The highly successful first edition of Talking Renewables was published in early 2018. Since then, renewable energy has undergone a dramatic transformation, and its role within the energy sector has risen from relative insignificance to a position of prominence. This new edition of the book has been written in response to the new demands for knowledge and information on renewables brought about by this growing interest in the field.

The second edition retains the general aim of the first, which was to provide an introductory book on renewables for the benefit of the general readership. But its content has been expanded to address the new interest in renewables, which stems largely from its role in the energy transition driven by the Paris Agreement. This four-part book begins (as before) with a basic introduction to the science, technology and production of renewable energy (RE), followed by an introduction to the two main applications of RE prior to the energy transition era, namely energy security for the poor and climate change mitigation.

The last part is totally new, and is dedicated to a detailed introduction to the role of renewable energy in climate change mitigation. It begins with the science of climate change, presents a comprehensive account of the Paris Agreement and its implementation, and proceeds to describe the net-zero strategies and energy transition plans adopted by the Parties to the UNFCCC. This includes a critique of nuclear energy as an alternative clean energy source to RE. The book ends by pointing out the need for the adoption of a formal process for the development of net-zero strategies that includes key requirements for a viable strategy as a mandatory component.

Anirudh Singh PhD, is an Honorary Professor at the University of Southern Queensland, Australia, specialising in Renewable Energy and Climate Change Mitigation. He previously held a professorship at the University of Fiji and has 15 years of experience teaching and supervising graduate research.

Anirudh is currently an Associate Editor for Management of Environmental Quality - An International Journal, and was Guest Editor for the Special issue of Energy Policy (2016), and Section Editor for the Handbook of Climate Change Adaptation (Springer, 2015). He was also an Expert Reviewer for the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report (AR5).

Over his writing career, which began with the first edition of this book, Anirudh has published three books in the renewable energy/climate change mitigation area for three international publishers, the last of which was published by IOP in 2023.