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Books > Out of Print Titles
Following the 1973 oil embargo, a small group of us noted that energy efficiency could be considerably improved in the United States and the rest of the world, with many benefits and no reduction in quality of life. We formed a non-profit educational organization called the Interdisciplinary group for Ecology, Development, and Energy (EDEN). The idea originated with Craig B. Smith, Dr. Rocco Fazzolare (University of Arizona), Prof. Jorge Vieira da Silva (University of Paris) and Kuppu Iyengar, (UCLA). EDEN organized and sponsored three highly successful international conferences on energy use management; the first in Tucson, in 1977, the second, in Los Angeles, in 1979, and the third, in Berlin, in 1981. Proceedings of these international conferences (in multiple volumes and containing hundreds of technical papers by world energy experts) were published by Pergamon Press, thanks to the strong interest and support of Robert Maxwell, publisher. Titles were:
- Energy Use Management, 1977
- Changing Energy Use Futures, 1979
- Beyond the Energy Crisis-Opportunities and Challenge, 1981.
After the third conference, EDEN's founders disbanded the organization, feeling that it had served the purpose for which it was originally created. They observed that great strides had been made in improving energy efficiency. Virtually every government had formed an energy department; major corporations and utilities had established energy management programs, and the energy usage per dollar of gross national product had fallen dramatically. Against this historical backdrop the timing and importance of these publications can be considered.
In 1975, Dr. Chauncey Starr, president of the newly-organized Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), recognized the importance of improving energy use efficiency and felt that American electric utilities should play a leadership role. A contract was let to produce a handbook of efficient electricity use and Craig B. Smith was tasked to assemble and edit it. When the first edition was published, some of the
Efficient Electricity Use, 2nd Edition
Pergamon Press, New York and Oxford, 1978
EPRI member utilities (remember, they were still locked in intense competition with the natural gas industry) felt it went too far, after all, weren't they still trying to sell electricity? A review committee was organized and a second edition published. In reality, while some references to the benefits of cogeneration using natural gas were deleted, the second edition pushed the limits of efficient electricity use even further. The objections to the first edition today seem almost laughable.
Efficient Electricity Use became one of EPRI's best-selling technical reports. A version of it even appeared in the Soviet Union. However, in keeping with the spirit of those days, the book was tightly edited to cover industrial energy use efficiency and energy in commercial buildings and agriculture. References to the American life style or standard of living (such as the size of refrigerators, or references to color television and other common appliances) were carefully edited out. Needless to say, no royalties were ever received from this publication.
Efficient Electricity Use, 2nd Edition
Russian language version, Moscow, 1981.
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As energy efficiency programs expanded around the United States and the world, universities shifted their emphasis and began offering courses in energy engineering and alternative energy, including solar power. There was no text book that was available at the time that dealt with this interdisciplinary field in a unified manner, and so Craig B. Smith decided to write one. This was also published by Pergamon Press.
Energy Management Principles
Pergamon Press, New York and Oxford, 1981
Others took up the challenge of disseminating information in the rapidly changing energy efficiency field. In 1980, the Chemical Rubber Company Press, came out with the first edition of a handbook titled Economics of Energy Conservation and Solar Energy, edited by Dr. Frank Kreith and Ronald West, and containing chapters on electrical power management in buildings and in industry by Craig B. Smith and numerous other energy specialists. The CRC Press book was updated in 1996.
Comparing the national energy use statistics with the earlier edition was fascinating as it showed the remarkable reduction that was accomplished in a decade and a half, while the economy continued to expand!
Later, CRC Press was acquired by Taylor and Francis Publishing Company, a British firm. Again, under the editorship of Frank Kreith and with D. Yogi Goswami, a new edition of the handbook, titled the Handbook of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, was published in 2007.
The CRC Handbook of Energy Efficiency
CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, 1996
While they are out of print, some of these books are available from Amazon.com and used book sellers.
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