image: This is Introduction to Carbon Capture and Sequestration. view more
Credit: Imperial College Press, 2014
Sustainable energy generation is one of the biggest challenges of our generation. All long-term solutions rely on direct or indirect conversion of solar energy. However, these solutions appear to be years from implementation. Whether we like or not, we simply won't be able to transition overnight to a world that is carbon neutral for its energy. Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) has been an exciting topic both for researchers and also the policy makers on what to do with the large quantities of carbon dioxide (CO2) released when fossil fuel use in power generation.
A volume published in March 2014 in print, ePub and also on the iBook (via iTunes) by Imperial College Press approaches the subject matter of CCS through a different way of educating students and researchers on the topic.
The title, Introduction to Carbon Capture and Sequestration, was written by Berend Smit and Jeffry A. Reimer (University of California, Berkeley, USA) along with Curtis M. Oldenburg and Ian C. Bourg (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, USA). This is the first volume in The Berkeley Lectures on Energy series. The book features introductory to advanced developments pertaining to CCS in the fields of chemical engineering, material science, and geology. The text covers topics as diverse as how to estimate the number of gigatonnes of CO2 that can be stored in a geological formation; how to use a molecular model of pore architecture to optimize the performance of a membrane; what insights can be gained the faint young star paradox; and how to consider the importance of heat integration in amine scrubbing.
Questions about cost, safety and is CO2 the cause of global warming, are often asked of researchers and students in CCS but the authors felt the current education and research material does not cover these equally important questions and issues.
"If society would take the reduction of carbon emissions seriously, we would be doing carbon capture and sequestration on a large scale because this is one of the only methods that allow us to continue to use fossil fuels yet reduce carbon emission. In fact, in our book we discuss how the world would look if we decide to burn all our coal reserves…. and this world does not look good. Of course, our hope is that we realize well before that the best way to sequester carbon is to leave coal and other fossil fuels in the ground, but as long as we are still on a trajectory of increasing our use of fossil fuels, we do need this plan B," says lead author Smit.
The book retails for US$125/£83 for the hardcover and US$78/£51 for the paperback editions respectively. For further information regarding the book, please visit http://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/p911.