Renewable and Efficient Electric Power Systems

Book Description

This is a comprehensive textbook for the new trend of distributed power generation systems and renewable energy sources in electric power systems. It covers the complete range of topics from fundamental concepts to major technologies as well as advanced topics for power consumers.

An Instructor's Manual presenting detailed solutions to all the problems in the book is available from the Wiley editorial department.

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Customer Reviews:

An Important Book on Renewable Electric Power Systems.......2006-01-11

Here is a book that is needed by those (especially engineers) interested in energy systems for the future. It has broad coverage and yet enough depth to allow design of new systems. Professor Masters' casual writing style and his sense of humor make the book fun to read.

The book covers wind systems, photovoltaic cells(PV) and PV systems, distributed generation (concentrating solar power, microhydro, fuel cells, biomass), and economics of renewable electric power generation and comparison with conventional thermal power plants. This book is important as the engineering world moves into the era of rising energy prices and is compelled to provide alternatives to fossil and nuclear fueled generation. There are abundant very helpful examples worked out in the text.

We used this book in a one semester introduction to renewable power taught as an elective for senior and first year graduate students. Since this was the first time the course was taught by the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the University of NH, and our first time through the book, the course covered only a subset of chapters.

The book provides solid engineering background for topics discussed in applied "how to" books on renewable energy systems. It will appeal to that person who wants deeper understanding of principles. The ideas - both theoretical and practical - are carefully developed.

We read a good number of the problems at the end of the chapters we covered and assigned a subset of those. We found the book problems to be very enlightening and carefully thought out. Many of the problems provided profound insight and preparation for understanding and using the material studied. Even the first chapter on basic electrical and magnetic circuits has problems involving models for photovoltaic modules.

Michael J. Carter, Associate Professor of ECE at UNH
Filson H. Glanz, Professor Emeritus of ECE at UNH

A gem of a book.......2005-09-08

Gil Masters is a master teacher, as every page in this book makes clear. The best summary is found in the preface:

"Engineering for sustainability is an emerging theme for the twenty-first century, and the need for more environmentally benign electric power systems is a critical part of this new thrust. Renewable energy systems that take advantage of energy sources that won't diminish over time and are independent of fluctuations in price and availability are playing an ever-increasing role in modern power systems. Wind farms in the United States and Europe have become the fastest growing source of electric power; solar-powered photovoltaic systems are entering the marketplace; fuel cells that will generate electricity without pollution are on the horizon. Moreover, the newest fossil-fueled power plants approach twice the efficiency of the old coal burners that they are replacing while emitting only a tiny fraction of the pollution.

There are compelling reasons to believe that the traditional system of large, central power stations connected to their customers by hundreds or thousands of miles of transmission lines will likely be supplemented and eventually replaced with cleaner, smaller plants located closer to their loads. Not only do such distributed generation systems reduce transmission line losses and costs, but the potential to capture and utilize waste heat on site greatly increases their overall efficiency and economic advantages. Moreover, distributed generation systems offer increased reliability and reduced threat of massive and widespread power failures of the sort that blacked out much of the northeastern United States in the summer of 2003.

It is an exciting time in the electric power industry, worldwide. New technologies on both sides of the meter leading to structural changes in the way that power is provided and used, an emerging demand for electricity in the developing countries where some two billion people now live without any access to power, and increased attention being paid to the environmental impacts of power production are all leading to the need for new books, new courses, and a new generation of engineers who will find satisfying, productive careers in this newly transformed industry.

This book has been written primarily as a textbook for new courses on renewable and efficient electric power systems. It has been designed to encourage self-teaching by providing numerous completely worked examples throughout. Virtually every topic that lends itself to quantitative analysis is illustrated with such examples. Each chapter ends with a set of problems that provide added practice for the student and that should facilitate the preparation of homework assignments by the instructor.

While the book has been written with upper division engineering students in mind, it could easily be moved up or down in the curriculum as necessary. Since courses covering this subject are initially likely to have to stand more or less on their own, the book has been written to be quite self-sufficient. That is, it includes some historical, regulatory, and utility industry context as well as most of the electricity, thermodynamics, and engineering economy background needed to understand these new power technologies.

