Alternative Energy
ISBN: 9780313344855
Platform/Publisher: Ebook Central / Bloomsbury Publishing US
Digital rights: Users: Unlimited; Printing: Limited; Download: 7 Days at a Time
Subjects: Economics; Engineering; Engineering: Mechanical; Environmental Studies;

An exceptionally timely volume that weighs the costs and benefits of alternative energy sources and their implications for reducing energy consumption. As this book makes clear, civilization cannot long continue to ride on an oil slick. Worldwide, many people have come to see dependence on coal, and especially on oil, not only as unsustainable, but as profoundly destabilizing, both environmentally and politically. While ever-increasing demands continue to be placed on "mainstream" energy sources, recurring attempts have been made to generate power in "alternative" ways. After retracing some of these efforts, this succinct and historically informed volume explores the ongoing debate over alternative energy that gathered strength in the 20th century, showing how that debate mirrors larger attitudes toward energy and consumption. Like other volumes in this series, Alternative Energy is designed to provide material for student reports and debate arguments. It is an outstanding sourcebook for those interested in investigating the problems and prospects of alternative fuels.

Brian C. Black is associate professor in the departments of history and environmental studies at Pennsylvania State University, Altoona, PA. He is the author of the Greenwood's Nature and the Environment in Nineteenth-Century American Life (2006) and Nature and the Environment in Twentieth-Century American Life (2006). Richard Flarend is associate professor of physics at Pennsylvania State University, Altoona, PA.

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