Energy Policy in Historical Perspective
Author : Hans H. Landsberg
Publisher :
Page : 44 pages
File Size : 15,9 MB
Release : 1988
Category :
ISBN :
Energy and Civilization
Author : Vaclav Smil
Publisher : MIT Press
Page : 564 pages
File Size : 34,87 MB
Release : 2018-11-13
Category : Science
ISBN : 0262536161
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.
Project Independence
Author : United States. Federal Energy Administration
Publisher :
Page : 60 pages
File Size : 22,8 MB
Release : 1974
Category : Energy policy
ISBN :
Book Description
This report is an historical perspective to the Project Independence Blueprint. It was developed to serve as the background for the studies carried out as part of Project Independence. The Historical Perspective Report traces the history of the various major energy sources, concentrating on the period from the end of World War II to the eve of the Arab oil embargo. The reserves, consumption, technology, economics and government policy toward oil, coal, natural gas, nuclear energy, electric power, and energy sources are examined. The first two sections of the report, Historical Perspective of World Energy, and U. S. Energy Perspective, deal with major trends and events influencing all energy sources. Special emphasis is given to the government policies which shaped the development of energy production and consumption..
Energy Policy in America since 1945
Author : Richard H. K. Vietor
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 384 pages
File Size : 37,70 MB
Release : 1984-10-15
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780521266581
Book Description
In the political economy of energy, World War II was a significant watershed: it accelerated the transition from dependence on coal to petroleum and natural gas. At the same time, mobilization provided an unprecedented experience in the management of energy markets by a forced partnership of business and government. In this 1985 book, Vietor covers American policy from 1945 to 1980. For readers convinced that big business contrived the energy crisis of the 1970s, this story will be disappointing, but enlightening. For those committed to theories of regulatory capture or public interest reform it should be frustrating. More than a history of government policy making, this book provides us with an innovative and insightful approach to the study of business-government relations in modern America. For managers, bureaucrats, and anyone interested in seeing a more effective national industrial policy, this history should put the relationship of business and government in a critical new perspective.
Congress and National Energy Policy
Author : James Everett Katz
Publisher : Transaction Publishers
Page : 314 pages
File Size : 15,36 MB
Release :
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781412820158
Book Description
James Katz evaluates the implications to the American political system of Congress's struggle over the formulation of a national energy policy during the last decade. He makes an original contribution by analyzing the policy in a wider theoretical and historical context. This combination of history, description, analysis, and theory building makes the book highly informative and useful. Katz shows that although energy supply is one of the greatest problems facing our generation and a key factor in the competition among world powers, Congress has often been unable to form effective energy policies. By examining Congress's reaction to the energy policy initiatives of recent administrations, the organizational and sociological limitations of the nation's ability to grapple with the development of a comprehensive energy policy, and the attempts to build a governmental organization to administer it, Katz provides new insight into Congress as an organization as well as into the proclivities and dynamics of the U.S. policy system. He also applies his own theory of organization to Congress to help predict and explain Congressional behavior.
Energy Policy in the U.S.
Author : Laurance R. Geri
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 352 pages
File Size : 18,70 MB
Release : 2017-09-25
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 1351568299
Book Description
In an effort to provide greater awareness of the necessary policy decisions facing our elected and appointed officials, Energy Policy in the U.S.: Politics, Challenges, and Prospects for Change presents an overview of important energy policies and the policy process in the United States, including their history, goals, methods of action, and consequences. In the first half of the book, the authors frame the energy policy issue by reviewing U.S. energy policy history, identifying the policy-making players, and illuminating the costs, benefits, and economic and political realities of currently competing policy alternatives. The book examines the stakeholders and their attempts to influence energy policy and addresses the role of supply and demand on the national commitment to energy conservation and the development of alternative energy sources. The latter half of the book delves into specific energy policy strategies, including economic and regulatory options, and factors that influence energy policies, such as the importance of international cooperation. Renewed interest in various renewable and nontraditional energy resources—for example, hydrogen, nuclear fusion, biomass, and tide motion—is examined, and policy agendas are explored in view of scientific, economic, regulatory, production, and environmental constraints. This book provides excellent insight into the complex task of creating a comprehensive energy policy and its importance in the continued availability of energy to power our way of life and economy while protecting our environment and national security.
