Saturday, May 15, 2010

Alternative Energy For Dummies

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Tuesday, May 11, 2010, 16:46
This news item was posted in Green Traveling category and has 5 Comments so far.

Product DescriptionGet the truth about alternative energy and make it part of your life Want to utilize cleaner, greener types of energy? This plain-English guide clearly explains the popular forms of alternative energy that you can use in your home, your car, and more. Separating myth from fact, this resource explores the current fossil fuel conundrum, the benefits of alternatives, and the energy of the future, such as hydrogen and fuel cell technology. The ABCs of alt. . . More >>

Alternative Energy For Dummies

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5 Responses to “Alternative Energy For Dummies”

  1. Gregg Lowney said on Tuesday, May 11, 2010, 17:47

    The book’s very sloppy in content and style. It was to read paragraphs that I try to find seven or eight times, and what part was left out of the message to the author. There are “facts” in the text, not to pass the giggle test included. It might seem, there are many keywords that are missing, little evidence that establishes a series Millions of tons and not metric tons. Of course, the correct answer could “billion”, the text offers no Ahnung.Der author begins the book with the statement that he will be “neutral” on the issue of anthropogenic global considerations rmung, and then through the whole book takes every opportunity to find alternative energy sources to AGW-Link – with a focus on carbon emissions, which he always refers to as “greehouse gases.” I love the Dummies series, and have far-& # XFC; about a dozen in my library. This is the first that really disappointed me. A decent editor with knowledge of the subject could sein.Rating it resolved: 5.1

  2. David Gurgel said on Tuesday, May 11, 2010, 17:48

    I am a professional engineer with degrees in mechanical and nuclear engineering. I specialize in energy systems for building heating, cooling, and lighting. I have forty years of work experience. This book with twenty-three chapters and 362 pages covers pretty much the full range of alternative energy options that are commercially available or nearly so for consumers. The technical level seems to me about what one would expect for articles in Parade, the Sunday newspaper supplement. Diagrams are few and very simple. (There is nothing wrong with writing for this level of reader. )

    Certainly a qualitative discussion of how alternative systems work and what advantages they bring is helpful, but even an interested high school physics student would be looking for more technical content. The book’s cover has as the first objective learning to “evaluate the various forms of alternative energy,” but evaluation (a comparison of alternatives for example) requires thermodynamic and other technical facts and energy and system cost data far beyond those presented in this book.

    After reading this book you will be able to describe in general terms (but certainly not engineering terms) the various alternatives; but you will have little basis for comparisons and selections.

    The book has many technical mistakes. For example, the book states, “According to Carnot’s law, these smaller power generating machines can never achieve the efficiencies of the massive power plants. . . ” He is speaking here of the Carnot thermodynamic cycle; but that “law” says nothing at all about the size of the system. Carnot (French engineer, 1796 – 1832) found that the theoretical efficiency of an engine operating on the Carnot thermodynamic cycle depends only on the temperatures of the hot and cold reservoirs.

    Describing a nuclear reactor the books says, “so there is a need to constantly keep feeding in new uranium material in order to keep the consistent, steady flow of energy that is desired from a nuclear reactor. ” Nuclear reactors powering electrical generating stations or naval vessels control the power output by raising and lowering neutron-absorbing control rods. New nuclear material is added only during refueling, which take place every year or two while the reactor is shut down.

    The book states that steam is produced in a nuclear power plant in “the boiler (this is similar to the boilers used for fossil fuels. ) The steam in a nuclear plant is produced in a steam generator that is far different in design than a fossil fuel boiler.

    The book states, “Some reactors don’t allow the water to boil; they keep it under high pressure and use that pressure to spin the turbine. ” In every common reactor system, the water that cools the reactor in the end produces steam. For example high pressure water that goes through the reactor in a pressurized water reactor turns lower pressure water in a separate circuit into steam in the steam generator, which is just a big water to water heat exchanger. All turbines that drive generators in reactor plants are steam turbines.

    All of us must start with simple descriptions of new things. But one can not stop there if one wants to make accurate decisions. It is not common sense or higher moral values that drive innovation, but rigorous and often difficult engineering together with a knowledge of the economics of energy markets and knowledge of systems installation costs and operating costs.

    Rating: 3 / 5

  3. Arnold R. Thompson said on Tuesday, May 11, 2010, 18:08

    This is a very informative book. I may not do much of it but any energy savings is good for me and the planet.
    Rating: 5 / 5

  4. Good Book Guy said on Tuesday, May 11, 2010, 18:45

    Alternative Energy For Dummies is a thoughtful and intelligent look at the current state of affairs and future possibilities of the various alternatives to our current dependence on fossil fuels introduced. Far from a polemic expousing * the * solution DeGunther has a book that explores the unique advantages and disadvantages of each alternative – including nuclear energy – from an environmental, social, political and produced a financial perspective. Not your standard how-to-type book from the Dummies, but still a winner. Rating: 5.5

  5. Lloyd Long said on Tuesday, May 11, 2010, 19:30

    Several months ago I read an interesting National Geographic article on ethanol. I learned how Brazil’s motor vehicles run on ethanol, and how expensive it is to produce ethanol from corn.

    But where could I find a book covering the salient points on hydrogen fuel cells, coal, diesel engines, nuclear power, solar cells, maglev trains, wind power, geothermal heating, hybrid-electric vehicles, natural gas, and hydropower? And how does each energy source affect global warming and pollution?

    Alternative Energy for Dummies discusses all these topics and more in a very readable fashion and at an affordable price. I read the book from cover to cover.

    Rating: 5 / 5

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