Page 4 RAIN Aug.-Sept. 1982 Access Figure 10-1 Ocean currents of the Northern hemisphere circulate like the winds above. Both serve to transfer heat energy from the tropics to cold northern latitudes. From: Weather and Energy Energy Lovins on the Soft Path, 1982, 36 minutes/ color/sound 16 mm film, $550; video, $275; rental (in either format), $75. Distributed by: Bullfrog Films Oley, PA 19547 Amory and Hunter Lovins are in the business of bringing about what Friends of the Earth founder David Brower has called "an energy revolution without fanfare [using information] presented so clearly you wonder why you didn't know it already." Their ludd articulation of the need for a "soft path" energy strategy (improved efficiencies combined with appropriate use of renewables) has drawn serious attention (and often sputtering anger) from the economists, utility executives, and government officials who would take us down the "hard" energy path toward increased fossil fuel and nuclear dependence. In this well-produced film, we follow Amory and Hunter on the lecture circuit, hear their description of our present energy dilemma, and share their vision of an "energy future with a future." The Lovinses center their energy analysis around four crucial questions: "How much energy do we need?" "What kinds of energy?" "Where can we get it?" "Where do we start?" Thanks in large part to Amory and Hunter's books and articles (see for example, "Soft Path Hits Hard Times," RAIN VII:8:18), some of us have already improved our ability to answer those questions. Now, with soaring utility rates, wobbling WPPSS bonds, and sobering memories of Three Mile Island, more and more people are ready for the kinds of answers which only recently might have been characterized as "radical." Lovins on the Soft Path is not only an excellent program choice for renewable energy organizations, but for labor unions, church discussion groups and the Lions Qub. — John Ferrell Heat Pumps: An Efficient Heating & Cooling Alternative, Dermot McGuigan with Amanda McGuigan, 1981,202 pp., $6.95 from: Garden Way Publishing Charlotte, VT 05445 As energy costs increase, heat pumps are becoming a popular solution to heating and cooling houses and offices. Basically, a heat pump is a refrigerator which uses the heating effect rather than the cooling effect for space conditioning. Heat pumps are like amplifiers: they take energy from air or water at moderate temperatures, add mechanical work, and produce hot air or water for space heating. A heat pump produces one-and-a-half to four units of heat energy per unit of work energy put into the system. This introductory book does an excellent job of describing the principles of heat pump operation, available equipment, and possible configurations with a backup system. The book is clear and highly readable, but there are three po- tenhal problems with the systems which are not fuUy addressed. First, heat pumps do not readily lend themselves to night setbacks; a special control system is required to use a night setback without energizing the auxiliary heat source. Second, (as the authors do note) air-to-air heat pumps are very inefficient at low temperatures. (In the Pacific Northwest, where we have a "mild" climate, heat pumps are installed with electric resistance heat as the auxiliary, and when the temperature drops, they run primarily on the resistance heater). Last, but not least, heat pumps may amplify energy, but the energy form is generally electricity. A conventional coal- or gas-fired electric power plant has less than 35% delivered efficiency which offsets the basic beneficial effects of using a heat pump. — Gail Katz Weather and Energy, by Bruce Schwoeg- ler, 1981,230 pages, $22.50 from: McGraw-Hill 1221 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10020 This is a book for people who look at the physical universe and wonder why it works the way it does. Other alternative energy books may provide specifics on insulation needs, average wind speed and hydro potential of various sites around the country. This book starts with the basic cause and effect of weather and from there proceeds to offer information on alternative energy possibilities suggested by weather patterns. Overall, the portion of the earth near the equator receives more solar energy than it emits back to space, causing a net energy gain and a rise in temperature. Polar areas, on the other hand, are net energy losers. Air masses move across the earth to establish equilibirium between zones of net gain and loss. Add the effects of the earth's rotation, moisture content of the air and topographic features, and the weather becomes understandable. Weather and Energy not only unfolds the mysteries of rain and wind; it does so in a manner that is so easily read and totally engrossing that I devoured the book in a single sitting. — GaU Katz
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