Energy Economics : Markets, History and Policy

Three quarters of our current electricity usage and transport methods are derived from fossil fuels and yet within two centuries these resources will dry up. __Energy Economics__ covers the role of each fossil and renewable energy source in today’s world, providing the information and tools that will enable students to understand the finite nature of fossil fuels and the alternative solutions that are available. This textbook provides detailed examinations of key energy sources – both fossil fuels and renewables including oil, coal, solar, and wind power – and summarises how the current economics of energy evolved. Subsequent chapters explore issues around policy, technology and the possible future for each type of energy. In addition to this, readers are introduced to controversial topics including fracking and global warming in dedicated chapters on climate change and sustainability. Each chapter concludes with a series of tasks, providing example problems and projects in order to further explore the proposed issues. An accompanying companion website contains extensive additional material on the history of the major types of fuel as well as technical material relating to oil exploration, the development of solar power and historical environmental legislation. This textbook is an essential text for those who study energy economics, resource economics or energy policy. "Originally published in 1973, this book synthesizes the mass of material into an introduction to the study of spatial systems. Geographic literature of the time stressed the influence of the distance between places on both location decision-making and movement patterns, arguing that the spatial system is an ordered set of interacting locations. This system is created by human decisions, influenced by the distance factor, and the system's morphology constrains further activities, including those which would alter it. Spatial Structures outlines the development of such systems, their present organization, and the ways in which they are changing. These themes are dealt with in three main chapters which focus on different spatial scales - the individual city, the nation state and the international system, within a simple classification of spatially organized activities."--Provided by publisher Three quarters of our current electricity usage and transport methods are derived from fossil fuels and yet within two centuries these resources will dry up. This book covers the role of each fossil and renewable energy source in today's world, providing the information and tools that will enable students to understand the finite nature of fossil fuels and the alternative solutions that are available 1. Energy economics and policy -- 2. Electricity and utility industry -- 3. Biomass -- 4. Coal -- 5. The story of big oil -- 6. Oil -- 7. Natural gas -- 8. Nuclear and hydropower -- 9. Solar and wind power and their storage -- 10. Hydrogen economy, geothermal and ocean power, and climate change -- 11. Environment and energy sustainability