Engineering students want to use their quantitative skills, and they want to design things. This text goes well beyond just introducing how energy technologies work; it also provides enough technical background to be able to do first-order calculations on how well such systems will actually perform. That is, for example, given certain windspeed characteristics, how can we estimate the energy delivered from a wind turbine? How can we predict solar insolation and from that estimate the size of a photovoltaic system needed to deliver the energy needed by a water pump, a house, or an isolated communication relay station? How would we size a fuel cell to provide both electricity and heat for a building, and at what rate would hydrogen have to be supplied to be able to do so? How would we evaluate whether investments in these systems are rational economic decisions? That is, the book is quantitative and applications oriented with an emphasis on resource estimation, system sizing, and economic evaluation."

Conservation Design for Subdivisions: A Practical Guide To Creating Open Space Networks

Average customer rating:

Look closer: Are these model plans REALLY sprawl alternatives?
More people need to read this book!
Should be a guide for the future of subdivisions!
excellent reference guide that will help combat urban sprawl
this book is a blueprint for land development of the future.

Conservation Design for Subdivisions: A Practical Guide To Creating Open Space Networks
Randall G. Arendt
Manufacturer: Island Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1559634898

Book Description

In most communities, land use regulations are based on a limited model that allows for only one end result: the production of more and more suburbia, composed of endless subdivisions and shopping centers, that ultimately covers every bit of countryside with "improvements." Fortunately, sensible alternatives to this approach do exist, and methods of developing land while at the same time conserving natural areas are available.

In Conservation Design for Subdivisions, Randall G. Arendt explores better ways of designing new residential developments than we have typically seen in our communities. He presents a practical handbook for residential developers, site designers, local officials, and landowners that explains how to implement new ideas about land-use planning and environmental protection. Abundantly illustrated with site plans (many of them in color), floor plans, photographs, and renditions of houses and landscapes, it describes a series of simple and straightforward techniques that allows for land-conserving development.

The author proposes a step-by-step approach to conserving natural areas by rearranging density on each development parcel as it is being planned so that only half (or less) of the buildable land is turned into houselots and streets. Homes are built in a less land-consumptive manner that allows the balance of property to be permanently protected and added to an interconnected network of green spaces and green corridors. Included in the volume are model zoning and subdivision ordinance provisions that can help citizens and local officials implement these innovative design ideas.

Customer Reviews:

Look closer: Are these model plans REALLY sprawl alternatives?.......2005-11-09

Check out some of the final subdivision design parameters on page 87. While other reviewers might benefit from the author's justified concern for conserving open space--especially in communities where cookie-cutter style developers 'rule the Board', the end result for some of the plans in this work APPEARS to be large-lot American sprawl, with ecological considerations that don't go far enough. Perhaps Arendt's GROWING GREENER, which I've not seen, will get us closer(?)

More people need to read this book!.......2002-02-08

What a concept! Rather than trying to get the most acreage per lot, make smaller lots with more shared open space. A must read for every developer, planning board, and zoning commition. Easy to follow examples show how to preserve historic and environmental features while adding to the value of the land that is developed.

Should be a guide for the future of subdivisions!.......1999-07-03

If we developed land in the manner the author teaches, America would look so much nicer! A very common sense approach to maintain rural character in an area and stop sprawl from destroying your area. Every developer, planner, new home buyer, builder, conservationist and private citizen should read this and also buy the author's book, "Rural By Design".

excellent reference guide that will help combat urban sprawl.......1999-02-27

Cheers for Randall G. Arendt, et al. For years my government agency has been fighting a loosing battle in Florida with unmanaged and unfettered urban growth. It seemed as though nothing could stem the tide of urban sprawl until two things happened. One was an election of a more centralist government and the other was the introduction of "designing for conservation" into our policy making levels. This concept was brought into clear focus by Arendt's book. The authors not only presented a practical and economically sound guide for growth that can benefit developers, but the reference can act as a mechanism to help preserve the environmental cohesiveness of any community. The policy makers in our community were so impressed with this book that fifteen (15) copies were purchased to be placed into the hands of influential politicians, developers and regulatory agencies.

this book is a blueprint for land development of the future........1999-02-08

As a land developer this book brought into focus the problems that haave been growing as more and more of the land in my area has been consumed, and we have less and less to develop. At first I thought it would be another environmental tirade against land development,but instead realised it was a very practical and economically sound guide for development that would benefit me and also help maintain the character of my community. Arendt's concern is for the environment and the preservation of open spaces and connective corridors of space and natural habitat between differing parcels of land in a given area. His solutions achieve these goals, but of special interest to me as a developer is that his solutions also mean no loss of density, reduced costs and higher land values. Excellent illustrations, easy to understand and worth the price many times over.

