Introduction to Energy, Environment, and Sustainability

Human society has never before faced challenges like the present. Population has more than doubled since 1970; currently over 7 billion and growing fast. Much of this growth occurs in regions with developing infrastructure, placing increasing demands on natural resources and taxing ecosystem services. Coupled with continued growth in more developed, and more demanding regions, global energy consumption is projected to increase nearly three-fold by mid-century. At present, over 80% of global energy demand is supplied by fossil fuels, the burning of which is responsible for the increasingly rapid global warming observed in the past century, which is destabilizing regional climates, affecting living systems around the planet, threatening food and water supplies and increasing the frequency and intensity of severe weather events. Despite this knowledge, fossil fuels are in record high demand, and their supply, distribution, and use powers a globalizing economy. These interconnected challenges are often referred to as the “energy, environment, prosperity dilemma”, which human society must confront. 

Although very serious, these challenges are not unsolvable. Opportunities to adapt and progress toward an enduring globally equitable society are immediately available. As society comes to appreciate the urgency in confronting this dilemma, strategies to adapt to climate change pressures, and secure water, food and energy systems can be implemented. Concurrently, development of low-carbon and renewable energy sources can accelerate. Additionally, carbon sequestration (from the atmosphere) can be increased through reforestation, thoughtful agricultural practices and innovative technologies. In these and other creative ways, human society can progress toward the elusive ideal of sustainability. Essential in these efforts is basic education to promote basic public literacy of energy, water and food infrastructures, as well as environmental sciences, engineering and sustainability.

The 5th edition of Introduction to Energy, Environment and Sustainability is organized into ten (10) sequential chapters and is designed for a single academic term for an entry-level college/university course. Introduction to Energy, Environment and Sustainability aims to cover these complex, interconnected challenges through concise and accessible descriptions of science and technology at the heart of modern human society. 

• Chapter 1 presents an overview of human society, population, consumption (life-cycle analysis) and environmental impacts.
• Chapter 2 introduces the basics of energy, its forms, sources and uses (conversions), as well as its metrics.
• Chapter 3 explores Earth system science, biogeochemical cycles and climate dynamics.
• Chapter 4 reviews the basics of combustion (fire), its utility since the Industrial Revolution, and its environmental impacts, focusing on anthropogenic (human-forced) global climate destabilization.
• Chapter 5 discusses non-renewable energy sources (fossil fuels) and related exploration, production, and conversion technologies, such as “fracking” and refining.
• Chapter 6 covers atomic energy basics and nuclear energy technologies.
• Chapter 7 overviews renewable energy sources and conversion technologies.
• Chapter 8 introduces basic concepts of electricity and hydrogen, as well as related infrastructures.
• Chapter 9 considers contemporary issues surrounding food and water systems and their security in a warming world.
• Chapter 10 concludes with reflections on science, sustainability, and globalizing human society. 

End-of-chapter homework/quizzes aim to facilitate comprehension, and can be easily adapted for homework assignments and exams.

Accompanying this fourth edition for instructors is an updated website with sample course syllabi, lecture slides, solution to end-of-chapter homework/quizzes, suggested classroom demonstrations and activities and sample multiple-choice exams.