Energy... Beyond Oil

As the Earth’s oil supply runs out, and the effects of climate change threaten nations and their populations, the search for carbon-neutral sources of energy becomes more important and increasingly urgent. This book focuses on solutions to the energy problem, and not just the problem itself. It describes the major energy-generation technologies currently under development, and provides an authoritative summary of the current status of each one. It stresses the need for a balanced portfolio of alternative energy technologies. Certain solutions will be more appropriate than others in particular locations, due to the differences in availability of natural resources such as solar, wind, wave, tidal and geothermal. In addition, nuclear options (both fission and fusion), as well as technologies such as fuel cells, photovoltaics, artificial photosynthesis and hydrogen (as an energy carrier), all have a potential role to play. A state-of-the-art critique of energy efficiency in building design is also included. Each chapter is written by an acknowledged international expert and provides a non-technical overview of the competing and complementary approaches to energy generation.

Broad in scope and comprehensive in treatment, Energy..beyond Oil provides an authoritative synthesis of the scientific and technological issues which are essential to the survival of the human race in the near future. The book will be of interest and use to graduate students and researchers in all areas of energy studies, and will also be highly useful for policy-makers and professionals in the environmental sector as well as a more general readership who wish to learn more about this extremely topical subject.

Dr Katherine Blundell is a Royal Society University Research Fellow and Reader in Physics at Oxford University and a Science Research Fellow at St John’s College, Oxford. Her interests include extreme energy phenomena in the Universe, for example around black holes. She is frequently invited to speak at conferences and different institutes around the world and has published extensively on astrophysical jets, relativistic plasma and distant galaxies. She has co-authored the book ＂Concepts in Thermal Physics＂ (OUP, 2006) and was recently awarded a Leverhulme Prize in Astronomy & Astrophysics.
Professor Fraser Armstrong is Professor of Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry, Oxford and a Fellow of St John’s College. His interests are in biological chemistry, bioenergetics and in the mechanisms and exploitation of enzymes related to energy production. He has received a number of awards including the European Award for Biological Inorganic Chemistry, the Carbon Trust Innovation Award, the Max Planck Award for Frontiers in Biological Chemistry and the Royal Society of Chemistry Award for Interdisciplinary Chemistry. He travels widely giving invited lectures on topics including catalysis, bioenergetics and renewable energy.