Average customer rating:

Saving the Earth does not get much easier than this
What a wonderful book!
Useful, Delightful, Hopeful
Washington, DC loves it!
What Can I Do? An Alphabet for Living

What Can I Do?: An Alphabet For Living
Lisa Harrow
Manufacturer: Chelsea Green Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1931498660

Book Description

What Can I Do? provides you with many suggestions for responsible living as well as web resources that give detailed information on how to take each step.

Customer Reviews:

Saving the Earth does not get much easier than this.......2005-04-20

Most people want to do whatever they can to make the world a better place and protect the Earth. For them, marching in demonstrations or engaging in direct action is not an option. What to do? In subjects ranging from Air to Water to Food to Global Warming, this book lists many web sites with more information to get the reader involved in protecting the environment.

Perhaps the reader just wants to find out what sort of recycling facilities are in their town. One of their first stops should be to www.earth911.org. To look for reusable or biodegradable diapers, visit www.organicbebe.com. The Wildlife Conservation Society (www.wcs.org) has a very distinguished record in conserving endangered species. For those who have compost heaps, Starbucks will give you their coffee grounds. Details are at www.starbucks.com/aboutus/compost, or talk to your local manager.

A handy wallet card on produce and pesticides called "The Shopper's Guide to Pesticides" (bring it with you when shopping) is available from www.foodnews.org. A good site on global warming is www.climatestar.org. The Busy Person's Guide to Greener Living can be found at www.greenmatters.com. Do you have stuff you no longer need that someone else may want? Before that trip to the landfill, visit www.freecycle.org. Adopt a lobster (and help ensure a continued supply of lobsters) at www.lobsters.org, the Lobster Conservancy.

This is a wonderful book. It's small (it really can fit in your back pocket), it's well laid out, and the reader can pick their level of involvement. It is very highly recommended. Saving the environment does not get much easier than this.

What a wonderful book!.......2004-11-16

This little book is simply amazing! It is a wealth of information,contacts and web sites regarding the environment and ways we can do our part to help. It is like the spark of desire, that hopefully, ignites the fire of action, encouraging us to seek out and "embrace a more environmentally friendly lifestyle". It is witty, informative and easy to navigate. A perfect gift and an exceptional manual for a meaningful life.

Useful, Delightful, Hopeful.......2004-11-09

As is the list of environmental problems so overwhelming and the scale so global, so is the feeling that one person can't make a difference. And, even in the trying, the choices are so many and the information so contradictory, that it's hard to know where to start. Here, at last, is the logical successor to "50 Simple Things...," better, more evolved, and yet easier. A wealth of choices that can be tailored to match what you feel you CAN do now, what you MIGHT feel you can do later, and what you SHOULD be telling your friends-- in short, a compendium of answers on a scale that any of us can comprehend.

Washington, DC loves it!.......2004-11-05

Whether you are young or old, rich or poor, environmentally challenged or conscious, teacher or student, computer savvy or not - you will like this book. It provides real-life resources and contacts, anecdotal examples and insight on how YOU, the reader, can easily help sustain Mother Earth. Great for students of all ages!

What Can I Do? An Alphabet for Living.......2004-11-01

This handy little book is a wealth of information for those of us interested in helping ourselves and our families live more wholesomely and also in connecting with a ready network of concerned companies who are at the cutting edge of reinstating respect for our wonderful planet and all its inhabitants.

