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Publicatie Laka-bibliotheek:
Energy and environment (1980)

Auteur	Scientific American
Datum	1980
Classificatie	6.01.2.10/10 (TECHNISCH - ALGEMEEN)
Voorkant

PREFACE

The energy crisis has produced a bewildering array of both professional and popular 
books, articles in daily newspapers and slick magazines, novels, and the timely 
movie "The China Syndrome." This reader brings together thoughtful views of 
some of the major issues in articles that were selected to give a deeper analysis of 
a number of different problems; for the ways we use energy and its effect on our 
environment are many problems, not one. The articles concentrate on choices that 
we must make over the next two decades, rather than what we should do tomorrow 
or what we may face a hundred years from now. Because of this emphasis, the focus 
is on fossil fuels and nuclear power-the forms of energy now in heavy use-and their 
consequences, rather than on alternative sources such as solar and wind power. 
These alternatives, particularly solar energy, are still in the early phases of 
speculation, research, and individual invention; so far they generate an insignificant 
proportion of the energy used in the world. Thus it is not possible to compare them 
with more conventional, established forms of energy production. Certainly this does 
not mean that conventional sources are preferable to solar, but that, whatever the 
reasons for our unfortunate ignoring of these alternatives for so long, they cannot 
replace oil, coal, and nuclear power before a good many years have passed and we 
learn what role they are capable of playing.
This reader begins with a general introduction, and each section with an introduction 
that summarizes the issues raised and shows how the subjects of the articles relate 
to each other. Each article is preceded by a commentary that outlines its main points, 
sets a background to the subject, and poses some serious problems that may not have
been covered in the article. The introduction to each section should be read before 
the articles in it. For students who are not familiar with many of the topics, a good 
procedure might be to read the individual article commentary quickly first, then the 
article, and then the commentary again more carefully for review.
It is impossible to make a reader of this kind as current as the news of the day. 
The articles will give the reader a knowledgeable background to understand the 
news as it happens. For example, in the summer of 1979, President Carter and the 
U.S. Congress focused on synthetic fuels to replace some of the crude oil the United 
States imports. The articles in this reader will make clearer how such syntheses are 
accomplished, and their advantages and disadvantages.

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