 Trade In this Item for up to £2.00
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in Energy and Carbon Emissions: The Way We Live Today for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £2.00, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
This is a data book of facts and figures about carbon emissions and energy use in the UK. The book emphasises the impact of domestic consumption and personal lifestyle choices. It's not about politics or ethics: there are no grand designs for how the future should look. Instead, it provides the information you need to calculate not only how you can reduce your carbon footprint, but also how you can save money by reducing your energy bills. Tables and charts show average UK consumption and emissions, renewable-energy potential, historical trends and international context. It provides guidance on calculating your own emissions and determining the impact of changes you can make. It will help answer questions such as: how much carbon will I save if I stop eating meat? Should I scrap my old car and buy a new one? How much energy do I use each day making tea? Would it help if we went back to horses and carts instead of vans? My roof faces south-east so is it still worthwhile putting up solar panels?
About the Author
Nicola graduated from Cambridge University in 1984 with a first class degree in computer science and engineering. She has been involved in two start-up companies which grew to multi-million multi-nationals. Nicola became interested in environmental issues and in 2007 began a degree with the OU in Environmental Studies, which she completed with first class honours. Nicola is a surveyor in Cambridge Carbon Footprint's Climate Friendly Homes project which provides advice about reducing home energy consumption.
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
With this book at your hands there is no excuse not to do your bit when it comes to saving energy, or to put it more trendily to "lower your carbon foot print." Don't know what I am talking about? Then this book is for you too. It covers everything from a basic introduction about carbon emissions to facts, information and stats relating to individuals, the UK and the global situation.
This sounds potentially overwhelming, but the 10 chapters are broken down into succinct, easy to grasp 2-5 page sub-sections, which are partly quite surprising or even entertaining. Some of them make good snippets that will impress mates down the pub. For example, did you know that one Google search uses as much energy as using your computer for 5 minutes? This book also cuts to the chase in regards to some myths: Eco kettles don't use less energy; they only have lower set elements so you need less water to cover them, and perhaps a window so you can visually control / prevent overfilling the kettle. If you can fill your kettle with 0.25 ml for one cup then you have an eco kettle. Personally I considered myself quite an energy saving savvy buff, but the author surprised - and impressed - me with many suggestions that are easy to do, and add up to make a noticeable difference.
The style is relatively light hearted (e.g. a retro-fit low energy house is referred to as `cosy house'), and the author is not afraid to discuss examples from her own experience, which aren't always perfect. So even though the material is sometimes quite tough, it's not alienating. Much of the advice is very practical (Should I buy a new fridge? Wash dishes by hand? Use an e-reader?) and for people - like us - who are refurbishing a traditionally built house, to try and lower our energy bills, the book is invaluable. It answers questions like which insulation is best where, and the good news is with a few thousand pounds and a few grants, you can make a substantial difference to the energy efficiency of an average house. And for those that toy with the idea of using renewable energy sources such as solar panels or laying a slinky (i.e. ground source heat pump) there is a wealth of information that helps to keep the new generation of `double glazing agents' at bay. So no matter if you want to do just your bit, or quite a bit, about your CO2 footprint, this book can help.
There are a few niggles. Probably to keep the book compact, the writing style can be a bit dense. In a few places it is positively geeky, acronym-laden and borders on a text book or reference book. The cheapo pulp design does not help with the accessibility either (grey graphs on grey paper, that knocks a star off). Also the book layout - and consequently the type face - is on the small side.
Overall however it is a down to earth fountain of knowledge about all scary things renewable / CO foot print'ish, etc, and I can't wait for the e-book version :)
This sounds potentially overwhelming, but the 10 chapters are broken down into succinct, easy to grasp 2-5 page sub-sections, which are partly quite surprising or even entertaining. Some of them make good snippets that will impress mates down the pub. For example, did you know that one Google search uses as much energy as using your computer for 5 minutes? This book also cuts to the chase in regards to some myths: Eco kettles don't use less energy; they only have lower set elements so you need less water to cover them, and perhaps a window so you can visually control / prevent overfilling the kettle. If you can fill your kettle with 0.25 ml for one cup then you have an eco kettle. Personally I considered myself quite an energy saving savvy buff, but the author surprised - and impressed - me with many suggestions that are easy to do, and add up to make a noticeable difference.
The style is relatively light hearted (e.g. a retro-fit low energy house is referred to as `cosy house'), and the author is not afraid to discuss examples from her own experience, which aren't always perfect. So even though the material is sometimes quite tough, it's not alienating. Much of the advice is very practical (Should I buy a new fridge? Wash dishes by hand? Use an e-reader?) and for people - like us - who are refurbishing a traditionally built house, to try and lower our energy bills, the book is invaluable. It answers questions like which insulation is best where, and the good news is with a few thousand pounds and a few grants, you can make a substantial difference to the energy efficiency of an average house. And for those that toy with the idea of using renewable energy sources such as solar panels or laying a slinky (i.e. ground source heat pump) there is a wealth of information that helps to keep the new generation of `double glazing agents' at bay. So no matter if you want to do just your bit, or quite a bit, about your CO2 footprint, this book can help.
There are a few niggles. Probably to keep the book compact, the writing style can be a bit dense. In a few places it is positively geeky, acronym-laden and borders on a text book or reference book. The cheapo pulp design does not help with the accessibility either (grey graphs on grey paper, that knocks a star off). Also the book layout - and consequently the type face - is on the small side.
Overall however it is a down to earth fountain of knowledge about all scary things renewable / CO foot print'ish, etc, and I can't wait for the e-book version :)
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I heard the writer of this book talking on radio four, one day, thought it sounded interesting, was very dissapointed. It was full of very scientific and uniteresting statistics, seemed to be written by one of the "Green Brigade", I personally believe the earth does its own cooling and heating, lets face it, we did not have cars and planes around hundreds of thousnds of years ago which are now being blamed for the global warming, The rest of the book was basic things, which we do, not t save the planet, but to save our hard earned money, like switching lights off in empty rooms, not impressed.
Format:Paperback
I've read a number of books on sustainability and sustainable lifestyles and Ive found that many are either too technical or too broad. This book hits the right balance, with it's quick summary statement at the start of each section, then more detailed supporting information thereafter explaining how the author has reached her conclusions. The breadth of topics covered is also impressive; ranging from how much photovoltaic energy can we generate to the relative carbon footprint of Kindle compared with paper books.
This is the knd of book that provides the answers that prove so hard to find elsewhere.
This is the knd of book that provides the answers that prove so hard to find elsewhere.
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Science & Nature > Earth Sciences & Geography > Meteorology > Global Warming
- Books > Science & Nature > Engineering & Technology > Civil Engineering > Environmental
- Books > Science & Nature > Environment & Ecology > Global Warming
- Books > Science & Nature > Environment & Ecology > Pollution > Greenhouse Effect
- Books > Scientific, Technical & Medical > Environment > Global Warming
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
