, economic and financial systems in which they exist: all these systems can be classified according to their deviation from an ideal situation of thermodynamic equilibrium. The concepts of dynamic complexity and hierarchy, emphasizing the crucial role played by cycles and rhythms, then become fundamental. Finally, the limitations of the uniqueness of this description that depend on thermodynamic foundations based on the concepts of energy and entropy are discussed in relation to the cognitive sciences.