Book Description
When Rudolph Diesel invented his engine in the late nineteenth century, he envisioned a device that could run anywhere on a wide range of local fuels. A century later, Greg Pahl recalls that vision and shows us it is possible with Biodiesel: Growing a New Energy Economy.
Biodiesel is:
more biodegradable than sugar and less toxic than table salt.
produced from domestic feedstocks, reducing the need for foreign oil while boosting the local economy and supporting the agricultural community.
Biodiesel can:
reduce net CO2 emissions by 78 percent compared with petroleum diesel fuel, cutting greenhouse gases that lead to global warming.
be mixed with petroleum diesel at any level to produce a cleaner-burning biodiesel blend.
be blended with No. 2 oil for home heating, usually without any retrofits required.
As the politics of energy grow bleak, visionary entrepreneurs in the biofuels industry may very well become society's next great hope-heroes to today's energy insecurity the way astronauts were to the Cold War's space race. In Biodiesel, Greg Pahl delves into the history of the biofuels industry. He assesses its recent successes and current shortcomings, and stands well prepared to estimate its future. If the political, environmental, or financial woes of our current fuel industry have you concerned, it's time to take another look at biodiesel!
Customer Reviews:
The best biodiesel primer available.......2007-05-14
Interest in alternative motor fuels has been rising even faster than the cost of gasoline. Biodiesel, a drop-in replacement for diesel fuel, is widely seen as one of the best renewable energy sources. Unfortunately, there is a good deal of misinformation and just plain nonsense out there. As a former big-oil-company research chemist with some experience in alternative fuels, I am often asked where good, reliable information can be found. I use and recommend Pahl's book as a source for trustworthy information written for the non-technical reader. In addition, his information about Rudolph Diesel is a very interesting introduction.
Readers should know (and Pahl in fact tells them)that his book is not neutral: he is an unabashed biodiesel proponent. That's not a problem; there is a lot to be excited about when discussing biodiesel. Another warning: if you want to make your own biodiesel (easy to do, actually), go to the Internet, as Pahl concentrates on larger-scale operations. The book's biggest drawback is that the field is changing so rapidly that some of the information (particularly relating to political and commercial developments) is already out of date, even though it was published in 2005.
Nevertheless, Pahl has written what I consider to be the best primer on biodiesel available. Anyone interested in learning about biodiesel should own or have access to a copy.
Great overview of biodiesel in practice.......2007-04-18
Pahl's book on Biodiesel is a great introduction to the basics and some of the more thought-provoking possibilities of how to create this biofuel. Though biodiesel is given much media attention, it is barely in use at all in the US, and this book tells it like it is. I particularly liked the fact that it shows the efficiencies of different feedstocks, pointing out that plant oils might not be the best resource (particulary soybeans), much like corn is a terrible feedstock for ethanol. What I did find amazing is how great of a feedstock brown grease and algae are....the latter has tremendous possibilities, especially when coupled with carbon sequestration in applications such as coal plants. It's a great book that will get you thinking, if not running out to get another book on how to apply some of these ideas at home or in the business world.
Great resource on Biodiesel and other alt. fuels.......2006-07-19
Greg does a great job of explaining what biodiesel is, how/where it came about, and why it is a good additive to our current petrodiesel. He also writes about what other countries are doing with and how they are (currently) ahead of the US in utilizing it. He also discusses other forms of alternative/renewable sources of energy. I would recommend this book as good reading, but I would probably recommend 'Biodiesel America' first....as it has a bit more current info than Biodiesel: Growing A New Energy Economy. But good reading nontheless.
Excellent overview of Biodiesel.......2006-05-08
Greg's book is a fine introduction to the concept of diesel biofuels and deserves its fivestar rating. As someone who has actually refined and used biodiesel on a daily basis, as opposed to a bio-d critic just pontificating about the subject in general, his viewpoint is very welcome. I found 'Biodiesel' well written and a good introduction to the interesting world of biodiesel fuels, its raw material sourcing, and the growing industry of biofuel production. While obviously written from a pro-biodiesel viewpoint, it is an experienced and well-grounded one. Pahl obviously believes that the advantages of cleaner emissions and potential for OPEC import reductions outweigh biodiesel's disadvantages. Pahl may be dismissed by some as a Vermont treehugger, but you don't have to take his word for it. Long-haul truckers are already flocking to biodiesel for its clean burn, longer engine component life, and greater fuel economy - and those guys don't waste money on impractical solutions!
