Water energy - Graham Rickard

In books for children of this age, alternative energy is often treated as one topic, either in a single book or relegated to the last chapter in a volume on energy. After the oil crisis of the early 1970's the subject underwent considerable research and alternative energy projects are now in operation around the world. As well as examining these economically viable schemes, the series discusses possibilities for the future. These are likely to be increasingly relevant as environmental concerns assume more importance. Colour photographs and, for more difficult subjects, colour diagrams are used throughout the series.;This book examines the potential for using water energy as a major source of power, which may one day replace fossil fuels and nuclear power. The author discusses the principal ways of obtaining power from water - hydroelectric schemes, tidal barrages, wave-powered generators and Ocean thermal energy conservation - and the way they are used in, and suited to, particular environments. He then concentrates on a specific project, the snowy mountain hydroelectric scheme in Australia, as an example of how hydroelectric power is used today. In all this he is aided by colour photographs and diagrams. The glossary features potentially difficult terms international list of addresses from which further information can be obtained. Other work by the author includes "The Chernobyl Catastrophe", which was nominated as a Book Trust Book of the Year for Children in 1989.