Renewable Energy Sources Their Impact on Global Warming and Pollution

Today, the tide has turned so strongly in favour of renewables that for the first time since the dawn of the fossil fuel era over two hundred years ago renewable energy technologies have started attracting more investment globally than that in the fossil fuel-based technologies. This text provides a comprehensive and wide ranging introduction to various renewable energy technologies and their applications, such as solar, wind, biomass, biogas, wave, geothermal, tidal and small hydel. It provides a thorough understanding of the basic energy conversion processes taking place in various renewable energy-based equipment like heat engines, photovoltaics, wind turbines, windmills, wave machines, and so on. The text also deals with the impact of renewable energy sources on global warming and pollution. The book is intended for courses in Environmental Sciences, Environmental/Electrical/Mechanical Engineering and Energy Studies at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. It will also serve as a useful reference for scientists, technocrats and environmentalists.