Power density : a key to understanding energy sources and uses / / Vaclav Smil

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910958708703321
• Autore: Smil Vaclav
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: Cambridge, Massachusetts : , : The MIT Press, , [2015]
• ISBN: 9780262326926; 0262326922; 9780262029148; 0262029146; 026202914
• Edizione: [1st ed.]
• Descrizione fisica: 1 PDF (ix, 306 pages) : illustrations
• Disciplina: 333.79
• Soggetti: Energy level densities; Energy auditing; Renewable energy sources; Power resources; Fonts d'energia; Energies renovables; Auditoria energètica
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Intro -- Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- 1 How Power Density Matters -- 2 Quantitative Keys to Understanding Energy -- 3 Renewable Energy Flows -- 4 Fossil Fuels -- 5 Thermal Electricity Generation -- 6 Energy Uses -- 7 Making Sense of Power Densities -- 8 Energy Transitions -- Appendix -- References -- Index.
• Sommario/riassunto: In this book, Vaclav Smil argues that power density is a key determinant of the nature and dynamics of energy systems. Any understanding of complex energy systems must rely on quantitative measures of many fundamental variables. Power density -- the rate of energy flux per unit of area -- is an important but largely overlooked measure. Smil provides the first systematic, quantitative appraisal of power density, offering detailed reviews of the power densities of renewable energy ; flows, fossil fuels, thermal electricity generation, and all common energy uses. Smil shows that careful quantification, critical appraisals, and revealing comparisons of power densities make possible a deeper understanding of the ways we harness, convert, and use energies. Conscientious assessment of power densities, he argues, proves particularly revealing when contrasting the fossil fuel--based energy system with renewable energy conversions. Smil explains that modern civilization has evolved as a direct expression of the high power densities of fossil fuel extraction. He argues that our inevitable (and desirable) move to new energy arrangements involving conversions of lower-density renewable energy sources will require our society -- currently dominated by megacities and concentrated industrial production -- to undergo a profound spatial restructuring of its energy system.