Understanding the Global Energy Crisis
Author : Richard A. Simmons
Publisher : Purdue University Press
Page : 345 pages
File Size : 39,10 MB
Release : 2014-03-15
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 1612493106
Book Description
We are facing a global energy crisis caused by world population growth, an escalating increase in demand, and continued dependence on fossil-based fuels for generation. It is widely accepted that increases in greenhouse gas concentration levels, if not reversed, will result in major changes to world climate with consequential effects on our society and economy. This is just the kind of intractable problem that Purdue University's Global Policy Research Institute seeks to address in the Purdue Studies in Public Policy series by promoting the engagement between policy makers and experts in fields such as engineering and technology. Major steps forward in the development and use of technology are required. In order to achieve solutions of the required scale and magnitude within a limited timeline, it is essential that engineers be not only technologically-adept but also aware of the wider social and political issues that policy-makers face. Likewise, it is also imperative that policy makers liaise closely with the academic community in order to realize advances. This book is designed to bridge the gap between these two groups, with a particular emphasis on educating the socially-conscious engineers and technologists of the future. In this accessibly-written volume, central issues in global energy are discussed through interdisciplinary dialogue between experts from both North America and Europe. The first section provides an overview of the nature of the global energy crisis approached from historical, political, and sociocultural perspectives. In the second section, expert contributors outline the technology and policy issues facing the development of major conventional and renewable energy sources. The third and final section explores policy and technology challenges and opportunities in the distribution and consumption of energy, in sectors such as transportation and the built environment. The book's epilogue suggests some future scenarios in energy distribution and use.
Energy and Transport
Author : George H. Daniels
Publisher : SAGE Publications, Incorporated
Page : 296 pages
File Size : 44,79 MB
Release : 1982-09
Category : Political Science
ISBN :
Book Description
Energy and Transport analyzes the history of energy use and regulation from the nineteenth century through to the present, as represented by broad policy and consumption in the individual household. The relationship between energy and the evolution of energy policies, and the relationship between fuels and environmental pollution are historically reviewed. Thus these thirteen essays shed much historical light on current energy debates and root out persistent myths about energy use. '...this volume is in many respects a pioneering effort. One hopes it will stimulate further research into the wide range of questions it addresses.' -- Science, 17th June 1983 'The editors of this book have succeeded in gatherin
A History of Energy Flows
Author : Anthony N. Penna
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 288 pages
File Size : 42,88 MB
Release : 2019-09-18
Category : Nature
ISBN : 0429960735
Book Description
This book presents a global and historical perspective of energy flows during the last millennium. The search for sustainable energy is a key issue dominating today’s energy regime. This book details the historical evolution of energy, following the overlapping and slow flowing transitions from one regime to another. In doing so it seeks to provide insight into future energy transitions and the means of utilizing sustainable energy sources to reduce humanity’s fossil fuel footprint. The book begins with an examination of the earliest and most basic forms of energy use, namely, that of humans metabolizing food in order to work, with the first transition following the domestication and breeding of horses and other animals. The book also examines energy sources key to development during the industrialization and mechanization, such as wood and coal, as well as more recent sources, such as crude oil and nuclear energy. The book then assesses energy flows that are at the forefront of sustainability, by examining green sources, such as solar, wind power and hydropower. While it is easy to see energy flows in terms of “revolutions,” transitions have taken centuries to evolve, and transitions are never fully global, as, for example, wood remains the primary fuel source for cooking in much of the developing world. This book not only demonstrates the longevity of energy transitions but also discusses the possibility for reducing transition times when technological developments provide inexpensive and safe energy sources that can reduce the dependency on fossil fuels. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of energy transitions, sustainable energy and environmental and energy history.
Power Politics
Author : Clif Stratton
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
Page : 176 pages
File Size : 32,97 MB
Release : 2020-08-17
Category : Energy consumption
ISBN : 9780190696221
Book Description
"A higher education history textbook that focuses on carbon energy in world history. This is part of the Roots of Contemporary Issues series"--
