Smart Energy Practices for a Sustainable World


Book Description

Mankind has scaled unprecedented growth since the advent of the Industrial Revolution. However, this progress has come at the hefty cost of environmental degradation. Climate change, undeniably, is one of the biggest challenges of the planet Earth and is largely anthropogenic. In the modern-world context, the phenomenon of climate change is one of the most defining issues, when it comes to realizing objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Climate change is not limited to geographical boundaries, it is a global problem, hence requires global solutions. It has been widely discussed and therefore has acquired centre stage across the major world forums. Smart Energy Practices for a Sustainable World: how we all can contribute? stresses the need for us to judiciously, sustainably, and smartly harness and use energy techniques in order to effectively combat climate change. The book also gives an in-depth discussion on utilization of artificial intelligence and information technology to realize energy efficiency in various sectors of economy including but not limited to transportation, buildings, infrastructure, health care, and other services. Text is supplemented by case studies that depict ground-level reality to facilitate comprehension of the subject matter. The appendices serve as an extended learning of the concepts discussed in the chapters. The publication would serve as a valuable reference for both scholars and researchers engaged in the domain, in addition to, being a guide to industry as well as the academic world. Table of Contents: 1. Smart, Sustainable, and Green: the mantra to save our planet 2. Smart Energy Systems and Components 3. Energy Production and Delivery 4. Impact of Electronic Equipment on Energy Use and Carbon Footprint 5. Standard Energy Use and Carbon Footprint Metrics 6. Smart Buildings: planning and construction 7. Transport: smarter commuting and energy-efficient mobility 8. Electronic Commerce and Other Digital Services for Smart Planet 9. Sustainable Practices for Green Health Care Services 10. Knowledge and Behaviour for a Smart Planet 11. Energy Audits 12. Worldwide Case Studies for Green Practices 13. The Future for Energy Use in Our Planet Appendices




Smart Energy in the Smart City


Book Description

This book examines the energy dimension of the smart city from the perspective of urban planning, providing a complete overview that ranges from theoretical aspects to practical considerations and projects. In addition, it aims to illustrate how the concept of the smart city can enhance understanding of the urban system and foster new forms of management of the metropolis, including with respect to energy supply and use. Specifically, the book explores the different dimensions of the relationship between energy and the city, discusses methodological issues with a special focus on ontological approaches to sustainability, and describes practices, tools, and good examples of energy-related urban planning. The authors represent the main Italian research groups working in the field, Italy being an excellent example of a country exposed to energy problems due to, for example, vulnerability to climate change and lack of primary energy resources. This book will be valuable for students of urban planning, town planners, and researchers interested in understanding the changing nature of the city and the challenges posed by energy issues.




Smart Energy Control Systems for Sustainable Buildings


Book Description

There is widespread interest in the way that smart energy control systems, such as assessment and monitoring techniques for low carbon, nearly-zero energy and net positive buildings can contribute to a Sustainable future, for current and future generations. There is a turning point on the horizon for the supply of energy from finite resources such as natural gas and oil become less reliable in economic terms and extraction become more challenging, and more unacceptable socially, such as adverse public reaction to ‘fracking’. Thus, in 2016 these challenges are having a major influence on the design, optimisation, performance measurements, operation and preservation of: buildings, neighbourhoods, cities, regions, countries and continents. The source and nature of energy, the security of supply and the equity of distribution, the environmental impact of its supply and utilization, are all crucial matters to be addressed by suppliers, consumers, governments, industry, academia, and financial institutions. This book entitled ‘Smart Energy Control Systems for Sustainable Buildings’ contains eleven chapters written by international experts based on enhanced conference papers presented at the Sustainability and Energy in Buildings International conference series. This book will be of interest to University staff and students; and also industry practioners.




Emerging Technologies for Sustainable and Smart Energy


Book Description

Considering the alarming issue of global climate change and its drastic consequences, there is an urgent need to further develop smart and innovative solutions for the energy sector. The goal of sustainable and smart energy for present and future generations can be achieved by integrating emerging technologies into the existing energy infrastructure. This book focuses on the role and significance of emerging technologies in the energy sector and covers the various technological interventions for both conventional and unconventional energy resources and provides meaningful insights into smart and sustainable energy solutions. The book also discusses future directions for smart and sustainable developments in the energy sector.




