10 Books on Energy &; Environment
Filed in archive Opinion , World on May 2, 2006
Independent from any publisher or author, SEAL introduces its overview of 10 books that all have merit to broaden and deepen the energy debate: 3 books on the role of carbon energy (1-3), 3 books on nuclear (4-6), 3 books on other aspects (7-9) and concluding with last year's book on the ethical dimension of Kyoto.
- In 'Sustainable Fossil Fuels' Mark Jaccard doubts our prospects for moving away quickly from carbon fuels to renewable energy sources, and expects an energy system largely dominated by fossil fuels for the 21st century. This however does not need to be incompatible with a sustainable energy system more
- In 'Energy at the Crossroads' Vaclav Smil summarizes a lifetime of energy studies. The result is a highly accessible book, yet rich in argument. In the future energy system, not a single solution will work by itself, and the 'a priori' exclusion of certain options is counterproductive. The path to carbon-free energy is going to take most of the 21st century more
- In 'Why Carbon Fuels Will Dominate The 21st Century's Global Energy Economy', Peter Odell opens with a sentence that realism about our energy system is a commodity in scarce supply and describes a 100-year scenario where we will use 3 times more carbon fuel in the 21st century than in the 20th more
- In 'Megawatts & Megatons' Richard Garwin and Georges Charpak give a comprehensive overview of nuclear technology, covering both its civilian and military use. The opening sentence "If it is to benefit humanity, concern for our planet and the future of our civilization needs to be matched with an understanding of the facts." defines the book's credo more
- While unrelated, 'Nuclear Renaissance' complements 'Megawatts & Megatons' very well through its indepth overview of new nuclear technology, concluding that, on balance, 'it would seem prudent for the developed world to maintain a civil nuclear power industry on at least its current scale.' more
- 'Double or Quits' argues for the nuclear industry
and governments to take action to ensure that nuclear power remains available as a practical option. Such action needs to take place on 5 fronts: public perception, economics, waste (including reprocessing and proliferation), safety and R&D more
- 'The Skeptical Environmentalist' uses a wealth of long-term trend data to demonstrate that the world has never been in better shape, while recognising that there are problems with global warming, the ozone layer, the loss of rain forests, ... As the rare optimistic book on environment, it warns against the very selective use of data to construct environmental claims more
- In 'Factor Four' the authors have written an excellent discussion document and manifesto for action, harnessing market forces for change to increase resource productivity, a simple but appealing idea that can expect a large consensus more
- 'Power to the People' provides a fresco of what currently lives in the energy sector. Talking to the who's who in energy, the author concludes that the forces of liberalisation, increasing environmental conscienceness and new technology are all converging towards a micro-power revolution. Not surprisingly with this message, the book is not too kind on big oil, coal and electricity more
- Finally, 'Reading the Kyoto Protocol - Ethical Aspects of the Convention on Climate Change' leaves the straightjacket of what is politically achievable within the time horizon of a regulatory mandate, and refreshingly thinks out of the box, but it is not a theoretical book. And you don't have to agree with it - as the authors happily don't with each other more
We welcome your rating and comments on these books, and as well as your additions to the list.
Hans De Keulenaer: Source: Seal
Permalink: 10 Books on Energy &; Environment
Tags: energy books
Vote for 10 Books on Energy &; Environment:
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Rating: 7.43 out of 7 vote(s) cast.
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Response from:
Mr drug rehab
(05/02/07 10:35am)
For nearly sixty years the menace of nuclear war has hung over humanity, while at the same time the promise of nuclear energy has enticed us. In Megawatts and Megatons, two of the world’s most eminent physicists—French Nobel Prize laureate Georges Charpak and American Enrico Fermi Award–winner Richard L. Garwin—assess with consummate authority the benefits of nuclear energy and the dangers of nuclear weaponry.
Response from:
Canadian online pharmacy
(06/20/07 2:06pm)
You can not learn everything from books. They really help a lot but it does not teach you everything. Real life experience is the most important.
Response from:
Steve
(08/02/07 2:08pm)
Tidal power is undergoing a stage of research and development similar to wind farm development 15 years ago and solar cell development a couple of decades back.lipitor')" rel="nofollow">http://www.pharmacy-online.ca/drugs/lipitor.jsp">lipitor
Response from:
norvasc generic
(08/24/07 3:56am)
I was wondering if you can recommend me a good book about a low-fat diet. Thanks
Response from:
poetryman69
(11/26/07 6:26pm)
Almost all wars and terrorism in the world can be stopped. Almost all dictators and tyrants can be rendered powerless. All we have to do is to stop paying them. An alarming amount of the money Western nations pay for oil is going into the coffers of people who are terrorists and dictators. All we have to do defund the world’s most violent criminals is to become energy independent.
