Information Sources in Energy Technology (eBook)

Butterworths Guides to Information Sources

L. J. Anthony (Herausgeber)

eBook Download: EPUB

2013 | 1. Auflage
336 Seiten
Elsevier Science (Verlag)
978-1-4831-9233-8 (ISBN)

Infos

Information Sources in Energy Technology presents the major sources in the field of energy technology. The book is comprised of 16 chapters that are organized into three parts. The first part covers energy in general and discusses both local and international agencies that deal with energy technology along with its primary and secondary sources. The next part deals with fuel technology; this part details combustion, steam and boiler plant, electrical energy, and energy conservation. The last part talks about specific energy sources, including nuclear, solar, and geothermal. The text will be of great use to individuals involved in energy industry. Scientists and engineers involved in energy projects will also benefit from the book.

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3

National energy agencies

Jacqui Brookes

Publisher Summary

This chapter discusses the selected national agencies that provide information on energy topics in general, including energy technology in Europe, the United States, the Pacific Basin, and Asia. The countries have been chosen for their energy interest either as producers or consumers at present. The agencies are generally government organizations, but some are industrial or learned societies, and these provide information within and about the country concerned. The Department of Energy is responsible for developing an integrated energy policy within the United Kingdom and for regulating the coal, gas, oil, nuclear, and electricity industries. There are a number of technical divisions including Energy Technology and the Offshore Energy Technology Board, and the Department has its own research unit, the Energy Technology Support Unit (ETSU), located at the Harwell Laboratory of the UKAEA. The Offshore Energy Technology Board sponsors universities, consultants, and research organizations to undertake research and development in oil and gas technology, and publishes its reports in the Offshore Technology Series. The Ministry of Water Resources and Electric Power of the People’s Republic of China formulates the country’s energy policy, and controls the national electric power generation.

Introduction

Energy resources, supply and utilization play a significant role in the economy of each developed and developing country in the world. This was particularly evident during the 1973–1974 ‘oil crisis’, when the Western world realized that the days of ‘cheap’ fuels were over. Energy technology programmes aimed at reducing dependence on imported oil sources, developing indigenous resources, promoting energy conservation and harnessing renewable sources flourished from that time. Fifteen years later these programmes continue in importance and have been refined in each of the developed nations. The agencies that direct the programmes are now well established and publication and promotion of the knowledge gained is an important function. Within each nation are government agencies that have particular responsibility for energy, its policy, economics and technological development.

In this chapter selected national agencies that provide information on energy topics in general, including energy technology, in Europe, the USA, the Pacific Basin and Asia are described. The countries have been chosen for their energy interest either as producers or consumers at present. The agencies are generally government organizations, but some are industrial or learned societies, and these provide information within and about the country concerned. Further detailed information on the information agencies world-wide can be obtained by reference to Smith (1985), Swain and Buckley (1981) and WEC (1983) (see also Chapter 4, under ‘Research’).

Consumption and production statistics quoted in this chapter refer to 1986 and have been taken from the BP Statistical Review of World Energy (June 1987) unless otherwise stated. With the growth of online databases worldwide, several directories have been published to classify what is available; of particular use is the Directory of On-Line Services published by DATAPRO in 1985, with annual supplements, from which the energy-related databases can be chosen. The major energy databases are described in Chapter 5.

Western Europe

Western Europe consumes about 17 per cent of world energy, although the per capita consumption has remained static since 1976. It is the major oil-importing area of the world (excluding the UK and Norway, which are net exporters) and has approximately 10 per cent of the world’s population. Each country participates in international and national energy technology programmes. Technical information is readily available via online databases, as conference proceedings, report books and journals. For a detailed list of information sources in individual countries, reference can be made to European Sources of Scientific and Technical Information, edited by Harvey (Longman, 1987) under the subject heading Energy Science.

