Future Energy

Professor Trevor Letcher is an Emeritus Professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, and living in the United Kingdom. He was previously Professor of Chemistry, and Head of Department, at the University of the Witwatersrand, Rhodes University, and Natal, in South Africa (1969-2004). He has published over 300 papers on areas such as chemical thermodynamic and waste from landfill in peer reviewed journals, and 100 papers in popular science and education journals. Prof. Letcher has edited and/or written 32 major books, of which 22 were published by Elsevier, on topics ranging from future energy, climate change, storing energy, waste, tyre waste and recycling, wind energy, solar energy, managing global warming, plastic waste, renewable energy, and environmental disasters. He has been awarded gold medals by the South African Institute of Chemistry and the South African Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Journal of Chemical Thermodynamics honoured him with a Festschrift in 2018. He is a life member of both the Royal Society of Chemistry (London) and the South African Institute of Chemistry. He is on the editorial board of the Journal of Chemical Thermodynamics, and is a Director of the Board of the International Association of Chemical Thermodynamics since 2002.

• Part I Introduction1. Introduction with a Focus on Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide and Climate ChangePart II FOSSIL FUELS (ENERGY SOURCES) 2. Coal: Past, Present and Future Sustainable Use3. Unconventional Oil and Gas: Oilsands 4. Shale Gas, Tight Oil, Shale Oil and Hydraulic Fracturing5. Coal bed Methane: Reserves, Production, and Future Outlook6. Natural Gas Hydrates: Status of Potential as an Energy ResourcePart III NUCLEAR POWER (ENERGY SOURCES) 7. Nuclear Fission- new Generation Reactors8. Small Modular Nuclear ReactorsPart IV TRANSPORT ENERGY (ENERGY SOURCES)9. Biofuels for Transport 10. Transport Fuel: Biomass-, coal-, gas- and waste-to-liquids processes11. The Electric Vehicle RevolutionPart V ENERGY STORAGE12. The use of Batteries in Storing Electricity13. The use of Flow Batteries in Storing Electricity for National Grids14. Compressed Air Energy Storage Part VI RENEWABLES (ENERGY SOURCES)15. Hydroelectric Power16. Wind Energy17. Tidal Current Energy: Origins and challenges18. Solar Energy – Photovoltaics, including new technologies (thin film) and a discussion on panel efficiency19. Concentrating Solar Power20. Geothermal Energy21. Energy from BiomassPart VII NEW POSSIBLE ENERGY OPTIONS22. Hydrogen: An Energy Carrier23. Fuel Cells: Energy Conversion Technology24. Space Solar25. Nuclear Fusion26. Synthetic Fuel DevelopmentPart VIII ENVIRONMENTAL AND RELATED ISSUES27. Energy and the Environment28. Sustainable Energy and Energy Efficient TechnologiesPart IX THE CURRENT SITUATION AND THE TRANSITION TO THE FUTURE29. The Life Cycle Assessment of various Energy Technologies30. Integration of high penetrations of intermittent renewable generation in future electricity networks, using storage31. Carbon Capture and Storage32. Energy Options and Predictions for China33. Metals and Elements needed to support Future Energy34. A Global Overview of Future Energy