The entropy crisis / Guy Deutscher.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Deutscher, Guy.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Energy development.

Power resources.

Entropy.

Environmental protection.

Climatic changes.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (184 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New Jersey : World Scientific, c2008.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This book aims to prove that the so-called "energy crisis" is really an entropy crisis. Since energy is conserved, it is clear that a different concept is necessary to discuss meaningfully the problems posed by energy supplies and environmental protection. This book makes this concept, entropy, accessible to a broad, nonspecialized audience.Examples taken from daily experiences are used to introduce the concept of entropy in an intuitive manner, before it is defined in a more formal way. It is shown that the entropy increase due to irreversible transformations (or "unrecoverable" energy) simul

Contents:

Contents; Introduction; Chapter 1. Dealing with Entropy on a Daily Basis; 1.1. Entropy in the household; 1.2. An example of an entropy crisis at home; 1.3. Where does all the disorder go?; 1.4. Disorder and pollution; 1.5. Entropy and the second law of thermodynamics; 1.5.1. Water desalination; 1.5.2. Heat transfer; 1.5.3. Entropy and the states of matter; 1.6. From the household to the biosphere; Chapter 2. A Short History of the Biosphere; 2.1. The billion year time scale; 2.1.1. The apparition of life; 2.1.2. Photosynthesis; 2.1.2.1. Photosynthesis and entropy reduction

2.1.2.2. Photosynthesis and the green color of plants2.1.3. The ozone layer and the spread of life; 2.2. The biosphere on the 100 million year time scale; 2.2.1. Carbon dioxide atmospheric content and temperature: the greenhouse effect; 2.2.1.1. The infrared radiation; 2.2.1.2. Greenhouse gases; 2.2.2. Climate evolution and carbon storage; 2.3. Carbon storage: carbonates and fossil fuels; 2.3.1. Carbon storage in carbonates on the billion year time scale; 2.3.2. Carbon storage as fossil fuels on the 100 million year time scale; 2.3.3. Formation of coal deposits: the carboniferous age

2.3.4. Oil and gas deposits2.4. Ice ages; 2.5. The last 10 million years; Chapter 3. How Much Energy do We Need?; 3.1. Different forms of energy and power; 3.2. Energy conversion; 3.3. Energy use and entropy release; 3.3.1. Heat rejection; 3.3.2. Entropy release; 3.4. Energy needs and costs; 3.4.1. Food energy; 3.4.2. Food versus other energy needs; 3.4.3. A family's energy needs; 3.4.4. A family's energy costs; 3.4.4.1. Food energy costs; 3.4.4.2. The different energy costs; 3.4.5. Energy needs at the society level and the entropy problem

3.5. Can society survive with a lower entropy release?Chapter 4. Entropy in Thermodynamics and Our Energy Needs; 4.1. Entropy in thermodynamics; 4.1.1. Heat and mechanical work as two forms of energy: the first law of thermodynamics; 4.1.2. Thermodynamic cycles; 4.1.3. Work performed in a thermodynamic cycle; 4.1.4. The Carnot cycle; 4.1.5. Entropy change: introducing the second law of thermodynamics; 4.1.6. Energy, entropy and free energy; 4.2. Entropy at the molecular level; 4.3. Energy needs and man generated entropy; Chapter 5. Climate Change: What We Know and What We Don't

5.1. Time scale and temperature scale5.1.1. The earth's temperature over the last few hundred thousand years; 5.1.2. How well understood is the periodicity of interglacial periods; 5.1.3. The Milankovitch cycles; 5.1.4. Problems with the Milankovitch cycles; 5.1.5. Towards a longer interglacial period?; 5.2. The CO2 cycles; 5.3. Anthropogenic temperature changes; 5.3.1. The CO2 anthropogenic footprint; 5.3.2. The temperature rise in modern times; 5.3.2.1. Evolution of the temperature since 1900: the start of anthropogenic effects; 5.3.2.2. Expected temperature rise in the 21st century

5.3.2.3. Consequences of further temperature rise: ice melting

Notes:

Includes index.

ISBN:

9789812779700

9812779701

OCLC:

820944435