United Kingdom

The UK is self-sufficient in energy and a net oil exporter, the world’s sixth most productive in 1986. It has a mixed fuel economy with indigenous resources of coal, oil and gas and planned expansion of the nuclear electricity generating programme. Energy conservation is an important component of the national energy policy.

The variety of agencies that provide technical information on energy technology include government departments, nationalized and privatized energy industries, international oil companies, learned societies, professional organizations and universities. They are listed in Lambert (1979) and can be found under ‘Energy’ in Codlin (1982, 1986). The activities and services of the major organizations are described below.

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES

The Department of Energy is responsible for developing an integrated energy policy within the UK and the regulation of the coal, gas, oil, nuclear and electricity industries. Among its concerns is the research and development of civil nuclear power, offshore oil and gas exploitation, and the research programmes of the nationalized energy industries. There are a number of technical divisions including Energy Technology and the Offshore Energy Technology Board, and the Department has its own research unit, the Energy Technology Support Unit (ETSU), located at the Harwell Laboratory of the UKAEA. The Offshore Energy Technology Board sponsors universities, consultants and research organizations to undertake research and development in oil and gas technology, and publishes its reports in the Offshore Technology Series.

ETSU provides the Department with a research and development service in the areas of energy conservation, renewable energy sources, and strategic studies relating to energy policy. The work covers assessment studies, project management of contracted R&D and the operation of the Energy Efficiency Demonstration Projects Scheme for the Energy Efficiency Office. Reports are published by ETSU and are available from the British Library. The government’s campaign for improved energy efficiency is coordinated by the Energy Efficiency Office (EEO), which publishes, among other documents, a directory, Energy Technology Expertise R&D, as well as descriptions of joint UK DoE/US DoE research and development programmes. More detailed information about EEO and ETSU will be found in Chapter 9.

National energy statistics are produced by the Economics and Statistics Division. They appear monthly as Energy Trends and annually as the Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics. Data are included in the Energy Data Base of the US Department of Energy. Publications produced by the Department are listed in Department of Energy Publications in Print (1985), with additional entries listed in half-yearly supplements, published by the library. Information services available from the library include Current Energy Information (weekly), available on subscription, reading list series and energy bibliographies published on an ad hoc basis. The Periodicals List is available to other libraries and a list of energy databases is available for internal use. The library of the Department is primarily for internal use; external visits are by appointment with the librarian.

The Department of Trade and Industry is responsible for over- seeing British industry and its research laboratories include energy programmes in their work. The National Engineering Laboratory has expertise in heat transfer and materials technology applied to fuel efficiency. The Warren Spring Laboratory is particularly active in the use of wastes as alternative fuels.

Environmental aspects of energy production and use are the responsibility of the Department of the Environment. The Central Unit on Environmental Pollution is concerned with pollution aspects and the Building Research Establishment and Property Services Agency with energy use in buildings and energy conservation. The central library of each establishment is the first point of enquiry about the information services and publications available.

INDUSTRIAL SOURCES

The nationalized energy industries British Coal, the Central Electricity Generating Board, the Electricity Council and the privatized British Gas are each responsible for the production, transport and consumption of its energy source. Each of these major energy producers support research and technical information faciities and are described elsewhere in this book.

OTHER ORGANIZATIONS

The Institute of Energy is the learned society and professional qualifying body for those concerned with energy production. Among its publications are Energy World (monthly), the authoritative Journal of the Institute of Energy (quarterly), Energy World Reference Book and Buyers’ Guide and the Directory of Qualified Energy Consultants. It organizes a series of conferences on energy topics and publishes the proceedings. Other professional bodies relating to specific...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 22.10.2013
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Schulbuch / Wörterbuch ► Lexikon / Chroniken
• Themenwelt: Technik ► Bauwesen
• Themenwelt: Technik ► Elektrotechnik / Energietechnik
• Themenwelt: Technik ► Maschinenbau
• ISBN-10: 1-4831-9233-4 / 1483192334
• ISBN-13: 978-1-4831-9233-8 / 9781483192338