List of tables -- List of figures -- Preface -- Energy: the basic concepts: -- What are forces? -- What is work? -- What is energy? -- Which are the common forces in nature? -- What is friction? -- How does one measure energy? -- Can energy be created from nothing? -- What is the First Law of Thermodynamics? -- Part 1: How Is Energy Used Today?: -- Present energy use: -- How much energy do humans need to keep alive? -- How much energy do humans need for other activities? -- What are the sources of energy we use? -- What is the origin of the energy we use? -- At what rate is energy consumption growing? -- What is the relationship between population growth and energy growth? -- Why is energy consumption "per capita" growing? -- What is the relationship between energy and development? -- What is energy intensity? -- What is the human development index? -- What is the gross national happiness index? -- Part 2: World's Present Energy System: -- Energy sources: -- Which are the primary energy sources? -- What are secondary energy sources? -- Why are there losses in converting energy sources? -- What is a Sankey diagram? -- Fossil fuels: -- What are the fossil fuels? -- What do we know about coal? -- What do we know about oil? -- What is abiotic oil? -- How is the price of oil evolving? -- What do we know about natural gas? -- What is the expected life of fossil fuel reserves and resources? -- How unevenly distributed are reserves of fossil fuels around the world? -- Renewables: -- What are renewables? -- What is biomass? -- What are hydroelectric plants? What is wind energy? -- What are photovoltaic panels? -- What is solar thermal energy? -- What is solar thermoelectricity? -- What is wave energy? -- What is tidal energy? -- What is geothermal energy? -- What is the potential of renewable energies? -- How much land is needed to produce energy from renewables? -- What are the prospects for increased use of renewables? -- Nuclear power: -- What is nuclear power? -- Why has the growth of nuclear energy declined since 1985? -- What are the problems of nuclear waste disposal? -- What is the nuclear "renaissance"? -- What is nuclear fusion? -- Part 3: Problems Of The Present Energy System: -- Exhaustion of fossil fuels and energy security: -- Are fossil fuels being exhausted? -- What is the "peak oil debate"? -- What is energy security? -- What are the problems of access to energy services in the developing countries? -- Environmental problems: -- Why are environmental problems so important today? -- Which are the local environmental problems? -- What is urban air pollution? -- What is indoor air pollution? -- Which are the regional environmental problems? -- What is acid rain? -- Which are the global environmental problems? -- What is the greenhouse gas effect? -- What is the connection between global warming and energy? -- What is the intergovernmental panel on climate change? -- What are the facts concerning climate change? -- What are forecasts of climate models? -- What are the environmental impacts from renewable sources? -- What are the impacts of hydroelectricity plants? -- How serious are oil leakages and spills? -- Is deforestation caused by energy use? -- What is the ecological footprint? -- Energy costs: -- What are the costs of energy? -- What are externalities? -- What are "learning curves"? -- How large are energy subsidies? -- Part 5: Technical Solutions And Policies: -- Energy efficiency: -- What are the existing technical solutions to the present energy system? -- What is the potential of energy efficiency? -- What are the advantages of energy efficiency? -- What are the barriers to energy efficiency? -- What is the potential for energy efficiency in power production? -- What is the potential of energy efficiency in buildings? --How can we increase energy efficiency in buildings? -- What is building retrofitting? -- What is the impact of urbanization of energy use? -- What is the energy efficiency potential in industry? -- What is the energy efficiency potential in transportation? -- What is the "rebound" effect? -- New technologies? -- What is cogeneration? -- What is the role of new technologies for fossil fuels? -- What is carbon capture and storage? -- What is the future of transportation? -- Are natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, and hydrogen alternatives for transportation? -- Are electrically powered vehicles feasible? -- What are fuel cells -- How much progress is being made in battery storage? -- What is the role of energy storage? -- What is the role of long-distance electricity transmission? -- What are smart grids? -- What are the prospects of biomass? -- Is ethanol a good substitute for gasoline? -- What are the prospects of biodiesel? -- Is there competition between bioenergy and food? -- Policies: -- What are policy targets for renewable energy? -- What are Biofuels mandates? -- What are renewable portfolio standards? -- What are CAFE standards? -- What are "feed-in tariffs? -- What is the climate convention? -- What is the Kyoto protocol? -- What is "cap and trade"? -- What are carbon taxes? -- What is technological "leapfrogging"? -- What is sustainable development? -- Part 5: Nontechnical Solutions: -- Energy and lifestyle: -- What is the relationship between energy and lifestyles? -- Is technological development the only driving force for changing lifestyles? -- What is the impact of transportation modes on lifestyles? -- What are the major determinants of lifestyles changes? -- Appendix 1: Decimal prefixes -- Appendix 2: Common energy unit conversion factors -- General references -- Index.