Energy is central to sustainable development. It has huge environmental, social, and economic impacts, such as its influence on climate change, poverty reduction efforts, industrial and agricultural productivity and environmental and human health. The development of strategies towards a sustainable energy transition is one of the most important world challenges of the twenty-first century. The choices that we will make in the coming years about energy will determine what world future generations will inherit. This book gives an overview of the key issues, strategies, operational guidelines and policy implications of current research on the transition to more sustainable energy consumption. It investigates the important issue of the relation between human activities, energy systems and energy use. It addresses the environmental, social and economic impacts of energy consumption and their interrelationships. This book was written by academic and research experts in the field of energy, and they have developed strategies for an energy sustainable plan for the main energy-intensive sectors: energy production, transportation, buildings, agriculture and domestic appliances. The best opportunities and solutions for energy demand reduction are shown, including energy efficiency improvement, increases in the share of renewable energy sources, technological progress and behavioural changes in the field of energy. The aim of this work is to guide the reader toward more efficient policies and actions that will actually improve the future. The book also addresses the different issues faced by developing and developed countries, as well as their relative respective solutions. It presents various alternative pathways that are open to our societies. The methods of energy consumption assessment and modelling approaches are also discussed. All those who are interested in energy challenges will find practical knowledge and operational solutions in this book, providing a solid foundation for making well-informed choices in the future, as individuals and as societies.

This timely volume brings together case studies that address the urgent need to manage energy use and improve thermal comfort in modern buildings while preserving their historic significance and character. This collection of ten case studies addresses the issues surrounding the improvement of energy consumption and thermal comfort in modern buildings built between 1928 and 1969 and offers valuable lessons for other structures facing similar issues. These buildings, international in scope and diverse in type, style, and size, range from the Shulman House, a small residence in Los Angeles, to the TD Bank Tower, a skyscraper complex in Toronto, and from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, a cultural venue in Lisbon, to the Van Nelle Factory in Rotterdam, now an office building. Showing ingenuity and sensitivity, the case studies consider improvements to such systems as heating, cooling, lighting, ventilation, and controls. They provide examples that demonstrate best practices in conservation and show ways to reduce carbon footprints, minimize impacts to historic materials and features, and introduce renewable energy sources, in compliance with energy codes and green-building rating systems. The Conserving Modern Heritage series, launched in 2019, is written by architects, engineers, conservators, scholars, and allied professionals. The books in this series provide well-vetted case studies that address the challenges of conserving twentieth-century heritage.

A comprehensive account of how energy has shaped society throughout history, from pre-agricultural foraging societies through today's fossil fuel–driven civilization. "I wait for new Smil books the way some people wait for the next 'Star Wars' movie. In his latest book, Energy and Civilization: A History, he goes deep and broad to explain how innovations in humans' ability to turn energy into heat, light, and motion have been a driving force behind our cultural and economic progress over the past 10,000 years. —Bill Gates, Gates Notes, Best Books of the Year Energy is the only universal currency; it is necessary for getting anything done. The conversion of energy on Earth ranges from terra-forming forces of plate tectonics to cumulative erosive effects of raindrops. Life on Earth depends on the photosynthetic conversion of solar energy into plant biomass. Humans have come to rely on many more energy flows—ranging from fossil fuels to photovoltaic generation of electricity—for their civilized existence. In this monumental history, Vaclav Smil provides a comprehensive account of how energy has shaped society, from pre-agricultural foraging societies through today's fossil fuel–driven civilization. Humans are the only species that can systematically harness energies outside their bodies, using the power of their intellect and an enormous variety of artifacts—from the simplest tools to internal combustion engines and nuclear reactors. The epochal transition to fossil fuels affected everything: agriculture, industry, transportation, weapons, communication, economics, urbanization, quality of life, politics, and the environment. Smil describes humanity's energy eras in panoramic and interdisciplinary fashion, offering readers a magisterial overview. This book is an extensively updated and expanded version of Smil's Energy in World History (1994). Smil has incorporated an enormous amount of new material, reflecting the dramatic developments in energy studies over the last two decades and his own research over that time.

Çukurova University, Turkey in collaboration with Ljubljana University, Slovenia and the International Energy Agency Implementing Agreement on Energy Conservation Through Energy Storage (IEA ECES IA) organized a NATO Advanced Study Institute on Thermal Energy Storage for Sustainable Energy Consumption – Fundamentals, Case Studies and Design (NATO ASI TESSEC), in Cesme, Izmir, Turkey in June, 2005. This book contains manuscripts based on the lectures included in the scientific programme of the NATO ASI TESSEC.

The Efficient Use of Energy, Second Edition is a compendium of papers discussing the efficiency with which energy is used in industry. The collection covers relevant topics in energy handling and describes the more important features of plant and equipment. The book is organized into six parts. Part I presents the various methods of heat production. The second part discusses the use of heat in industry and includes topics in furnace design, industrial heating, boiler plants, and water treatment. Part III deals with the production of mechanical and electrical energy. It tackles the principles of internal combustion engines, generators, and the use of nuclear energy. Total energy systems and heat salvage are covered in Part IV. Part V elucidates on the use of refractory and insulating materials and the importance of instrumentation and control in the regulation of energy consumption. The final section focuses on the environmental aspect of energy production such as the control of pollutants emanating from plants during production. The book will be of use to engineers and plant production managers.

The principle of the conventional activated sludge (CAS) for municipal wastewater treatment is primarily based on biological oxidation by which organic matters are converted to biomass and carbon dioxide. After more than 100 years’ successful application, the CAS process is receiving increasing critiques on its high energy consumption and excessive sludge generation. Currently, almost all municipal wastewater treatment plants with the CAS as a core process are being operated in an energy-negative fashion. To tackle such challenging situations, there is a need to re-examine the present wastewater treatment philosophy by developing and adopting novel process configurations and emerging technologies. The solutions going forward should rely on the ways to improve direct energy recovery from wastewater, while minimizing in-plant energy consumption. This book begins with a critical overview of the energy situation and challenges in current municipal wastewater treatment plants, showing the necessity of the paradigm shift from removal to recovery in terms of energy and resource. As such, the concept of A-B process is discussed in detail in the book. It appears that various A-B process configurations are able to provide possible engineering solutions in which A-stage is primarily designed for COD capture with the aim for direct anaerobic treatment without producing excessive biosludge, while B-stage is designated for nitrogen removal. Making the wastewater treatment energy self-sustainable is obviously of global significance and eventually may become a game changer for the global market of the municipal wastewater reclamation technology. The principal audiences include practitioners, professionals, university researchers, undergraduate and postgraduate students who are interested and specialized in municipal wastewater treatment and process design, environmental engineering, and environmental biotechnology.