Environmental Physics

In conclusion, this is a first-rate volume but one to be taken in small doses. (Chromatographia, 1 May 2014)

Egbert Boekeris a retired Professor from the Free University of Amsterdam with a career in which he taught virtually all of the undergraduate courses in physics. Rienk van Grondelle is a Professor in the Department of Biophysics and Physics of Complex Systems at the Free University of Amsterdam. He is performing research in biophysics and teaching not only to physics students but also to biology students. He is a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences.

Preface xiii Acknowledgements xv 1 Introduction 1 1.1 A Sustainable Energy Supply 1 1.2 The Greenhouse Effect and Climate Change 3 1.3 Light Absorption in Nature as a Source of Energy 4 1.4 The Contribution of Science: Understanding, Modelling and Monitoring 5 2 Light and Matter 7 2.1 The Solar Spectrum 7 2.1.1 Radiation from a Black Body 7 2.1.2 Emission Spectrum of the Sun 9 2.2 Interaction of Light with Matter 12 2.2.1 Electric Dipole Moments of Transitions 12 2.2.2 Einstein Coefficients 14 2.2.3 Absorption of a Beam of Light: Lambert-Beer s Law 16 2.3 Ultraviolet Light and Biomolecules 19 2.3.1 Spectroscopy of Biomolecules 20 2.3.2 Damage to Life from Solar UV 21 2.3.3 The Ozone Filter as Protection 22 3 Climate and Climate Change 31 3.1 The Vertical Structure of the Atmosphere 32 3.2 The Radiation Balance and the Greenhouse Effect 36 3.3 Dynamics in the Climate System 51 3.3.1 Horizontal Motion of Air 53 3.3.2 Vertical Motion of Ocean Waters 58 3.3.3 Horizontal Motion of Ocean Waters 59 3.4 Natural Climate Variability 59 3.5 Modelling Human-Induced Climate Change 62 3.5.1 The Carbon Cycle 63 3.5.2 Structure of Climate Modelling 66 3.5.3 Modelling the Atmosphere 67 3.5.4 A Hierarchy of Models 70 3.6 Analyses of IPCC, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 70 3.7 Forecasts of Climate Change 70 4 Heat Engines 77 4.1 Heat Transfer and Storage 78 4.1.1 Conduction 79 4.1.2 Convection 82 4.1.3 Radiation 82 4.1.4 Phase Change 83 4.1.5 The Solar Collector 84 4.1.6 The Heat Diffusion Equation 87 4.1.7 Heat Storage 90 4.2 Principles of Thermodynamics 91 4.2.1 First and Second Laws 91 4.2.2 Heat and Work; Carnot Efficiency 95 4.2.3 Efficiency of a 'Real' Heat Engine 97 4.2.4 Second Law Efficiency 98 4.2.5 Loss of Exergy in Combustion 101 4.3 Idealized Cycles 103 4.3.1 Carnot Cycle 103 4.3.2 Stirling Engine 104 4.3.3 Steam Engine 105 4.3.4 Internal Combustion 107 4.3.5 Refrigeration 110 4.4 Electricity as Energy Carrier 113 4.4.1 Varying Grid Load 114 4.4.2 Co-Generation of Heat and Electricity 115 4.4.3 Storage of Electric Energy 117 4.4.4 Transmission of Electric Power 123 4.5 Pollution from Heat Engines 125 4.5.1 Nitrogen Oxides NOx 125 4.5.2 SO2 126 4.5.3 CO and CO2 126 4.5.4 Aerosols 127 4.5.5 Volatile Organic Compounds VOC 128 4.5.6 Thermal Pollution 129 4.5.7 Regulations 129 4.6 The Private Car 129 4.6.1 Power Needs 130 4.6.2 Automobile Fuels 131 4.6.3 Three-Way Catalytic Converter 132 4.6.4 Electric Car 133 4.6.5 Hybrid Car 134 4.7 Economics of Energy Conversion 134 4.7.1 Capital Costs 134 4.7.2 Learning Curve 138 5 Renewable Energy 145 5.1 Electricity from the Sun 146 5.1.1 Varying Solar Input 146 5.1.2 Electricity from Solar Heat: Concentrating Solar Power CSP 150 5.1.3 Direct Conversion of Light into Electricity: Photovoltaics PV 152 5.2 Energy from the Wind 159 5.2.1 Betz Limit 160 5.2.2 Aerodynamics 162 5.2.3 Wind Farms 165 5.2.4 Vertical Wind Profile 165 5.2.5 Wind Statistics 167 5.2.6 State of the Art and Outlook 168 5.3 Energy from the Water 169 5.3.1 Power from Dams 169 5.3.2 Power from Flowing Rivers 170 5.3.3 Power from Waves 170 5.3.4 Power from the Tides 174 5.4 Bio Energy 175 5.4.1 Thermodynamics of Bio Energy 175 5.4.2 Stability 180 5.4.3 Solar Efficiency 180 5.4.4 Energy from Biomass 182 5.5 Physics of Photosynthesis 183 5.5.1 Basics of Photosynthesis 184 5.5.2 Light-Harvesting Antennas 185 5.5.3 Energy Transfer Mechanism 187 5.5.4 Charge Separation 190 5.5.5 Flexibility and Disorder 193 5.5.6 Photoprotection 193 5.5.7 Research Directions 195 5.6 Organic Photocells: the Gratzel Cell