Publisher: Butterworth Heinemann
- Clive Beggs had formerly been Chartered, BRE advisor, and engineer of the School of Civil Engineering under The University of Leeds and is the serving Professor of Medical Technology in the University of Bradford.
- He is a biomedical scientist and mechanical engineer and excels in the field of energy management.
- He, a world known speaker, has authored several scientific papers on designing of buildings that consume low energy, and are environment friendly.
- No wonder, he is the recipient of CIBSE Bronze Medal for his achievements in the field of desiccant cooling that uses water as refrigerant in contact with water.
- Energy is essential to sustain life on earth.
- It encompasses solar energy, energy derived from fossil fuels, and hydropower.
- The sources of energy, particularly the fossil fuels, are exhaustible, and need to be protected, and their uses systematized for their sustainability.
- The sustained and increased use of energy in a haphazard manner is demanding its price in the form of fossil fuels’ exhaustion and environmental pollution.
Chapter 1 & 2
- The first chapter defines energy including electricity, oil and gas and their units as well as pointed out the problem of global warming.
- The chapter two explained the basic problems associated with the supply of energy.
.Domestic tariffs are the easiest way to calculate electrical power tariff.
Chapter 3
- In this section, the concept of competitors in the energy sector is elaborated for both power and gas supply markets.
- The experience of electric power deregulation in the UK and USA is taken into consideration. The principle of demand-side management (DSM) is reviewed.
Chapter 4 & 5
- There is a variety of statistical analysis procedures that can be utilized to evaluate strategies including linear regression and time-dependent energy analysis.
- The concept of CUSUM regression allows the connection between energy use and variables such as heating degree days to be established for a given period.
- The chapter five concentrates on mechanics of energy auditing and procedures involved. The differences between initial, targeted and comprehensive audits are emphasized.
Chapter 6 & 7
- Preparation of an efficient energy management plan. The capital worth of plant lessens with time and economic evaluation procedures are presented.
- The principle of surveillance and energy targets are explained.
Chapter 8
- This chapter outlines practices in the design and function of building heating devices.
- The concept of constructing heat loss featuring U values and heat loss computations and methodologies for predicting expenses and optimizing plant applications are reviewed.
Chapter 9 & 10
- Recuperative heat exchangers, run-around coils, regenerative heat exchanger and heat pumps are described.
- The basic attributes of combined heat and energy devices and the CHP) plant sizing techniques are examined followed by design estimations.
- The Carnot concept is gone over for theoretical optimization of heat engines cycles.
Chapter 11 & 12
- This chapter explains concerns linked with the design of the cooling and mechanical ventilation systems and the impact of energy consumed by cooling equipment.
- Desiccant cooling down affords a chance to make use of heat that may or else be lost. The use of solar energy places constraints on the application is presented.
- The chapter explained steps involved in energy conservation for power and services sector. Reduced energy lights and variable speed electric motor are discussed.
Chapter 13
- This phase manages to use passive procedures to regulate the setting within buildings and the usage of static solar techniques, and the costs involved in making use of CFD.
Part 3: Point of the Book
“Energy: Management, Supply and Conservation” by Clive Beggs is a book containing extensive information about the theory as well practice of energy supply, auditing and energy management, and designs of facilities for sustainable energy. It delineates and takes into account approaches required to create sustainable buildings demanding low energy, and those include solar passive designing, air conditioning and heating being energy efficient, and combining of power and heat. The book also deals with transport energy, renewable energy, and economics of energy. This book has a section dealing with the technology of alternate energy such as solar panels. This book also focuses on updating of values of energy and its statistics.
The book is easily comprehensible and contains tables, figures, and worked out examples to make it a comprehensive treatise on environmental engineering, building services engineering, and energy management.
It facilitates understanding of energy issues that influence created an environment like supply, cost, taxation, as well as policy. It also educates the reader on monitoring, management and avoidance of energy wastes, and calculation of key factors of energy.
The book is divided into thirteen sections referred as chapters. Each chapter focuses on a particular issue relating to energy such as its availability, use, supply ,cost and impact on the environment. Thus, the book is immensely suited for architectural and mechanical engineering courses as well as energy management in building services.
Part 4: Connection with the course
The book being reviewed makes an elaborate explanation of issues relating to energy, and its sustainability which has been attracting attention of engineering as well as management professionals all the world over. The book deals with energy issues, and their solutions that have been made easy by the use of figures, tables, and solved examples.
The book corroborates the world wide use of energy, and its environmental impact. The people of developed countries get energy relatively cheaply, and use it unabated without any restriction with gay abandon. The extensive and consistent use of fossil fuels has negative impacts on the environment, and the book takes a brief account of these impacts such as depletion of the ozone layer and GHG. Ozone depletion and global warming are directly proportional to each other as the increase in one will give rise to a corresponding increase on the other. Hence, the book deals extensively with alternative energy resources including solar energy, but references to wind energy as well as other energy resources that are renewable are conspicuous by absence. Techniques of supply side management such as wind turbines and solar collectors despite being environment friendly failed to get a mention in the book. There is no denying the inequalities between developed and developing nations, and the gulf between them is ever increasing warranting immediate serious concern. The political self-interest scores over the truism.
It is stressing the importance of the use of certain appliances that do not consume much energy, and thus, save energy. The book suggests several measures to harness and preserve heat and energy. Proper insulation practices, low energy consuming building designs, use of advanced passive solar and hollow concrete slabs, and well ventilated constructions are conducive to energy saving. The use of technologies and proper strategy can deliver the goods so far as energy management is concerned.
The book refers to the theory of demand-side management or DSM invented in 1980s in the United States since when the concept has taken the center stage. The DSM activities have been defined as actions on the demand side of the meter of electricity that are spurred due to the realization of utility. These activities encompass strategic conservation, electrification, strategic growth, load management, or consciously enhanced share of market (Warren, 2014). As per Warren (2014) previously DSM programs had been dealing mainly with management of demand of electricity and not on transport and heating. However, DSM takes into account non-electricity measures of energy, heat micro-generation technologies, and district cooling/ heating. Reviewing the book, one comes across varying definitions of DSM. The technology being out of the reach of poor nations due to high prices involved; it has not come to the aid of those nations.
Conclusively, this book examines the energy management, application of newer technologies, conservation of energy, and alternative sources of energy such as solar energy. It points out disparities between the rich and the poor nations in terms of use of energy, and dwells at length on the need to conserve energy resources particularly fossil fuels. The book partially failed to take into account the economic aspect of the entire exercise on energy management, and provides solutions that are generic in nature. It lacks a framework of analysis, and banks on existing data and figures.
No one denies limitations of the book, but certainly, it adds to the available insight into energy issues and their solutions useful for practitioners and professionals alike.
Reference
Warren P. (2014). A review of demand-side management policy in the UK, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 29, 941-951.
