Product Description
We are hearing a LOT about renewable energy these days! But unlike most available resources on alternative energy that focus on politics and economic impacts, da Rosa's practical guide, Fundamentals of Renewable Energy Processes, is dedicated to explaining the scientific and technological principles and processes that enable energy production from safe, renewable, clean sources. Advances in the renewable energy sphere are proceeding with an unprecedented speed, and in order for the world's alarming energy challenges to be solved, solid, up-to-date resources addressing the technical aspects of renewables are essential. This new, updated 2e of da Rosa's successful book continues to give readers all the background they need to gain a thorough understanding of the most popular types of renewable energy-hydrogen, solar power, biomass, wind power, and hydropower-from the ground up. The latest advances in all these technologies are given particular attention, and are carefully contextualized to help professionals and students grasp the "whys and hows" behind these breakthroughs. .Discusses how and why the most popular renewable energy sources work, including wind, solar, bio and hydrogen.Provides a thorough technical grounding for all professionals and students investigating renewable energy .The new second edition of a highly-regarded guide written by an internationally renowned pioneer

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.0 based on 23 reviews)

Not sure who this book is really for by A Customer (USA)

2 Stars
November 19, 2009
First off, this book is a huge collection of scientific information on a lot of subjects which don't get detailed explanations in the news. If you want extremely detailed explanations, here they are. One problem with the book is that it is not for everyone to read. The product description makes it sound like something for almost anyone, but the content is all technical with very little generalized overview. The chapter(s) on Hydrogen are so lengthy, and Rosa goes so far in each chapter to assign us calculation homework. The sheer mass of detailed technical data may distract a layperson from the general fact that Hydrogen is only useful as a means of energy storage, unlike wind or solar power which actually let us capture unused energy as a replacement for petroleum. Within one of those chapters, Rosa makes a rather gratuitous comment about the future price of fuel cells, based entirely on a very generalized argument about production. But Rosa doesn't have any special knowledge of fuel cell or iron engine production (or at least he does not reveal any such fact here), so this is out of place in what otherwise appears to be a highly academic book. In addition to the inconsistent point of view (mass science vs. expert vs. opinion), it is unclear why anyone would want such formula-level information about so many subjects, but would not care that it lacks any skilled educational technique to help non-experts understand things. I could hardly recommend it to anyone. Even as a reference book, you are better off looking things up online for this sort of information than using printed text which ages.

Dense, by Abhinav Agarwal (Bangalore, India)

4 Stars
October 27, 2009
At over 800 pages, with ample equations, formulae, and technical descriptions, this is not a book to be read over a leisurely weekend. Be clear - this is an academic text, meant to be studied as part of a formal academic course. The author writes as much in the foreword to the second edition, "This book is based on class notes created in the teaching of Fundamentals of Energy Processes at Stanford since 1976." The book is divided into four sections: Part 1: "Heat Engines" Part 2: "The World of Hydrogen" Part 3: "Energy from the Sun" Part 4: "Wind and Water" Each chapter begins with an introduction to the topic, followed by an in-depth covering of the material, replete with diagrams, schematics (circuit diagrams for example), and formulae and equations. For example, Chapter 9, "Fuel Cells", the first chapter in the "The World of Hydrogen" section, we are introduced to the types of batteries: ................... | Expendable Voltaic cells ..... | Nonexpendable ...|.. Rechargeable ....................|..................|.. Refueable This is followed by an explanation of voltaic cells, with a schematic of a simple fuel cell, containing a cathode and an anode on two sides, and an ion conducting membrane in-between. The next section describes types of fuel cells, like Alkaline Fuel cells (AFC), Molten carbonate FC, Solid polymer FCs, etc... Fuel cell reactions are described next, with the equations describing the reactions. Each chapter has a list of references, and a list of questions and problems. The index comes in at an anemic 16 pages. For the non-technical or the lay reader, this book is of limited value, since only a small portion of each chapter is sufficiently simple enough, while the bulk of each chapter gets technical, rapidly.

Not lacking any theoretical by V. Ghazarian (New York)

4 Stars
October 12, 2009
Everything One Needs to Know on Fundamentals of Renewable Energy Processes and More! I work in the energy industry and I was interested in understanding the theory behind some specific renewable energy processes from an engineering perspective and this book delivered that in great depth. Each chapter focuses on a particular source of renewable energy and can be read independent of the previous chapters. This is a very good reference book and a lot more than the typical books on renewable energy which are usually primers. But to be completely fair I must say, that I lack the engineering expertise to really comment on the quality and accuracy of the material.

