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.
India is generously endowed with renewable energy sources. I hope the present book by Prof. Tasneem Abbasi and Prof. S.A. Abbasi will help students, renewable energy professionals and even the general masses to understand various aspects of renewable energy technologies and their applications.
TASNEEM ABBASI, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor at the Centre for Pollution Control and Environmental Engineering, Pondicherry University, Pondicherry. She obtained her B.Tech. and M.Tech. in Chemical Engineering and Environmental Engineering, respectively, from Pondicherry University, M.S. from University of Surrey, UK and Ph.D. from Anna University, Coimbatore.
In a research career spanning a decade, she has published over forty technical papers in international chemical engineering and environmental engineering journals including Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews (Elsevier), Critical Reviews in Environmental Science & Technology (CRC), International Journal of Environmental Studies (Taylor & Francis), Transactions of IChemE (UK), Journal
of Hazardous Materials (Elsevier), and Journal of Loss Prevention in Process Industries (Elsevier).|S. A. ABBASI, Ph.D., D.Sc., is Senior Professor and Head at the Centre for Pollution Control and Environmental Engineering, Pondicherry University, Pondicherry. He has been the founder Head of the Water Quality and Environment Division at the Centre for Water Resources Kozhikode (1979–1987) and a Visiting Professor at the California State University (1984–1987).
Among the numerous awards and honours received nationally and internationally by Professor Abbasi for his R&D contributions spanning forty years, are the recognitions for lifetime achievement represented by The National Design Award in Environmental Engineering [given by The Institution of Engineers (India) in 2004], the International Desalination Association’s Prize (1995), and the National Hydrology Award (given by the Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India in 1994). He is Fellow of The Institution of Engineers (India), Fellow of the Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers, and Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences.
He has authored thirty-four books and over three hundred research papers. The Hirsch Index score of his publications, 20, is among the highest in the field of environmental engineering.