I wouldn't pay too much attention to unemployed agronomists in Brazil or otherwise, with patently obvious agendas against biodiesel as book critics. Ethanol is a great biofuel, but its advantages are oversold as a cure-all. It won't solve our energy problems in the US by itself, and biodiesel fuels are also needed, which Pahl notes come from a constantly expanding variety of byproduct oils from many plant and animal sources. Brazil still has to import petrodiesel to run its trucking industry, and here in the U.S. we have a 'few' large trucks that wouldn't work too well on E85!
As to the book critics, most of them don't like biodiesel, and mistake bio-d criticism for book criticism. The two are completely different. Have they even read the book? I also note that most bio-d critics have never even tried the fuel anyway - just how does can anyone know something doesn't work on either the national or local level if they haven't either tried the fuel in the field or worked in quantity bio-d research and production? At least Mr. Pahl has user experience. Agree or disagree, but at least write a review based on the book, not on your own prejudices.
Biodiesel isn't a solution for energy........2006-02-20
Beeing unemployed, I'm an agronomist here in Brazil.Then I know very much about energy and fuel from crops.Compared to ethanol, the same area produces 7 times more fuel then to biodiesel.If you read in portuguese, you can read my own article about biodisel in site http://www.israel3.com/article341.html .
Biodiesel insn't a real source of energy.It's a way to transform waste(oil burned) into fuel.It will never be a great source of fuel in America, and in any other place in the world.
Biogas, ethanol and hidrogenation of crops are the real possiblities of fuel from agricultural sources.
Book Description
In recent years, scientists have begun to focus on the idea that healthy, functioning ecosystems provide essential services to human populations, ranging from water purification to food and medicine to climate regulation. Lacking a healthy environment, these services would have to be provided through mechanical means, at a tremendous economic and social cost.
Nature and the Marketplace examines the controversial proposition that markets should be designed to capture the value of those services. Written by an economist with a background in business, it evaluates the real prospects for various of nature's marketable services to "turn profits" at levels that exceed the profits expected from alternative, ecologically destructive, business activities. The author:
- describes the infrastructure that natural systems provide, how we depend on it, and how we are affecting it
- explains the market mechanism and how it can lead to more efficient resource use
- looks at key economic activities-such as ecotourism, bioprospecting, and carbon sequestration-where market forces can provide incentives for conservation
- examines policy options other than the market, such as pollution credits and mitigation banking
- considers the issue of sustainability and equity between generations
.
Nature and the Marketplace presents an accessible introduction to the concept of ecosystem services and the economics of the environment. It offers a clear assessment of how market approaches can be used to protect the environment, and illustrates that with a number of cases in which the value of ecosystems has actually been captured by markets.
The book offers a straightforward business economic analysis of conservation issues, eschewing romantic notions about ecosystem preservation in favor of real-world economic solutions. It will be an eye-opening work for professionals, students, and scholars in conservation biology, ecology, environmental economics, environmental policy, and related fields.
Customer Reviews:
trading pollution permits.......2006-06-28
Heal explains how one might put a value on an ecosystem, or parts thereof. It's a relatively recent approach that attempts to avoid a tragedy of the commons with respect to the environment, be it local or even global.
A very useful idea described is the trading of pollution permits. The latter are rights to pollute. The premise is that instead of a government trying to mandate a minimum pollution level, it lets a free market determine this, by giving monetary value to permits. So that a company has incentive to develop or use innovative ways to minimise its pollution. Hence being able to sell any net gains to others. This also avoids the government trying to set a value on a permit.
The book suggests that carbon permits might be crucial in battling global warming.
Book Description
The message of The Hydrogen Economy is resoundingly simple: The earth is depleting its oil reserves and even the most generous estimates show oil reserves peaking in about forty years. The specter of global warming and the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in the oil-rich regions of the earth worsen the problem considerably. The answer, asserts Rifkin, is to embrace a new energy source that is just now gaining public attention: hydrogen.
