Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

This four-volume set, edited by a leading expert in the field, brings together in one collection a series of papers that have been fundamental to the development of renewable energy as a defined discipline. Some of the papers were first published many years ago, but they remain classics in their fields and retain their relevance to the understanding of current issues. The papers have been selected with the assistance of an eminent international editorial board. The set includes a general introduction and each volume is introduced by a new overview essay, placing the selected papers in context. The range of subject matter is considerable, including coverage of all the main renewable technologies, the fundamental principles by which they function, and the issues around their deployment such as planning, integration and socio-economic assessment.

Overall, the set provides students, teachers and researchers, confronted with thousands of journal articles, book chapters and grey literature stretching back decades, with a ready-made selection of and commentary on the most important key writings in renewable energy. It will be an essential reference for libraries concerned with energy, technology and the environment.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

In this fourth title in the "Earthscan Reference Collections" series, editor Srrensen (emer., Roskilde Univ., Denmark) has compiled a collection of selected published articles on different forms and aspects of renewable energy. Each volume starts with a general introduction by the editor, and the four-volume set has a separate overview at the beginning of the first volume. Volume 1, Renewable Energy Origins and Flows, reviews the history of the use of renewable energy, discusses renewable energy resources around the globe, and investigates the issue of energy demand. Volume 2, Renewable Energy Technologies I, focuses on solar power (electricity and heat). Most of the third volume, Renewable Energy Technologies II, is devoted to wind power and biofuel, and ends with a brief discussion of hydropower, wave, and tidal energy. The final volume, Renewable Energy in Society, begins with a discussion of integrated approaches when two or more technologies combine to provide power. The rest and major part of this last volume addresses the economic and environmental impacts of renewable energy, along with policy and planning. These previously published articles have been carefully selected, but since each individual paper follows its own style, notation, and definitions, the transition from one article to the next is not smooth. Further, since selected papers are scientific articles, the general public and individuals with no background in the various subjects will find them difficult to understand. Most articles are old (many papers from the 1970s and even one from the 1940s), and the graphs in these older papers are sometimes illegible. These volumes may be of value to universities and research centers with limited or no access to journal publications, but they are of no immediate importance for scientific research or as a source of information for general readers. Summing Up: Optional. Comprehensive research and professional collections in renewable energy. M. Alam Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Bent Sörensen is professor emeritus at Roskilde University. He has held academic positions at Universities of New South Wales (Australia), Grenoble (France), Yale and Berkeley (USA) and Kyoto (Japan), and been technical director of Denmark's largest engineering firm. He has served as advisor for OECD and several governments and UN agencies, and was a lead author for the IPCC Second Assessment Report.