Systems engineered by man to harness solar heat in a controlled manner now include a diverse range of technologies each serving distinctive needs in particular climate contexts. This text covers the breadth of solar energy technologies for the conversion of solar energy to provide heat, either as the directly-used output or as an intermediary to other uses such as power generation or cooling. It is a wholly updated, extended and revised version of "Solar Energy Thermal Technology" first published in 1992. The text draws on the own author's research and that of numerous colleagues and...

Climate change is mainly caused by emissions of carbon dioxide when burning fossil fuels, which provides more than 85% of the primary energy of the world. Strategies for mitigating climate change are closely connected with how to handle economic and social activities through their effects on the use of energy. Climate Change Mitigation takes a comprehensive approach to investigate and evaluate response strategies using both a vertical balance approach and a horizontal balance approach. The former investigates the costs of mitigation measures in comparison to benefits of implementing them,...

Hundreds of studies have investigated public perceptions and preferences about nuclear power, waste management, and technology. However there is clear lack of uniformity in the style, aims and methods applied. Consequently, the body of results is inconsistent and it is difficult to isolate relevant patterns or interpretations. Nuclear Waste Management, Nuclear Power and Energy Choices: Public Preferences, Perceptions and Trust presents a theoretical base for public reactions then classifies and reviews the large body of surveys carried out over the past decade.

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As the energy sector shifts and changes to focus on renewable technologies, the optimization of wind power becomes a key practical issue. "Reactive Power Management of Power Networks with Wind Generation" brings into focus the development and application of advanced optimization techniques to the study, characterization, and assessment of voltage stability in power systems. Recent advances on reactive power management are reviewed with particular emphasis on the analysis and control of wind energy conversion systems and FACTS devices.

Following an introduction, distinct chapters cover...

Whilst financial rights have appeared as a successful ingredient in North-American power markets, they have their shortcomings both theoretically and in practice. Financial Transmission Rights: Analysis, Experiences and Prospects present a systematic and comprehensive overview of financial transmission rights (FTRS).

Following a general introduction to FTRs, including chapters to explain transmission pricing and the general properties of FTRS, experts in the field provide discussions on wide scope of topics. These include:

Varying perspectives on FTRS: from electrical...

Pollution Under Environmental Regulation in Energy Markets provides a study of environmental regulation when energy markets are imperfectly competitive. This theoretical treatment focuses on three relevant cases of energy markets. First, the residential space heating sector where hybrid regulation such as taxation and emissions trading together are possible. Second, the electricity market where transactions are organized in the form of multi-period auctions. Third, namely natural gas (input) and electricity (output) markets where there is combined imperfect competition in vertical...

Accelerating the diffusion of energy-efficient renovations is a key policy lever in order to reduce the environmental impact of buildings. This book provides a broad, systemic perspective on the causes of the diffusion of energy-efficient renovations in Switzerland and policy recommendations for accelerating the diffusion process. Specifically, the book provides a description of the societal problem situation within which the diffusion process takes place and an analysis of the actors involved. It provides a detailed explanation of the causes of the diffusion process that synthesizes...

With the growing attention to the exploitation of renewable energies and heat recovery from industrial processes, the traditional steam and gas cycles are showing themselves often inadequate. The inadequacy is due to the great assortment of the required sizes power and of the large kind of heat sources. Closed Power Cycles: Thermodynamic Fundamentals and Applications offers an organized discussion about the strong interaction between working fluids, the thermodynamic behavior of the cycle using them and the technological design aspects of the machines.

A precise treatment of...

As industrial, commercial, and residential demands increase and with the rise of privatization and deregulation of the electric energy industry around the world, it is necessary to improve the performance of electric operational management. Intelligent Energy Demand Forecasting offers approaches and methods to calculate optimal electric energy allocation to reach equilibrium of the supply and demand.

Evolutionary algorithms and intelligent analytical tools to improve energy demand forecasting accuracy are explored and explained in relation to existing methods. To...