Book description
In the years since the publication of the first edition of this book,
the world has undergone drastic changes in terms of energy sources.
This is reflected in the expansion of this second edition from 20 to
26 chapters. The most dramatic occurrence was the Tsunami which struck
Japan in March of 2011 and set off a reactor catastrophe at the
nuclear power plants in Fukushima. On the other hand fossil fuel
technology drives the climate change to a threatening level. So,
renewable energy sources are essential for the 21st century. The
increasing number of wind power plants, solar collectors and
photovoltaic installations demonstrates perceptibly that many
innovations for tapping renewable energy sources have matured: very
few other technologies have developed so dynamically in the past years.
Nearly all the chapters were written by professionals in the
respective fields. That makes this book an especially valuable and
reliable source of information. The second edition is extended by
several new chapters such as tidal power stations, the Desertec
project, thermography of buildings and more. Furthermore, the critical
debate about current first generation bio-fuels is carefully
reflected, and the book presents promising solutions that do not trade
in food for fuel.
The editors are experienced journalists and illustrate the text with
simple diagrams and information boxes, printed in full-color throughout.
A valuable resource for applied physicists, engineers in power
technology, engineers, and anyone interested in natural sciences.
Roland Wengenmayr
is science journalist and editor of the journal "Physik in unserer
Zeit". He studied physics in Darmstadt, with a temporary stay at
the European research laboratory CERN in Geneva. After the diploma he
worked as an engineer in the chemical plant construction then he moved
on to the publishing house Wiley-VCH, where he worked as commissioning
editor for physics and physical chemistry. Today he writes for prominent
newspapers on topics like e. g. renewable energy.
Thomas Bührke
is science journalist, editor of the journal "Physik in unserer
Zeit", and author of several popular science books within the
ranges of physics and astrophysics. He studied Physics at the
universities of Göttingen and Heidelberg and attained there a doctorate
at the Max-Planck Institute for Astronomy. Subsequently, he changed to
the publishing house Wiley VCH, where he started as an editor of the
journal "Physikalischen Blätter" (now: "Physik
Journal") and later changed to "Physik in unserer Zeit".
