The Library Knows Business: You can have your renewable energy and eat it too

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You remember the Energy Crisis, don't you? Lines at gas stations. The introduction of compact cars. Carpooling. It was a crisis all right, dire enough that it would surely cure us of our wasteful ways. Pundits in the early 70s predicted that by the turn of the century the nation's energy needs would be met entirely by renewable energy sources and Ralph Nader would be president.|ret||ret||tab|

But something went wrong with our "Green Dream." Fast-forward 30 years and what have you got? Rolling blackouts. Gas prices at near $2 per gallon. Natural gas prices up 50%. Gas-guzzling SUVs. Despite the earlier wake-up call, we as a nation are still dependent on fossil fuels to meet our ever-increasing need for speed, heat and light.|ret||ret||tab|

Will we learn our lesson any better this time around? It depends on who you listen to. Here are several books and Web sites offering different viewpoints on renewable energy. For more assistance in locating these resources, contact the Library at 874-8111.|ret||ret||tab|

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Books @ the Library|ret||ret||tab|

Charging Ahead: "The Business of Renewable Energy and What It Means for America," 333.794 B, shows how a combination of renewable energy, energy efficiency and electric vehicles has the potential to give us back a clean environment, as well as create a healthy, sustainable economy. The new industries that would make this possible could reap trillion-dollar benefits. The author sees entrepreneurial scientists and science-oriented entrepreneurs as the human catalyst and profiles some of these individuals.|ret||ret||tab|

Part coffee-table book, part history and part primer, "The Timeless Energy of the Sun," 621.47 S, offers a painless approach to helio-technology. One of these days, the developed nations are going to realize that one in three potential customers worldwide has no access to electric power and forms no part of the consumer base for the appliances, machines and gizmos that electricity runs. Fossil-fuel technology is barely handling present demand, so barring any quantum leap in the way electricity is created and transmitted, words such as "biomass" and "geothermal" are going to have to become a part of marketing vocabulary.|ret||ret||tab|

"The Real Goods Solar Sourcebook: The Complete Guide to Renewable Energy Technologies and Sustainable Living," 333.7923 R, introduces the consumer to simple energy-saving devices, as well as sophisticated, home-scale energy-harvesting systems for folks who want to live "off the grid."|ret||ret||tab|

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Pertinent Web sites|ret||ret||tab|

www.worldsolar.org/toppage2.htm|ret||ret||tab|

The UNESCO World Solar Pro-gramme, launched in 1996 and set to run through 2005, is developing and implementing renewable energy projects. Among its ambitious objectives is a world water desalinization initiative, which would use renewable energies to supply drinking water to rural areas.|ret||ret||tab|

www.eren.doe.gov/|ret||ret||tab|

The Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Network provides a comprehensive resource for U.S. Department of Energy information, plus access to more than 600 related links and 80,000 documents. Among the specialized resources you'll find "Ask an Energy Expert," and kids, consumers and financing sections. Get up to speed on such renewable resources as hydrogen, the ocean and bioenergy.|ret||ret||tab|

(Mike DePue is the business librarian at the Library Center, 4653 S. Campbell. For almost 20 years he has answered thousands of questions on as many topics.)[[In-content Ad]]