This abundant element, found everywhere on earth including in air and water, can be transformed, using sustainable methods, into a potentially limitless form of clean-burning fuel. But this potential will founder unless we act now to create the necessary global infrastructure before the factors above overtake us. If we embrace this momentous opportunity, Rifkin says, we will also be able to reinvent the global economy as one in which an inexpensive energy grid provides affordable, efficient fuel for virtually everyone on earth. If we fail, our current economic regime-built exclusively on fossil fuels-will collapse. As the concept of a hydrogen-based future grows in the news, The Hydrogen Economy will lead the way.
Customer Reviews:
Facts take a back seat to idealogy.......2007-01-20
While Rifkin does a good job of pointing out the problem with our current, oil-driven economy, his solution of a hydrogen based economy often ignores the reality of the situation. Throughout the book, he egregiously glosses over the need to use energy to produce hydrogen gas, implying that hydrogen fuel cells can be net producers of energy, which is simply false.
When he mentions that hydrogen is the most abundant element on the planet, he egregiously glosses over the fact that hydrogen, as found naturally, is not a potential source of energy (at least without fusion power). He excitedly describes the possibilities of hydrogen fuel cells producing electricity on a decentralized grid, but spends very little time talking about how they might get the hydrogen to fuel them.
He does briefly mention the possible ways of producing hydrogen gas from renewable energy, but he fails to show how they can be efficiently implemented to replace fossil fuels. He uses anecdotes to support solar power, his apparent favorite, without providing realistic figures on it's widespread use, especially in more northerly regions. He also positively mentions hydroelectric and wind power, apparently without considering their possibly damaging effects on ecosystems or the practicality of producing enough energy from them. With nuclear power, on the other hand, he focuses exclusively on the negatives, perhaps because it's associated with "old-fashioned, centralized" power corporations, which he considers to be part of the problem.
Most egregiously, though, he almost completely ignores conservation and efficiency improvements. He paints a utopian picture of the future, with free, clean energy for all, if we can just make the transition to his fabled "Hydrogen Economy".
The sections discussing the problems with fossil fuels, which comprise about 2/3rds of the book, are significantly better than the sections pertaining to the so-called "Hydrogen Economy". While he may be something of an alarmist, he mostly does back his claims with data and research, and he provides an inclusive picture, considering geopolitical, environmental, and technical perspectives, including the possibilities inherent in tar sands and gasification of coal. However, I expected that a book titled "The Hydrogen Economy" to provide decent information on hydrogen.
Mr. Rifkin is out of touch with reality. Come on!.......2006-09-30
While I hope and pray that we ultimately make our way to a hydrogen economy, the only way to get to this point is one that Mr. Rifkin vehemently opposes. Nuclear power is the only viable solution to create sufficient sources of hydrogen to sustain a hydrogen economy. The alternative is a reliance on fossil fuels vis-à-vis coal and natural gas.
Mr. Rifkin's adherence to "no nukes" is based on a steadfast dogma that is out of touch with reality.
1) Nuclear power is economical. Our current base of nuclear power is the reason that we have not seen the dramatic swings in prices in electricity (has anyone watched the price of natural gas or oil in the past few years?) Nuclear power plants have been cost competitive with other sources of electricity. Do you believe that our electricity moguls adhere to nuclear plants because they like them? Wall Street runs this economy. If it didn't make financial sense, they would not do it.
2) We do know how to transport and dispose of the waste; politicians have stood in the way. There are far worse things that are transported everyday and no one complains. Put this in perspective: all of the waste from all of the nuclear plants in the US would fill a football field about 14 feet high. Compare this to coal. In one year the US mines and burns enough coal to fill the state of Rhode Island in 2 feet of coal, every year. This results in greenhouse gases, acid rain, mercury, and ash. While nuclear waste is indisputably nasty stuff, it is manageable. Congress has spent billions of dollars to analyze Yucca Mountain. They have forced scientists to consider the effects for out to 1 million years. Talk about out of touch with reality - there will have been a dozen ice ages and new species will walk this planet by then. Not to mention that the proposed repository is 1000 feet below the surface, 1000 feet above the water table, and in a geologically stable area. Furthermore, and here's the real irony, Yucca Mountain is in the middle of the Nevada Test Site which has been the host to over 900 nuclear explosions for the purposes of a more effective nuclear warhead. It's already a nuclear wasteland.
3) Uranium resources are running out? Really? Did you actually say that Mr. Rifkin? With spent fuel reprocessing and alternate fuel cycles we could literally create an endless supply of fissile material. Literally. And don't talk about the potential for bombs. We are dismantling bombs to burn them in reactors today! Not because we need the fuel, but because it is an effective way to dispose of the warheads.
