Introduction to Renewable Energy

This book integrates economic, social, environmental, policy and engineering issues related to renewable energy. It covers fundamentals, including the transfer of energy, as well as the limitations of natural resources. Starting with solar power, the text illustrates how energy from the sun is transferred and stored; used for heating, cooling and lighting; collected and concentrated and converted into electricity. This new edition has been updated throughout and adds new information on bioenergy, energy balance, biodiesel, photovoltaic applications and climate change.

Vaughn C. Nelson, Phd, has been involved with renewable energy since the early 1970s. Dr. Vaughn has published numerous papers and is the author of three books and four CDs. His primary work has been on wind resource assessment, education and training, applied R&D, and rural applications of wind energy. He served on Texas state committees, most notably the Texas Energy Coordination Council and has received three awards from the American Wind Energy Association. His degrees include a PhD in physics from the University of Kansas; an EdM from Harvard University; and a BSE from Kansas State Teachers College, Emporia.

Kenneth Starcher has a BS in physics/computer science at West Texas State University (1980). He has served as a trainer at wind and solar training workshops locally, nationally, and internationally. He has also served as a consultant for wind companies in the United States and produced wind resources maps for counties, states, and in Thailand and Honduras. He served as a board member of the American Wind Energy Association, is in the executive board of Class 4 Winds and Renewables, and was awarded an Outstanding Wind Leadership Education Award from Wind Powering America in 2013.