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Mobile Ad Hoc Networks
Heinzelman
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Contemporary Communication Systems Using MATLAB

ASIN: 1402046324

Book Description

A Mobile Ad Hoc Network (MANET) is an autonomous system of mobile nodes connected by wireless links to form a communication network. The challenge in the design of protocol architectures for MANETs is to provide a certain level of Quality of Service (QoS) in information transfer using the limited network resources, namely energy and bandwidth. This design goal is further constrained by the unreliable physical channel, the mobility of the nodes, and the lack of infrastructure for network coordination. To meet the QoS requirements for real-time data communication, some coordination of the channel is needed, but centralized coordination is not feasible in MANETs. Furthermore, since a MANET is a dynamic, distributed entity, the optimal control of such a system should also be dynamic and adaptive. This book presents the Time Reservation using Adaptive Control for Energy Efficiency (TRACE) family of protocol architectures that provide such dynamic coordinated channel access in a distributed manner, enabling energy-efficient, real-time data communications in MANETs. Furthermore, this book provides an introduction to the fundamentals of MANETs, an overview of protocols for each layer of the protocol stack, and a discussion of the issues involved with energy-efficient protocol design and quality of service for real-time data transmission.

Internet Guide to Birds and Birding: The Ultimate Directory to the Best Sites Online

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A Thousand Bird Sites

Internet Guide to Birds and Birding: The Ultimate Directory to the Best Sites Online
Jack Sanders
Manufacturer: International Marine Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0071353240

Book Description

Go Birding on the World Wide Web!

This one-of-a-kind guide quickly puts the very best bird-watching resources of the Internet at your disposal.

For both backyard birders and globe-trotting birding enthusiasts, this treasury describes more than 1,000 great websites, forums, and newsgroups--all related to birds and bird-watching and packed with information you can use to identify birds, hear bird songs, see birds in action, learn more about bird behavior and biology, plan a birding expedition--or simply surf for birding information on the World Wide Web.

Descriptions and reviews of every site direct you to the wealth of resources on the Internet. You'll find everything from plans for birdhouses to guidelines on choosing binoculars, sites devoted to specific birds such as raptors, waterfowl, backyard birds, and American bald eagles, interactive tours of online aviaries and lists of the hottest birding spots around the world--plus plentiful help with feeders, migrations, attracting birds--every imaginable avian activity.

Alphabetical listings by subject and a detailed index make any topic easy to find. Many sections, such as Audubon Societies & Sanctuaries, Checklists, and Destinations, are arranged geographically to help you zero in on your area of interest. Bird illustrations, including John J. Audubon's famous drawings, contribute to the wealth of information found here.

"Jack Sanders has taken the guesswork out of finding bird-watching information on the Web, so keep this book within arm's reach of your mouse.

Communicate with Other Birders; rec.birds

Customer Reviews:

A Thousand Bird Sites.......2000-06-24

I am a casual birder, and found this book to be very valuable in increasing my knowledge of birds and birding, not so much for the books content itself, but what it directs you to. It is full of web sites devoted to birds, and gives a review of each site so you don't waste your time going to a site you may not be interested in. It is a valuable resource, not only for beginners, but for the advanced birder as well. I highly recommend it.

Integrating Biodiversity Conservation And Sustainable Use: Lessons Learned From Ecological Networks

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Integrating Biodiversity Conservation And Sustainable Use: Lessons Learned From Ecological Networks
Graham Bennett
Manufacturer: World Conservation Union
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Book Description

IUCNfs 5th World Parks Congress (2003) concluded that parks should not exist as unique islands, but need to be planned and managed as an integral part of the broader landscape. Ecological networks provide an operational model for conserving biodiversity that is based on ecological principles and allow a degree of human use of the landscape. This publication illustrates the development of several ecological networks around the world, demonstrating their benefits both for conservation and sustainable development.

Long-Term Dynamics of Lakes in the Landscape: Long-Term Ecological Research on North Temperate Lakes (The Long-Term Ecological Research Network Series)

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Long-Term Dynamics of Lakes in the Landscape: Long-Term Ecological Research on North Temperate Lakes (The Long-Term Ecological Research Network Series)

Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 019513690X

Book Description

This site-synthesis volume presents 20 years of work at the North Temperate Lakes Long-Term Research Site. It provides the definitive information base for the ecology of temperate lakes, and a general assessment of the role of lakes within their landscapes. The Wisconsin temperate lakes LTER site has had a major role in the growth of our modern limonological understanding, and this book also chronicles the history of this work. The book should be of interest to most American limonologists and a significant number of general ecologists.

