Book excerpt: Sustainable Energy Conversion for Electricity and Coproducts Comprehensive and a fundamental approach to the study of sustainable fuel conversion for the generation of electricity and for coproducing synthetic fuels and chemicals Both electricity and chemicals are critical to maintain our modern way of life; however, environmental impacts have to be factored in to sustain this type of lifestyle. Sustainable Energy Conversion for Electricity and Coproducts provides a unified, comprehensive, and a fundamental approach to the study of sustainable fuel conversion in order to generate electricity and optionally coproduce synthetic fuels and chemicals. The book starts with an introduction to energy systems and describes the various forms of energy sources: natural gas, petroleum, coal, biomass, and other renewables and nuclear. Their distribution is discussed in order to emphasize the uneven availability and finiteness of some of these resources. Each topic in the book is covered in sufficient detail from a theoretical and practical applications standpoint essential for engineers involved in the development of the modern power plant. Sustainable Energy Conversion for Electricity and Coproducts features the following: Discusses the impact of energy sources on the environment along with an introduction to the supply chain and life cycle analyses in order to emphasize the holistic approach required for sustainability. Not only are the emissions of criteria pollutants addressed but also the major greenhouse gas CO2 which is essential for the overall sustainability. Deals with underlying principles and their application to engineering including thermodynamics, fluid flow, and heat and mass transfer which form the foundation for the more technology specific chapters that follow. Details specific subjects within energy plants such as prime movers, systems engineering, Rankine cycle and the Brayton–Rankine combined cycle, and emerging technologies such as high-temperature membranes and fuel cells. Sustainable energy conversion is an extremely active field of research at this time. By covering the multidisciplinary fundamentals in sufficient depth, this book is largely self-contained suitable for the different engineering disciplines, as well as chemists working in this field of sustainable energy conversion.