Not the Book For Which You're Looking by Tom D (Columbus, OH United States)

1 Stars
September 19, 2009
Whether you think this book has any value relative to its price is going to depend on your definition of Fundamentals. The core content consists of the very basic, and in some cases closer to conceptual, physics and engineering equations that characterize the forms of renewable energy discussed. You will need a math background through differential equations to be comfortable with these. The first of two redeeming characteristics is that it includes at least some of the basics of thermodynamics, electronics and chemistry as they relate to alternate forms of energy. Normally these would be in separate books. Nevertheless, a user/reader will need at least one undergraduate course in each of these topics as well as the math background to have any hope of applying the equations. In a few cases, such as photovoltaic semiconductors and wind turbines, the technical minutia is more appropriate to a dedicated text. As the author writes, "Economics are crucial to the success of any energy utilization system,..." (p625) yet the economics of renewable energy are only mentioned in passing where examples of historical costs or project cost estimates are available from other sources. The promising ethanol plants around the US aren't mothballed in bankruptcy because of technology; it's the economics that are fundamental. There's a caveat in the forward to this second edition that pretty well sets it up. "By discussing fundamentals more than the state of art, it is hoped to delay the obsolescence of this writing, especially in this time of very fast evolution of ideas." So understand up front there's no pretext of including anything that's state of the art and arguably not much that's state of the current market. The examples and thoughts seem to be largely at least ten to twenty years old. Arguably "fundamentals" don't change, but enough has changed to make portions of the text obsolete. Again as an example the author cites and old NASA study on Solar Power Satellites (now called Space Based Solar Power) stating "All told, the SPS study did not lead to any major practical application but one can learn from it." The technology has changed to the point that private corporations (Powersat and Solaren, see Wall Street Journal 16 JUN 09) expect to provide commercially viable space based solar power. (see also adAstra, Spring, 2008). Similarly, California's Solar Two is briefly mentioned, but the technologies and economics of thermal solar have changed yet Nevada's Solar One isn't even mentioned, nor are all the operating solar thermal plants in Spain. And some of the content, in the context of being "fundamentals" is perplexing. Twenty pages on measuring time and orbital mechanics could only be useful at a precision in calculations that's so far beyond the variability in practical applications that it's useless. Forty pages on gasoline engines, even if it does set the stage for hybrid engines doesn't make sense when a little over one page (538-539) is spent on "High Temperature Solar Heat Engine[s]," which are emerging as one of the more practical forms for converting solar energy to electricity. Even that one page is woefully incomplete on key issues. Solar thermal has inherent advantages with respect to storage and operating efficiency over a broader range of insolation than solar photovotaics but neither advantage is mentioned. The second almost redeeming characteristic is the technical material in the chapter on fuel cells. The economics are still missing as are some of the important operating details. For example, a solid oxide fuel cell may require a couple of days to bring up to capacity so the thermal gradients don't cause self destruction. And there are practical limits to the overall output for each fuel cell type. So, a hydrogen fuel cell that can deliver almost instantaneous output may not be practical for a passenger vehicle because can't deliver sufficient specific horsepower to be practical. There's one passing paragraph on algae (alga in the text). Yet over 40 pages on the technical details of theoretical semiconductor photovoltaics. In the end you'll know virtually nothing about algae from the text and though you may know that "Photovoltaic (PV) cells exposed to monochromatic light can theoretically achieve 100% efficiency..." (p 632) you won't know what the practically achieved efficiencies are today either in working installations or in lab demos. The chapter on wind turbines is representative. It covers very, very basic fluid mechanics and the ubiquitous simplifying assumption of "constant velocity" wind. But you won't have any idea whether a propeller type wind turbine should have two, three, four or more blades. Height above ground and all the factors that go into sizing a wind turbine aren't mentioned. Even the basics, such as the available wind power at 150 feet above the ground is 2 to 3 times that of ground level isn't mentioned. You won't have any idea, nor the "fundamentals" to begin to decide whether one large wind turbine makes more sense than say a series of smaller ones. And you won't have any notion of the issues related to connecting to the grid or the huge and constantly varying stresses that complicate wind turbine design and operations. It's incidental but there are some weird and indefensible statements in the text. "Mechanical and electrical energy are `noble' forms of energy: no entropy is associated with them." That will certainly surprise any mechanical engineering student after their first course in thermodynamics. At first pass it's tough to figure out what the target audience might be for this book. A close reading of the forward explains that it's used in a college course and then it all makes sense. The market is the hapless students who take the course and are required to use this incomplete and out-of-date text. The course material will need to be heavily supplemented to be of value. If I can find a way to donate this text to some student who has to take this class, it's theirs. It isn't worth the shelf space.

Interesting Text Book from a perspective of a non-engineer by Joseph J. Slevin (Carlsbad, CA United States)

4 Stars
September 17, 2009
Firstly, I am not an engineer, yet I decided I wanted to read and review this book due to the emergence and focus on alternative energy solutions for the future, not only for the US but the world. My focus was more on Wind, Solar and Water power, yet I was intrigued by the other power solutions that could become more affordable as time and research permits. Being that the book focuses on fundamentals, I was interested in the development from the simple solar cells to the make-up of the current solar processes. I have worked on optical communication device recruiting, and was very interested in how the technologies have similar foundations. My purpose, as much as is practicable is to be able to communicate with engineers and scientists on some of the technology, although I would not be capable as an engineer, at least learning and being exposed to phrases and concepts used in the renewable energy solutions is key. I could see this book easily in the library or desk tops of organizations that have a focus on more than one alternative energy source. Thanks for the opportunity to allow me to review this amongst a much more knowledgable audience.

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