Why sustainable energy matters
Skip contents

Contents

  • Introduction
  • Learning outcomes
  • 1 Why sustainable energy matters
    • 1.1 Energy sources and environmental impact
    • 1.2 Where do we get our energy from?
  • 2 Definitions: energy, sustainability and the future
    • 2.1 What is energy?
  • 3 Present energy sources and sustainability
    • 3.1 Fossil fuels
    • 3.2 Nuclear energy
    • 3.3 Bioenergy
    • 3.4 Hydroelectricity
    • 3.5 Summary
  • 4 Renewable energy sources
    • 4.1 Solar energy
    • 4.2 Indirect use of solar energy
      • 4.2.1 Wind energy
      • 4.2.2 Wave power
    • 4.3 Non-solar renewables
      • 4.3.1 Tidal Energy
      • 4.3.2 Geothermal energy
    • 4.4 Sustainability of renewable energy sources
  • 5 Energy services and efficiency improvement
    • 5.1 Energy services
      • 5.1.1 Linking supply and demand
    • 5.2 Energy efficiency improvements
      • 5.2.1 Supply-side measures
      • 5.2.2 Demand-side efficiency improvements
    • 5.3 The rebound effect
  • 6 Energy in a sustainable future
    • 6.2 (a) 'Cleaning-up' fossil and nuclear technologies
    • 6.3 (b) Switching to renewable energy sources
    • 6.4 (c) Using energy more efficiently
    • 6.5 Changing patterns of energy use
    • 6.6 Long-term energy scenarios
      • 6.6.1 The Royal Commission on environmental pollution scenarios
      • 6.6.2 The World Energy Council scenarios
  • Conclusion
  • Take the next step
  • References
  • Acknowledgements

ou logoCreative Commons non-commercial share alike icon Except for third party materials and otherwise stated in the acknowledgements section, this content is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 Licence

Please see full copyright statement and terms of use for more details.