Agroecology in Action: Extending Alternative Agriculture through Social Networks (Food, Health, and the Environment)

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Agroecology in Action: Extending Alternative Agriculture through Social Networks (Food, Health, and the Environment)
Keith Douglass Warner
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Book Description

American agriculture has doubled its use of pesticides since the publication of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring in 1962. Agriculture is the nation's leading cause of non-point-source water pollution--runoffs of pesticides, nutrients, and sediments into streams, rivers, lakes, and oceans. In Agroecology in Action, Keith Douglass Warner describes agroecology, an emerging scientific response to agriculture's environmental crises, and offers detailed case studies of ways in which growers, scientists, agricultural organizations, and public agencies have developed innovative, ecologically based techniques to reduce reliance on agrochemicals.

Agroecology in Action shows that agroecology can be put into action effectively only when networks of farmers, scientists, and other stakeholders learn together. Farmers and scientists and their organizations must work collaboratively to share knowledge--whether it is derived from farm, laboratory, or marketplace. This sort of partnership, writes Warner, has emerged as the primary strategy for finding alternatives to conventional agrochemical use. Warner describes successful agroecological initiatives in California, Iowa, Washington, and Wisconsin. California's vast and diverse specialty-crop agriculture has already produced 32 agricultural partnerships, and Warner pays particular attention to agroecological efforts in that state, including those under way in the pear, winegrape, and almond farming systems.

The book shows how popular concern about the health and environmental impacts of pesticides has helped shape agricultural environmental policy, and how policy has in turn stimulated creative solutions from scientists, extension agents, and growers.

Conservation Biological Control (Neural Network Systems Techniques & Applications)

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Conservation Biological Control (Neural Network Systems Techniques & Applications)

Manufacturer: Academic Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0120781476

Book Description

This volume is a comprehensive treatment of how the principles of ecology and conservation biology can be used to maximize biological control. Conservation Biological Control presents various means to modify or manipulate the environment to enhance the activities of natural enemies of pests. It establishes a conceptual link between ecology and the agricultural use of agents for biological control, and discusses both theoretical issues as well as practical management concerns. Certain to be interesting to ecologists and entomologists, this volume will also appeal to scientists, faculty, researchers and students interested in pest management, horticulture, plant sciences, and agriculture.

Key Features
* Contains chapters by an international team of leading authorities
* Establishes a conceptual link between ecology and the agricultural use of agents for biological control
* Discusses both theoretical issues as well as practical management concerns
* Provides specific examples of how conservation principles are used to maximize the biological control of pests

Continental Conservation: Scientific Foundations Of Regional Reserve Networks

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Continental Conservation: Scientific Foundations Of Regional Reserve Networks

Manufacturer: Island Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 155963698X

Book Description

The Wildlands Project is a far-reaching effort by scientists and activists to develop better ways of protecting nature, wilderness, and biodiversity. Its ultimate goal is to establish an effective network of nature reserves throughout North America-core conservation areas linked by corridors, and buffered, where appropriate, by lands that may also serve economic objectives.

Continental Conservation represents the work of thirty leading experts-including Michael Soulé, John Terborgh, Reed Noss, Paul Paquet, Dan Simberloff, Rodolfo Dirzo, J. Michael Scott, Andrew Dobson, and others-brought together by The Wildlands Project to examine the science underlying the design and management of these regional-scale networks. It provides conservationists and biologists with the latest scientific principles for protecting living nature at spatial scales that encompass entire regions and continents.

Following an opening chapter that sets the stage by introducing major themes and the scientific and policy background, the contributors:

consider scale in the identification, selection, and design of biological reserves
examine the role of top carnivores in regulating terrestrial ecosystems
suggest the need for a paradigm shift in the field of ecological restoration
consider the scientific details of implementing regional conservation in core areas, corridors, and in buffer zones
discuss the need for megareserves and how to design them

The book ends by challenging the reader, whether scientist or advocate, to commit more time to the effort of saving nature. The authors argue that the very survival of nature is at stake, and scientists can no longer afford to stand behind a wall of austere objectivity.

Continental Conservation is an important guidebook that can serve a vital role in helping fashion a radically honest, scientifically rigorous land-use agenda. It will be required reading for scientists and professionals at all levels involved with ecosystem and land management.

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