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This edited book is a comprehensive collection of chapters on various clean energy technology such as solar energy, waste biomass as energy, hydro-electricity generation, biodiesel production from biomass and strategies to cater the demand of clean renewable energy. Clean energy technologies also enhance economic growth by increasing the supply of energy demand and tackling environmental challenges and their impacts due to the use of other conventional sources of energy. The conventional/non-conventional energy production methods are efficient but it has adverse effects on environment and human health. As environmental concerns are not avoidable therefore the necessity of clean energy production comes in to the picture. The clean energy can be produced by different wastes which are caused for the environmental pollution. This book covers various aspects of new and renewable clean energy production technology and its utilization in different fields. This is a useful reading material for students and researchers involved in clean energy study.

Germany uses its low enthalpy hydrothermal resources predominantly for balneological applications, space and district heating, but also for power production. The German Federal government supports the development of geothermal energy in terms of project funding, market incentives and credit offers, as well as a feed-in tariff for geothermal electricity. Although new projects for district heating take on average six years, geothermal energy utilisation is growing rapidly, especially in southern Germany. From 2003 to 2013, the annual production of geothermal district heating stations increased from 60 GWh to 530 GWh. In the same time, the annual power production increased from 0 GWh to 36 GWh. Currently, almost 200 geothermal facilities are in operation or under construction in Germany. A feasibility study including detailed geological site assessment is still essential when planning a new geothermal facility. As part of this assessment, a lot of geological data, hydraulic data, and subsurface temperatures can be retrieved from the geothermal information system GeotIS, which can be accessed online [1].

Germany uses its low enthalpy hydrothermal resources predominantly for balneological applications, space and district heating, but also for power production. The German Federal government supports the development of geothermal energy in terms of project funding, market incentives and credit offers, as well as a feed-in tariff for geothermal electricity. Although new projects for district heating take on average six years, geothermal energy utilisation is growing rapidly, especially in southern Germany. From 2003 to 2013, the annual production of geothermal district heating stations increased from 60 GWh to 530 GWh. In the same time, the annual power production increased from 0 GWh to 36 GWh. Currently, almost 200 geothermal facilities are in operation or under construction in Germany. A feasibility study including detailed geological site assessment is still essential when planning a new geothermal facility. As part of this assessment, a lot of geological data, hydraulic data, and subsurface temperatures can be retrieved from the geothermal information system GeotIS, which can be accessed online [1].

Any personal or societal activity, besides bringing us benefits, also carries some risk. Energy production and use are no exceptions. In order to judge these risks, they must be quantified, and the risks of all alternative methods of producing this energy must then be compared among each other. These risks originate in many parts of the energy cycle; they are diverse in character and involve different parts of the population. It is therefore necessary to discriminate between many aspects of risk so that only reasonably comparable categories are compared. The results of a critical analysis of the international risk literature are presented, which are applicable to power production plants as they could be built today in central European countries. This review pays special attention to the possibility of severe accidents occurring, which attract so much attention in our modern societies. It turns out that the health risks of routine nuclear energy production are lower than the risks of other energy options, particularly for the general public. The probability of a severe accident occurring is far higher for all conventional energy options. Only the renewable systems utilizing the energy of the sun and the wind are not susceptible to severe accidents.

The exploitation and production of primary energy resources and the supply of this energy is critical for China's economic development. Despite the obvious economic benefit to the nation, this energy production has had significant negative socio-economic impacts on certain groups of people at local and national scales. This paper documents three cases of energy production in China and demonstrates that, in each case, marginalisation of social groups has either been created or has been enhanced. These cases are the Three Gorges Dam, the Yumen oilfield, and township and village coal mines. The causes of this marginalisation have their roots in the structures, processes and approaches taken in the making and implementation of national policy in China, and are compounded by poor regulation and monitoring, poor civil rights, and the tension between central and local governments. The government which came to power in 2003 recognised the extent and importance of these social challenges relating to energy production, and has started to take steps to address them. (J Contemp China/GIGA)