Energy: Supply and Demand

Focusing on trends in energy supply and demand, this text provides students with a comprehensive account of the subject and an understanding of how to use data analysis and modeling to make future projections and study climate impacts. Developments in technology and policy are discussed in depth, including the role of coal, the fracking revolutions for oil and gas, the electricity grid, wind and solar power, battery storage, and biofuels. Trends in demand are also detailed, with analysis of industrial demands such as LEDs, air conditioning, heat pumps, and information technology, and the transportation demands of railroads, ships, and cars (including electric vehicles). The environmental impacts of the energy industry are considered throughout, and a full chapter is dedicated to climate change. Real-life case studies and examples add context, and over 400 full-color figures illustrate key concepts. Accompanied by a package of online resources including solutions, video examples, sample data, and PowerPoint slides, this is an ideal text for courses on energy and is accessible to a range of students from engineering and related disciplines.

1. Preliminaries; 2. Horses, whales, and wood; 3. Models; 4. Coal; 5. Hydrocarbons; 6. Farming and fishing; 7. Electricity and the alternatives; 8. Stationary demand; 9. Transportation demand; 10. Climate change.

David B. Rutledge is the Tomiyasu Professor of Engineering, emeritus, at the California Institute of Technology. He is a founder of the Wavestream Corporation (a manufacturer of transmitters for satellite uplinks) and his recent research has focused on modeling for projections of energy supply. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and a recipient of the Teaching Award of the Associated Students at the California Institute of Technology.