In the first phase of energy independence we get as much energy as possible from resources which we own or which are in the hands of friendly, stable nations. First we build new nuclear power plants in every state. If the French can make nuclear work what excuse do we have? In addition, we drill for oil off all our coastal waters and we build new refineries and pipelines in every state. Existing energy companies are making plenty of money in the current climate of false scarcity. We will have to find away around them. Usually the way around greedy energy companies would require political will. However, almost all existing politicians are in the pocket of the energy companies. This includes democrats and republicans. So every politician currently in office needs to be thrown out. Anyone who works for or who owns an existing conventional energy company is in my view disqualified for public office. We already know from the Bush/Cheney experience that such politicians will work in a way contrary to the national security of the United States and will start pointless wars for oil.
Merely having new politicians willing to clear the legal minefields laid down by oil bought senators and congressmen might not be enough. We might have to get a little bolder. Therefore I suggest that we build terawatts of new nuclear power plans and miles of new oil refineries in Mexico and that we send the power back to the states via pipelines, power lines, hydrogen, or whatever works. This will provide work for Mexicans and energy for us. The Mexican government will have a large incentive to make the plants secure and this increased security might even spill over to the borders and make our borders more secure.
While phase one is going on we need to start on phase 2. In this phase we bring online as many green and renewable technologies as are currently viable and put as much money as is needed into producing more. I would suggest that the model cities be built in the west and south—anywhere that it does not get cold enough to snow. The idea is to build small towns or cities that will go cold turkey. There will be no fossil fuels of any kind allowed in these cities. All vehicles and houses will be powered by wind, solar and bio-mass. The best locations would be those that have year around wind, sun and enough farming in the area to produce the bio mass. These experimental towns would be off the power grid. The only way to get power to them would be to make the green and renewable technologies work. Volunteers who truly believe that the future is green would be invited to apply for residency. We would probably take engineers and farmers over other types because we would need people who were skilled in keeping the power conversion machinery going and others who don’t mind the get their hands dirty hard work of farming.
In the first phase of energy independence we get as much energy as possible from resources which we own or which are in the hands of friendly, stable nations. First we build new nuclear power plants in every state. If the French can make nuclear work what excuse do we have? In addition, we drill for oil off all our coastal waters and we build new refineries and pipelines in every state. Existing energy companies are making plenty of money in the current climate of false scarcity. We will have to find away around them. Usually the way around greedy energy companies would require political will. However, almost all existing politicians are in the pocket of the energy companies. This includes democrats and republicans. So every politician currently in office needs to be thrown out. Anyone who works for or who owns an existing conventional energy company is in my view disqualified for public office. We already know from the Bush/Cheney experience that such politicians will work in a way contrary to the national security of the United States and will start pointless wars for oil.
Merely having new politicians willing to clear the legal minefields laid down by oil bought senators and congressmen might not be enough. We might have to get a little bolder. Therefore I suggest that we build terawatts of new nuclear power plans and miles of new oil refineries in Mexico and that we send the power back to the states via pipelines, power lines, hydrogen, or whatever works. This will provide work for Mexicans and energy for us. The Mexican government will have a large incentive to make the plants secure and this increased security might even spill over to the borders and make our borders more secure.
While phase one is going on we need to start on phase 2. In this phase we bring online as many green and renewable technologies as are currently viable and put as much money as is needed into producing more. I would suggest that the model cities be built in the west and south—anywhere that it does not get cold enough to snow. The idea is to build small towns or cities that will go cold turkey. There will be no fossil fuels of any kind allowed in these cities. All vehicles and houses will be powered by wind, solar and bio-mass. The best locations would be those that have year around wind, sun and enough farming in the area to produce the bio mass. These experimental towns would be off the power grid. The only way to get power to them would be to make the green and renewable technologies work. Volunteers who truly believe that the future is green would be invited to apply for residency. We would probably take engineers and farmers over other types because we would need people who were skilled in keeping the power conversion machinery going and others who don’t mind the get their hands dirty hard work of farming.
Response from:
Credit Card
(07/23/08 1:46am)
Good list of books. Cheers.
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