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Understanding the chemistry underlying sustainable energy is central to any long-term solution. This text introduces a broad array of advanced chemistry topics relevant to sustainable energy research and elucidates the application of these topics with examples from the primary literature. It examines promising areas of energy conversion, namely, wind power, fuel cells, solar photovoltaics, and biomass conversion processes, as well as next-generation nuclear power.
This book also covers topics tied to understanding the chemistry of sustainable energy, including fossil fuels, thermodynamics, polymers, hydrogen generation and storage, and carbon capture.
List of contents
Energy Basics. Fossil Fuels. Thermodynamics. Polymers and Sustainable Energy. Catalysis and Hydrogen Production. Fuel Cells. Solar Photovoltaics. Biomass. Nuclear Energy. Closing Remarks. Appendix I: SI Units and Prefixes. Appendix II: Unit Conversions. Appendix III: Electricity: Units and Equations. Appendix IV: Fossil Fuel Units and Abbreviations. Appendix V: Important Constants. Appendix VI: Acronyms.
About the author
Professor Nancy E. Carpenter obtained her Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Northwestern University under the guidance of Professor Anthony G.M. Barrett. After a postdoctoral appointment with Professor Larry Overman at the University of California, Irvine, she came to the University of Minnesota, Morris, a four-year public liberal arts campus on the prairies of west-central Minnesota. Her research interests have spanned a diverse range of areas, from synthetic organometallic methodology to environmental remediation of chlorinated ethylenes and exploration of biodiesel from oilseeds and algae. She has been recognized with two teaching awards at the undergraduate level and was a co-recipient of the 2012 ACS-CEI Award for Incorporating Sustainability into Chemistry Education.
Summary
Understanding the chemistry underlying sustainable energy is central to any long-term solution to meeting our future energy needs. Chemistry of Sustainable Energy presents chemistry through the lens of several sustainable energy options, demonstrating the breadth and depth of research being carried out to address issues of sustainability and the global energy demand. The author, an organic chemist, reinforces fundamental principles of chemistry as they relate to renewable or sustainable energy generation throughout the book.
Written with a qualitative, structural bias, this survey text illustrates the increasingly interdisciplinary nature of chemistry research with examples from the literature to provide relevant snapshots of how solutions are developed, providing a broad foundation for further exploration. It examines those areas of energy conversion that show the most promise of achieving sustainability at this point, namely, wind power, fuel cells, solar photovoltaics, and biomass conversion processes. Next-generation nuclear power is addressed as well.
This book also covers topics related to energy and energy generation that are closely tied to understanding the chemistry of sustainable energy, including fossil fuels, thermodynamics, polymers, hydrogen generation and storage, and carbon capture. It offers readers a broad understanding of relevant fundamental chemical principles and in-depth exposure to creative and promising approaches to sustainable energy development.
Additional text
"… a useful resource for faculty teaching chemistry students who are unsure about what specialty they would like to explore more deeply or for specialty courses on the topic. … Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through researchers/faculty."—D. H. Stedman, University of Denver in CHOICE Magazine
"Overall, the book is concise and easy to follow for readers with an understanding of A-level chemistry or above. It will be a valuable and handy reference to various stakeholders of energy technologies, including policy makers, company managers, postgraduate students, school teachers and even some energy specialists."—Reviewed by George Chen in Chemistry World
