Energy and the Global Environment

Over the past twenty years or so, interest in energy, both in the abstract and in humankind's use of it, has been brought to the fore, especially since concerns over climate change have become more widely reported. Energy and climate change discusses what energy is, why it is important, our current energy systems and more sustainable alternatives, and why energy use is having a detrimental effect on the environment. Energy is placed at the front of a discussion of the global environment, technology and civilisation. Problem solving is a central tool and is approached through the use of Fermi-like problems, where the reader is encouraged to explore relevant issues through simple numeric problem solving. * Covers climate change, current energy technologies (e.g oil, gas, etc), renewable/alternative technologies, energy economics and the history of energy use * Contains numerous student exercises and case-studies from around the world * An invaluable text for those students taking courses in the physical sciences, engineering, earth and environmental sciences, geography and related subjects. * Reflects on the international community and its attempts to solve the problem of climate change * Additional teaching resources and weblinks available on the book's website www.wileyeurope.com/college/coley