4) Recently, Mr. Rifkin cited terrorism as risk. According to security experts, while any industrial facility could serve as a viable target for a terrorist attack, nuclear power falls lower on the list. Seriously, a terrorist attack from a bomb at a major sporting event (made with supplies from your local feed store) or cyanide in an aquifer (purchased from a scientific supply store) pose much more serious threats. If you want to try this theory, drive to your closest nuclear plant and take a look at what it would take to get into it. The security and barriers exceed that of which would find at the most secure government facilities.
NOTE: Mr. Rifkin recently talked about an Australian nuclear power plant. Check your facts Mr Rifkin. They do not even have a nuclear power plant. They have one research reactor. It's a very small research reactor. (There are dozens like it throughout the US at university and other research facilities.) Google ANSTO HIFAR Reactor. Check your facts. If you don't understand the difference you shouldn't be talking about it.
5) Finally, Rifkin sites nuclear power as "highly centralized, clunky technology of a bygone era" and that it is "elite power" controlled by the few. Hmmm, would you want it controlled by the many? That's laughable. Rifkin is showing his true socialist colors here. Communist's running nuclear plants. Do you suppose that is the better alternative?
Solar Power? Take your head out of the sand. Solar power is not a viable solution to offset our electricity demand. It's not the panacea that you hope that it is. If it was, don't you think capitalist would have jumped all over this already? Electricity is a $300 billion per year market. If you could supplant an existing technology, you could become the richest person in the world. I don't care who would oppose you. Our capitalist system would not ignore a $300 billion market. It just not technically feasible - at this time. Maybe hundred years from now. But we have a real crisis on our hands right now. And we only have one solution. Nuclear Power.
While I admire Jeremy Rifkin for publishing this book, because a hydrogen economy is only sustainable solution for our planet, his vehement opposition to nuclear power demonstrates his lack of credibility.
I would encourage people to forget our biases that may be based on opinion and emotion. We should have the open mindedness to consider all technology to save our planet.
Important stuff.......2006-02-24
I found this book very eye opening and informational. It is a great read.
Ignore the negative reviewers and understand the real crisis.......2005-10-14
It's best that we give Hydrogen a chance rather than continuing to rely on BIG OIL like drug addicts. For all the taxpayers' money that is wasted on pushing for wasting resources, why not push for a country that can lead the way for true energy savings. Don't let the book's haters fool you. Buy this book and learn to help save our planet from oil cartel terrorists all over the world.
Are We There Yet?- Heading Down the Super Highway to a Hydrogen Energy Future?.......2005-06-27
The Creation of the World-Wide Energy Web and the Redistribution of Power on Earth, The Hydrogen Economy by Jeremy Rifkin, 2002, ISBN 1-58542-193-6 (Hardback) Penguin Putnam, New York, 294 p.
Jeremy Rifkin begins his internationally successful book by reference to the situation which applied at the end of the 18th century in the Western World. The new rationalism of Newton and other scientists and philosophers heralded the oncoming industrial revolution, the American Revolution and the French revolution, all with their respective impacts upon history and subsequent generations. Rifkin starts with his view of the analogous situation facing the world today: namely the failure of existing orthodoxies and the radial nature of new possibilities.
Rifkin is a veritable optimist with his references to what he sees as radical change at work in our world of vastly changing technology and society. He contrasts the issue of finite fossil fuels and the forces of world gloablisation; he sees the current limits of energy supply as providing the opportunity for the computer and telecommunications revolution to fuse the new hydrogen energy revolution. The abundance of hydrogen is what he sees as the key to an opportunity for every human being to be empowered by "the first truly democratic energy regime in history".
While I don't like pouring cold water on this prospect of energy Nirvana for everyone on the face of the earth, I suggest the Jeremy also include in his 18th century vinaigrette of the world some of Adam Smith (The Wealth of Nations) and Thomas Malthus (Essay on the Principle of Population), so that Rifkin's `world without energy want' can be compared with some of the reality to which the world is likely to return. Some of these other great minds which Rifkin didn't include in his introduction note how struggle and disproportionate endowment of resources make trade and exchange a necessity, and so to has been the development of major trading enterprises and technologies. Such enterprises and their technologies don't readily give up their advantages or market position just because a hydrogen economy is a very nice and equitable idea and we would all be better off, environmentally (the environment - the last free `public good') if it came about.
