All change please! - challenges and opportunities of the energy transition


Book Description

The annual meeting of the ARLs Junges Forum forum for young professionals on 6-8 October 2016 in Leipzig addressed various aspects of the energy transition-when, where, how and why? In presentations and discussion groups, they considered not only technical, legal and planning aspects related to infrastructure expansion and the management and structuring of the energy transition, but also its significance for spatial development. The focus of the annual meeting was selected in view of the current importance of the issue. The transition is a process intended to ensure a safe, environmentally friendly and economically successful future and as such involves a broad spectrum of social, planning and scientific challenges and opportunities that require more in-depth consideration and analysis. The following questions thus provided the starting points for the presentations: What are the key action areas for the implementation of the energy transition? How will the cities and the countryside of the future look? How do the various actors behave and how do they react to different technologies? Where and why do conflicts and competition emerge and how can resistance and acceptance be dealt with? These key questions were the focus of the annual meeting and informed the following themes: How smart is the city of the future? Pole position for new form: of mobility and We say no! - public protest in the energy transition.




San Diego's Hybrid Urban Borderlands


Book Description

This study aims for a wider understanding of the redevelopment processes that emerged several decades ago in downtown San Diego and now gradually spread over the downtown edges into the inner ring. Perspectively situated in the fields of urban landscape and urban border studies, the research project outlines how the eastward ‘redevelopment wave’ in San Diego contests socialized neighborhood (boundary) perceptions by transforming the former first-tier suburbs from disinvested communities into ‘urban villages’ and trendy places to be. The study shows how the redevelopment perforates, dissolves, and shifts socialized, linear neighborhood boundaries into areas that are simultaneously part of the one and the other neighborhood. In the present work, the resulting, rather undefined or stretched border areas have been referred to as hybrid urban borderlands. This notion is a novel conceptual approach that can be deemed a promising lens for future studies on neighborhood change, urban redevelopment, and socio-spatial re-interpretation beyond the context of San Diego.




Energy and Civilization


Book Description

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.




How to Avoid a Climate Disaster


Book Description

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER NATIONAL BESTSELLER In this urgent, singularly authoritative book, Bill Gates sets out a wide-ranging, practical--and accessible--plan for how the world can get to zero greenhouse gas emissions in time to avoid an irreversible climate catastrophe. Bill Gates has spent a decade investigating the causes and effects of climate change. With the help and guidance of experts in the fields of physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, political science and finance, he has focused on exactly what must be done in order to stop the planet's slide toward certain environmental disaster. In this book, he not only gathers together all the information we need to fully grasp how important it is that we work toward net-zero emissions of greenhouse gases but also details exactly what we need to do to achieve this profoundly important goal. He gives us a clear-eyed description of the challenges we face. He describes the areas in which technology is already helping to reduce emissions; where and how the current technology can be made to function more effectively; where breakthrough technologies are needed, and who is working on these essential innovations. Finally, he lays out a concrete plan for achieving the goal of zero emissions--suggesting not only policies that governments should adopt, but what we as individuals can do to keep our government, our employers and ourselves accountable in this crucial enterprise. As Bill Gates makes clear, achieving zero emissions will not be simple or easy to do, but by following the guidelines he sets out here, it is a goal firmly within our reach.




Political Economies of Energy Transition


Book Description

Shows that economic concerns about jobs, costs, and consumption, rather than climate change, are likely to drive energy transition in developing countries.




100% Clean, Renewable Energy and Storage for Everything


Book Description

Textbook on the science and methods behind a global transition to 100% clean, renewable energy for science, engineering, and social science students.




Accelerating Sustainable Energy Transition(s) in Developing Countries


Book Description

Accelerating sustainable energy transitions away from carbon-based fuel sources needs to be high on the agendas of developing countries. It is key in achieving their climate mitigation promises and sustainable energy development objectives. To bring about rapid transitions, simultaneous turns are imperative in hardware deployment, policy improvements, financing innovation, and institutional strengthening. These systematic turns, however, incur tensions when considering the multiple options available and the disruptions of entrenched power across pockets of transition innovations. These heterogeneous contradictions and their trade-offs, and uncertainties and risks have to be systematically recognized, understood, and weighed when making decisions. This book explores how the transitions occur in fourteen developing countries and broadly surveys their technological, policy, financing, and institutional capacities in response to the three key aspects of energy transitions: achieving universal energy access, harvesting energy efficiency, and deploying renewable energy. The book shows how fragmented these approaches are, how they occur across multiple levels of governance, and how policy, financing, and institutional turns could occur in these complex settings. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of energy and climate policy, development studies, international relations, politics, strategic studies, and geography. It is also useful to policymakers and development practitioners.




Renewable Energy Sources and Climate Change Mitigation


Book Description

This Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Special Report (IPCC-SRREN) assesses the potential role of renewable energy in the mitigation of climate change. It covers the six most important renewable energy sources - bioenergy, solar, geothermal, hydropower, ocean and wind energy - as well as their integration into present and future energy systems. It considers the environmental and social consequences associated with the deployment of these technologies, and presents strategies to overcome technical as well as non-technical obstacles to their application and diffusion. SRREN brings a broad spectrum of technology-specific experts together with scientists studying energy systems as a whole. Prepared following strict IPCC procedures, it presents an impartial assessment of the current state of knowledge: it is policy relevant but not policy prescriptive. SRREN is an invaluable assessment of the potential role of renewable energy for the mitigation of climate change for policymakers, the private sector, and academic researchers.




Governing the Energy Transition


Book Description

The Energy Transition, the inevitable shift away from cheap, centralized, largely fossil-based energy systems, is one of the core challenges of our time. This book provides a coherent and novel insight into the nature of this challenge and possible strategies to accelerate and guide such transitions. It brings together prominent European scholars and practitioners from the fields of energy transition research and governance to draw attention to the current complex dynamics in the energy domain, and offer elegant and provocative explanations for current crises and lock-ins. They identify multiple energy transition pathways that emerge and increasingly compete, and emphasize the need and possibilities for novel governance. By analysing the complexity of energy transition processes and the difficulties in shifting to sustainable pathways, this text questions the extent to which actually governing energy transitions is already reality, just an illusion, or a bare necessity.




Green Economy and Renewable Energy Transitions for Sustainable Development


Book Description

The fate of our planet hangs in the balance, making the pursuit of sustainable development more than a mere aspiration, it is an imperative. Green Economy and Renewable Energy Transitions for Sustainable Development delves deep into the intricate web of interconnections between the environment, green economies, and energy transitions, and lays down the intellectual foundation for a sustainable future. Drawing on the wisdom of experts in fields ranging from environmental science to policy analysis, this book unveils the multifaceted strategies needed to reduce pollution, conserve biodiversity, and effectively mitigate the relentless march of climate change. Central to sustainability is a green economy—a holistic economic system that transcends profit margins to prioritize social equity, ecological balance, and robust economic growth. Through rigorous exploration and analysis, this volume showcases how sustainable production and consumption practices and judicious investments in renewable energy sources can catalyze a transformative shift towards a more sustainable global economy. The energy transition, a substantial shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources, emerges as the linchpin of our battle against climate change. This book deciphers the intricate dance of policies, technologies, and behavioral changes required to usher in this transition. It reveals how renewable energy sources like solar, wind, and hydropower hold the key to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and staving off the catastrophic consequences of global warming. This monograph is an invaluable resource for policymakers, researchers, educators, and anyone who aspires to be a custodian of our planet's future.