ABSTRACT
For the energy scientist, renewables are a puzzle. Their possibilities are large, as seen in Chapter 3, but they have not attained widespread use in industrial societies. To unveil at least some aspects of this puzzle, we focus on proven technology: solar, wind, hydro, and biomass refuse combustion. This chapter does not exhaust the topic but focuses on what we deem of greatest potential for the world. Effective use of renewables probably constitutes the largest engineering challenge to be faced (thus far) by the species that placed humans on the moon, flew supersonically, built nuclear power plants, and crafted the amazing communications machine. Dynamic analysis of a solar collector and wind resource is illustrated.
