Alternative Liquid Fuels : Desai, A.V

Alternative Liquid Fuels : Desai, A.V

The consequences of the oil price rise are still with us in the form of the debt problems. At the same time scientists now almost unanimously agree that the global increase in carbon dioxide and other gases are the result of the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation is likely to impose severe stress on the global environment. This solution to these problems will probably emerge through the use of more efficient energy as a result of more appropriate policies and demand management, improved energy conservation technologies, and the intensified development of renewable sources of energy. International Development Research Centre (IDRC) has expanded its support for energy research. United Nations University (UNU) has begun the work on renewable energy technologies and convened a conference on energy alternatives. To satisfy the need, the University planned to establish an energy research and technology assessment group. The Group completed its final report in fulfilment of its mandate sometime ago. To prepare main report the Group commissioned over 100 review papers on important issues of energy for developing countries and drew on the views of community of energy researchers around the world together with its own assessment of the existing literature. Editor is confident that the papers included in this book will make useful contributions to energy research and policy whether they are driven with the objective of augmenting supplies to reduce oil dependence to increase the economic benefit per unit of energy consumed, or to reduce the impact of energy use on the environment.