Smart Energy Technologies in Everyday Life


Book Description

This book interrogates the global utopian vision for smart energy technologies and the new energy consumer intended to realise it. It enriches and extends the possibilities of four residential smart strategies: energy feedback, dynamic pricing, home automation and micro-generation, focusing on how they are being integrated into everyday practice.




Smart Green


Book Description

"Do you think going green will give you a competitive advantage, even save you money? Do you think your customers are more likely to buy if you are green? Do you want to do better by the environment and your community? If so, you are not alone. Many feel the need to go green. Jonathan Estes in Smart Green turns this need into value and lays out the steps for going green.?Read it and get ahead of your competition and the green tsunami sweeping the country." —Frank Phoenix, PE, LEED-AP, Partner, Greenbridge Developments, LLC "Estes's book articulates the opportunities, challenges, and trends of the blossoming conscious consumer movement using insightful research to make the case for growing a green business. His compendium examines and dissects our cultural shift in which a handful of people are optimists, many are ambivalent, and everyone is a skeptic." —David Lubensky, President, Bagatto, Inc. "Smart Green is a very practical guide for getting started with greening your company. Estes has taken the principles of business planning and applied them to a very complex subject. Worth the read." —Michael Knupp, former CEO, The RETEC Group, and former member, World Business Council for Sustainable Development "Estes's Smart Green is a great resource for small to mid-size enterprises that want to make measurable improvement in performance and align themselves with the global green wave. From strategic planning to practical how-to examples, Estes demonstrates how we can go green and make some too." —Aaron Nelson, IOM, President and CEO, Chapel Hill-Carrboro (NC) Chamber of Commerce, and Executive Director, Foundation for a Sustainable Community




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.




Cases on Green Energy and Sustainable Development


Book Description

Despite the urgent need for action, there is a widespread lack of understanding of the benefits of using green energy sources for not only reducing carbon emissions and climate change, but also for growing a sustainable economy and society. Future citizens of the world face increasing sustainability issues and need to be better prepared for energy transformation and sustainable future economic development. Cases on Green Energy and Sustainable Development is a critical research book that focuses on the important role renewable energy and energy efficiency play in energy transition and sustainable development and covers economic and promotion policies of major renewable energy and energy-efficiency technologies. Highlighting a wide range of topics such as economics, energy storage, and transportation technologies, this book is ideal for environmentalists, academicians, researchers, engineers, policymakers, and students.




Green Building Management and Smart Automation


Book Description

Throughout the world, there is an increasing demand on diminishing natural resources in the industrial, transport, commercial, and residential sectors. Of these, the residential sector uses the most energy on such needs as lighting, water heating, air conditioning, space heating, and refrigeration. This sector alone consumes one-third of the total primary energy resources available. By using green building and smart automation techniques, this demand for energy resources can be lowered. Green Building Management and Smart Automation is an essential scholarly publication that provides an in-depth analysis of design technologies for green building and highlights the smart automation technologies that help in energy conservation, along with various performance metrics that are necessary to facilitate a building to be known as a “Green Smart Building.” Featuring a range of topics such as environmental quality, energy management, and big data analytics, this book is ideal for researchers, engineers, policymakers, government officials, architects, and students.




Modeling and Control of Sustainable Power Systems


Book Description

The concept of the smart grid promises the world an efficient and intelligent approach of managing energy production, transportation, and consumption by incorporating intelligence, efficiency, and optimality into the power grid. Both energy providers and consumers can take advantage of the convenience, reliability, and energy savings achieved by real-time and intelligent energy management. To this end, the current power grid is experiencing drastic changes and upgrades. For instance, more significant green energy resources such as wind power and solar power are being integrated into the power grid, and higher energy storage capacity is being installed in order to mitigate the intermittency issues brought about by the variable energy resources. At the same time, novel power electronics technologies and operating strategies are being invented and adopted. For instance, Flexible AC transmission systems and phasor measurement units are two promising technologies for improving the power system reliability and power quality. Demand side management will enable the customers to manage the power loads in an active fashion. As a result, modeling and control of modern power grids pose great challenges due to the adoption of new smart grid technologies. In this book, chapters regarding representative applications of smart grid technologies written by world-renowned experts are included, which explain in detail various innovative modeling and control methods.