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Title details for Renewable Energy by Bruce Usher - Available

Renewable Energy

A Primer for the Twenty-First Century

by Bruce Usher
ebook
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1 of 1 copy available

From wood to coal to oil and gas, the sources of energy on which civilization depends have always changed as technology advances. Now renewables are overtaking fossil fuels, with wind and solar energy becoming cheaper and more competitive every year. Growth in renewable energy will further accelerate as electric vehicles become less expensive than traditional automobiles. Understanding the implications of the energy transition will prepare us for the many changes ahead.
This book is a primer for readers of all levels on the coming energy transition and its global consequences. Bruce Usher provides a concise yet comprehensive explanation for the extraordinary growth in wind and solar energy; the trajectory of the transition from fossil fuels to renewables; and the implications for industries, countries, and the climate. Written in a straightforward style with easy-to-understand visual aids, the book illuminates the strengths and weaknesses of renewable energy based on business fundamentals and analysis of the economic forces that have given renewables a tailwind. Usher dissects the winners and losers, illustrating how governments and businesses with a far-sighted approach will reap long-term benefits while others will trail behind. Alongside the business and finance case for renewable energy, he provides a timely illustration of the threat of catastrophic climate change and the perils of delay. A short and powerful guide to our energy present and future, this book makes it clear that, from both economic and environmental perspectives, there is no time to lose.

  • Creators

  • Series

    Columbia University Earth Institute Sustainability Primers

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    January 1, 2019

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9780231547529

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9780231547529
      • File size: 5579 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Kirkus

      Starred review from November 1, 2018
      A concise analysis of the complex issues surrounding the world's transition to renewable sources of energy.While the voices of partisans are loud, emotional, and often irrational, Usher (Faculty Director/Tamer Center for Social Enterprise, Columbia Business School) is calm and devoted to the facts, reporting on the current market and noting trends. He describes his book as "a primer on the economic fundamentals driving the global transition to renewables," which is an apt description: He provides a compact source of information for the public, consumers, investors, and policymakers on the inevitable transition and its possible consequences. Putting renewables in perspective, Usher looks back at the transition from wood to coal and from coal-fired electricity to nuclear-powered (which he dismisses as a now diminishing option) and gas-powered electricity. Transitions, he points out, are driven largely by economics, they are often hampered and slow, and they have both positive and negative consequences. Much of the material here is from the author's courses at Columbia Business School. While nonstudents may find some of the formulas, graphs, and charts daunting, the text is generally straightforward and highly readable, and there is a useful glossary. Usher focuses on two particular sources of renewable energy: wind and solar, both of which, under currently available technologies, are unlimited and globally abundant. China and India, he demonstrates, are taking the lead in the transition; the five largest solar firms are located in these two countries, and China is now the world's single largest market for electric vehicles. The author also looks at the implications for oil-producing nations such as Saudi Arabia. The chapter on financing, which includes a discussion of the challenges and major hurdles, will be of special interest to investors. In the final chapter, Usher rightly stresses the inevitability of the transition and the need to accelerate the process.Balanced, articulate, and informative.

      COPYRIGHT(2018) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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