
Power Density
A Key to Understanding Energy Sources and Uses
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Narrated by:
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Daniel Henning
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By:
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Vaclav Smil
About this listen
In this book, Vaclav Smil argues that power density is a key determinant of the nature and dynamics of energy systems. Any understanding of complex energy systems must rely on quantitative measures of many fundamental variables. Power density—the rate of energy flux per unit of area—is an important but largely overlooked measure. Smil provides the first systematic, quantitative appraisal of power density, offering detailed reviews of the power densities of renewable energy flows, fossil fuels, thermal electricity generation, and all common energy uses.
Smil shows that careful quantification, critical appraisals, and revealing comparisons of power densities make possible a deeper understanding of the ways we harness, convert, and use energies. Conscientious assessment of power densities, he argues, proves particularly revealing when contrasting the fossil fuel-based energy system with renewable energy conversions.
Smil explains that modern civilization has evolved as a direct expression of the high power densities of fossil fuel extraction. He argues that our inevitable move to new energy arrangements involving conversions of lower-density renewable energy sources will require our society—currently dominated by megacities and concentrated industrial production—to undergo a profound spatial restructuring of its energy system.
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Story
Grid insiders know how fragile the grid is becoming. Unfortunately, they have no incentive to solve the problem because near-misses increase their profits. Meredith Angwin describes how closed meetings, arcane auction rules, and five-minute planning horizons will topple the reliability of our electric grid. Shorting the Grid shines light on the vulnerabilities of our grid, and includes suggestions for making the grid more dependable.
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Very Informative, But Desperately Needs A pdf
- By Richard Redano on 12-27-22
By: Meredith Angwin
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Size
- How It Explains the World
- By: Vaclav Smil
- Narrated by: Stephen Perring
- Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Size explains the regularities—and peculiarities—of the key processes shaping life (from microbes to whales), the Earth (from asteroids to volcanic eruptions), technical advances (from architecture to transportation), and societies and economies (from cities to wages).
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Worth a read
- By Rurik McKaiser on 05-21-23
By: Vaclav Smil
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The People's Tycoon
- Henry Ford and the American Century
- By: Steven Watts
- Narrated by: John H. Mayer
- Length: 29 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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How a Michigan farm boy became the richest man in America is a classic, almost mythic tale, but never before has Henry Ford's outsized genius been brought to life so vividly as it is in this engaging and superbly researched biography. The real Henry Ford was a tangle of contradictions. He set off the consumer revolution by producing a car affordable to the masses, all the while lamenting the moral toll exacted by consumerism.
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50% Longer than it needed to be.
- By Chris on 04-06-13
By: Steven Watts
What listeners say about Power Density
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Brichne
- 06-06-24
Great explanation on energy
This is a detailed review of energy, present and future. I’m not sold on the author’s lack of faith on the prospects of fossil fuel independence.
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- Anonymous User
- 07-10-24
A Different Look at the Pros and Cons of Renewable Energy and Fossil Fuels
A captivating analysis of how impactful it is that fossil fuels are such a dense store of energy and the benefits that arise from that. A non apologetic look at the costs, in both space and resources, of switching to a renewable grid.
Many parts of the book read more like a text books due to the large quantity of supporting data and analysis. Despite sounding dry, the arguments remain cohesive, even in an audiobook format.
There were a few inconsistencies in the audio and a few unnatural pauses that were a but jarring so the performance did not get a full 5 stars.
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