Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Introduction -- 2. Coal in the industrial revolution, and beyond -- 3. History of oil and natural gas -- Oil extraction and exploration -- Natural gas -- 4. Fossil fuel resources and uses -- Coal -- Oil -- Tar sands -- Oil shale -- Natural gas -- Coalbed methane -- Tight sands and shales -- Methane hydrates -- Outlook -- 5. Diminishing oil and gas reserves -- 6. The continuing need for hydrocarbons and their products -- Fractional distillation -- Thermal cracking -- 7. Fossil fuels and climate change -- Mitigation -- 8. Renewable energy sources and atomic energy -- Hydropower -- Geothermal energy -- Wind energy -- Solar energy : photovoltaic and thermal -- Electricity from photovoltaic conversion -- Solar thermal power for electricity production -- Electric power from saline solar ponds -- Solar thermal energy for heating -- Economic limitations of solar energy -- Biomass energy -- Electricity from biomass -- Liquid biofuels -- Ocean energy : thermal, tidal, and wave power -- Tidal energy -- Waves -- Ocean thermal energy -- Nuclear energy -- Energy from nuclear fission reactions -- Breeder reactors -- The need for nuclear power -- Economics -- Safety -- Radiation hazards -- Nuclear byproducts and waste -- Emissions -- Nuclear power : an energy source for the future -- Nuclear fusion -- Future outlook -- 9. The hydrogen economy and its limitations -- The discovery and properties of hydrogen -- The development of hydrogen energy -- The production and uses of hydrogen -- Hydrogen from fossil fuels -- Hydrogen from biomass -- Photobiological water cleavage -- Water electrolysis -- Hydrogen production using nuclear energy -- The challenge of hydrogen storage -- Liquid hydrogen -- Compressed hydrogen -- Metal hydrides and solid absorbents -- Other means of hydrogen storage -- Hydrogen : centralized or decentralized distribution? -- Safety of hydrogen -- Hydrogen in transportation -- Fuel cells -- History -- Fuel cell efficiency -- Hydrogen-based fuel cells -- PEM fuel cells for transportation -- Regenerative fuel cells -- Outlook -- 10. The "methanol economy" : general aspects -- 11. Methanol as a fuel and energy carrier -- Properties and historical background -- Present uses of methanol -- Use of methanol and dimethyl ether as transportation fuels -- Alcohol as a transportation fuel in the past -- Methanol as fuel in internal combustion engines (ICE) -- Methanol and dimethyl ether as diesel fuels substitute in compression ignition engines -- Biodiesel fuel -- Advanced methanol-powered vehicles -- Hydrogen for fuel cells from methanol reforming -- Direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) -- Fuel cells based on other fuels and biofuel cells -- Regenerative fuel cell -- Methanol for static power and heat generation -- Methanol storage and distribution -- Methanol price -- Methanol safety -- Emissions from methanol-powered vehicles -- Methanol and the environment -- Methanol and issues of climate change -- 12. Production of methanol from syn-gas to carbon dioxide -- Methanol from fossil fuels -- Production via syn-gas -- Syn-gas from natural gas -- Methane steam reforming -- Partial oxidation of methane -- Autothermal reforming and combination of steam reforming and partial oxidation -- Syn-gas from CO? reforming -- Syn-gas from petroleum and higher hydrocarbons -- Syn-gas from coal -- Economics of syn-gas generation -- Methanol through methyl formate -- Methanol from methane without syn-gas -- Selective oxidation of methane to methanol -- Catalytic gas-phase oxidation of methane -- Liquid-phase oxidation of methane to methanol -- Methanol production through mono-halogenated methanes -- Microbial or photochemical conversion of methane to methanol -- Methanol from biomass -- Methanol from biogas -- Aquaculture -- Water plants -- Algae -- Methanol from carbon dioxide -- Carbon dioxide from industrial flue gases -- Carbon dioxide from the atmosphere -- 13. Methanol-based chemicals, synthetic hydrocarbons and materials -- Methanol-based