Table of Contents
Introduction 1
Part I: The Basic Facts of Energy Life 9
Chapter 1: What a Mess! 11
Chapter 2: What Energy Is and How It’s Used (Politically and Practically) 25
Chapter 3: Putting Together Each Piece of the Energy Puzzle 37
Part II: Digging Deeper into the Current State of Affairs 57
Chapter 4: Developing a Snapshot of Fossil Fuel Use and Availability 59
Chapter 5: Burning Up with Conventional Energy Sources 73
Chapter 6: The First Alternative-Energy Sources: Efficiency and Conservation 95
Chapter 7: Understanding the Demand For Alternatives 113
Part III: Alternatives — Buildings 127
Chapter 8: Going Nuclear 129
Chapter 9: Harnessing the Sun with Solar Power 151
Chapter 10: Treading Water with Hydropower 177
Chapter 11: Blowing Away with Wind Power 191
Chapter 12: Digging into Geothermal 207
Chapter 13: Exploring Biomass 221
Chapter 14: Burning Wood 235
Chapter 15: Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technologies 249
Part IV: Alternatives — Transportation 261
Chapter 16: Alternative Transport Technologies 263
Chapter 17: Alternative-Fuel Vehicles 271
Chapter 18: Plugging In: Electric Vehicles 283
Chapter 19: Hybrid-Electric Vehicles 297
Chapter 20: Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Vehicles 307
Chapter 21: Exotic Propulsion Systems 315
Part V: The Part of Tens 325
Chapter 22: Ten or So Myths about Energy 327
Chapter 23: Ten-Plus Ways to Invest in an Alternative-Energy Future 335
Index 343
