Do you get that sinking feeling that you are wasting cash whenever you're driving? Are you sick of gasoline prices increasing whenever gasoline companies feel like it? Are you becoming increasingly aware of how your car's gas usage is negatively impacting the environment? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, this is the right book to crown you the king of your own road to savings. Author Ron Weiers's priceless advice guarantees to save you money in all facets of your driving. Whether you're behind the wheel, planning your next trip, researching a new vehicle, or considering adding aftermarket accessories to your car, this book has the information you need to drive efficiently, safely, and as inexpensively as possible.

Over three billion metric tons of cement are produced annually worldwide, making concrete the most extensively used construction material. Self-sensing, or smart, cement allows real-time monitoring of performance through the entire service life of a concrete structure, for the detection of changing stresses, contamination, excessive temperature, gas leaks and pre-seismic activity. This is achieved by adding a very small proportion of conductive or semi-conductive fibers, such as carbon fibers to the bulk cement, making it piezoresistive, and enabling changes in the concrete’s electrical resistivity in response to shear stress and strain to be monitored. This state-of-the-art reference work presents experimental results with a realistic theoretical framework, for cement manufactures, concrete technologists and contractors as well as researchers.

Recent innovations have created significant developments in data storage and management. These new technologies now allow for greater security in databases and other applications. Decentralized Computing Using Blockchain Technologies and Smart Contracts: Emerging Research and Opportunities is a concise and informative source of academic research on the latest developments in block chain innovation and their application in contractual agreements. Highlighting pivotal discussions on topics such as cryptography, programming techniques, and decentralized computing, this book is an ideal publication for researchers, academics, professionals, students, and practitioners seeking content on utilizing block chains with smart contracts.

Smart Energy Grid Engineering provides in-depth detail on the various important engineering challenges of smart energy grid design and operation by focusing on advanced methods and practices for designing different components and their integration within the grid. Governments around the world are investing heavily in smart energy grids to ensure optimum energy use and supply, enable better planning for outage responses and recovery, and facilitate the integration of heterogeneous technologies such as renewable energy systems, electrical vehicle networks, and smart homes around the grid. By looking at case studies and best practices that illustrate how to implement smart energy grid infrastructures and analyze the technical details involved in tackling emerging challenges, this valuable reference considers the important engineering aspects of design and implementation, energy generation, utilization and energy conservation, intelligent control and monitoring data analysis security, and asset integrity. - Includes detailed support to integrate systems for smart grid infrastructures - Features global case studies outlining design components and their integration within the grid - Provides examples and best practices from industry that will assist in the migration to smart grids

Securing the Smart Grid discusses the features of the smart grid, particularly its strengths and weaknesses, to better understand threats and attacks, and to prevent insecure deployments of smart grid technologies. A smart grid is a modernized electric grid that uses information and communications technology to be able to process information, such as the behaviors of suppliers and consumers. The book discusses different infrastructures in a smart grid, such as the automatic metering infrastructure (AMI). It also discusses the controls that consumers, device manufacturers, and utility companies can use to minimize the risk associated with the smart grid. It explains the smart grid components in detail so readers can understand how the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of these components can be secured or compromised. This book will be a valuable reference for readers who secure the networks of smart grid deployments, as well as consumers who use smart grid devices. - Details how old and new hacking techniques can be used against the grid and how to defend against them - Discusses current security initiatives and how they fall short of what is needed - Find out how hackers can use the new infrastructure against itself

The general consensus is that BlockChain is the next disruptive technology, and Ethereum is the flagship product of BlockChain 2.0. However, coding and implementing business logic in a decentralized and transparent environment is fundamentally different from traditional programming and is emerging as a major challenge for developers. This book introduces readers to the Solidity language from scratch, together with case studies and examples. It also covers advanced topics and explains the working mechanism of smart contracts in depth. Further, it includes relevant examples that shed new light on the forefront of Solidity programming. In short, it equips readers with essential practical skills, allowing them to quickly catch up and start using Solidity programming. To gain the most from the book, readers should have already learned at least one object-oriented programming language

Considering the alarming issue of global climate change and its drastic consequences, there is an urgent need to further develop smart and innovative solutions for the energy sector. The goal of sustainable and smart energy for present and future generations can be achieved by integrating emerging technologies into the existing energy infrastructure. This book focuses on the role and significance of emerging technologies in the energy sector and covers the various technological interventions for both conventional and unconventional energy resources and provides meaningful insights into smart and sustainable energy solutions. The book also discusses future directions for smart and sustainable developments in the energy sector.

Under European Directives, all member states are required to install 'intelligent metering systems' - smart meters - to at least 80% of domestic electricity consumers by 2020. The UK Government has opted for a more challenging programme, with plans for energy suppliers to install smart electricity and gas meters in all homes and smaller non-domestic premises in Great Britain by 2019. The Department estimates that the smart meters programme will cost some £11.7 billion. This large complex programme requires replacing around 53 million gas and electricity meters, with significant uncertainties over the estimated costs and benefits involved. Installation costs will be borne by consumers through their energy bills, but many of the benefits accrue in the first instance to energy suppliers. No transparent mechanism presently exists for ensuring savings to the supplier are passed on to consumers, and the track record of energy companies to date does not inspire confidence that this will happen. There remain significant uncertainties in a number of key areas in the programme and the Department needs to address these by conducting proper trials to identify and manage the risks associated with an IT project involving such a substantial amount of money which is financed by individuals as consumers. The Department needs to ensure that the vulnerable, those on low incomes and those who use prepayment meters also benefit from smart meters. It would be unacceptable if these consumers bore the costs of smart meters through higher charges without getting a share of the potential benefits.

In the industry of transportation, the demand for sustainable energy solutions and intelligent traffic management has reached a critical juncture. One of the key challenges faced is the efficient utilization of roadways to generate power and support the infrastructure of smart highways. Road piezoelectric energy harvesting (RPEH) is a concept that has sparked widespread interest in both industry and academia. The book, titled Principles and Applications in Speed Sensing and Energy Harvesting for Smart Roads, unravels the intricacies of RPEH and presents a visionary solution to power traffic ancillary facilities and wireless sensor devices on highways. Within its pages lies a transformative proposal – harnessing energy from piezoelectric stacks to not only address the power needs of these critical components but also to enable intelligent vehicle speed sensing. This book is for academic scholars and practitioners alike, navigating the intricate landscape of smart highways. Focused on the latest energy harvesting technologies and vehicle speed sensing, it extends an invitation to delve into communication with smart road displays. Tailored for diverse engineering disciplines—electrical, computer, mechanical, and civil—the book contains cutting-edge research in the domain. Aspiring to be a one-stop source for up-to-date information, it guides researchers, students, and industry professionals through state-of-the-art technologies, fostering a deeper understanding of smart highway systems.