What I find difficult to accept as an assumption by Rifkin is that each member of the human race will have equal opportunity to share in the hydrogen economy. Hydrogen is not readily accessible without some form of technology and existing energy - a fact which would enhance the potential for commercial (large) organizations to gain more through its use than the isolated actions of individuals, no matter how well run and spam free the world wide web might become as a marketplace or as a means of enhancing global welfare. While the dream of endless public participation is a high ideal, sadly reality doesn't seem to match this ideal. Profits and the potential for market power are the ultimate drivers which will limit the advent of the WWW hydrogen energy dream.
The book is an admirable effort and one with lots of scope for people to be inspired by the possibilities; but sadly, this world lacks the capacity to attain anything close to the conditions necessary for this dream to be realized. Rifkin's book is an admirable look at the potential for `what if' but in any race to the future my tip is that the runner that tries hardest is the one which is called `Self-interest'; it can be relied upon to take every advantage over such things as `equity' or `justice'.
A terrific book if you want to look at the world's potential but not one which fits with our patchy, if not Dickensian future age, of gradual energy poverty.
Dr Ian Lavering
Adjunct Professor
MBT Program UNSW
Book Description
* Herman Scheer was awarded the Alternative Nobel Prize in 1999
The global economy and our way of life are based on the exploitation of fossil fuels, which not only threaten massive environmental and social disruption through global warming but, at present rates of consumption, will run out within decades, causing huge industrial dislocation and economic collapse. Even before then, the conflicts it causes in the Middle East and elsewhere will be frighteningly exacerbated.
The alternate exists: renewable energy from renewable sources – above all, solar. Substituting renewable for fossil resources will take a new industrial revolution to avert the worst of the damage and establish a new international order.
It can be done, and it can be done in time. “The Solar Economy,†by one of the world’s most effective analysts and advocates, lays out the blueprints, showing how the political, economic, and technological challenges can be met using indigenous, renewable, and universally available resources, and the enormous opportunities and benefits that will flow from doing so.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent look at the energy industry as a WHOLE........2007-09-05
As another reviewer has pointed out this book will not be easy going for everyone. A lot of it written in rather a dry style and is dense with good points. i.e. it is not written in the style of a popular science book. On the other hand this is what makes it so interesting and convincing in its arguments.
The other thing I liked about it was that it takes a very broad view of different energy sources and considers their implications at every level. One of the main points is that when considering the efficiency of an energy source one should account for the energy wasted at every stage of the supply chain rather than the amount of energy going into and coming out of the generation plant. For example the supply chain for coal is Mining - Refining - Shipping - Coal-fired power station - National grid (high voltage) - NG (medium voltage) - Distribution (low voltage). Many of these are energy intensive processes. The supply chain for nuclear is even worse. Compare that to the on-site generation solar supply chain: PV installation - Distribution (indefinitely at no further cost). Many of the true costs of the fossil fuel supply chain is not paid by the consumer or even by the companies involved in supply. The author also considers the social costs involved, which many people seem to be willing to ignore.
There are also some good insights into the oil industry. The most interesting one that comes to mind is how the oil using industries are dependent on each other for the cheap prices of oil. When crude oil is refined the proportions of different products cannot be varied to a great degree. A certain proportion will be kerosene for plane fuel, a certain proportion will be for automobile fuel, a certain proportion usable by the chemicals industry and so on. If the demand for automobile fuel decreases due to efficient engines and the demand from other industries stays the same then the other industries oil prices will go up to cover the cost. This gives the reason for the chemicals industry's opposal to fuel duty. This gives all oil using industries an incentive to keep their demand in line with everybody else's i.e. steadily increasing.
An inspiring book that doesn't rely on its writing style. It gets by purely on its ideas.
Throw away society is flushing our planet down the pan.......2007-08-07
I liked this book, it gets a bit heavey and technical at times and I indeed had to have a breather once or twice, but it is one of the few books I wanted to read again and had too. I was already a convert to living off grid in Spain with solar and wind energy and this book a surprise Xmas gift from my son only strenghed my renewable off grid living decision. Im no eco warrior or green fanatic Im just ahead of the game, this book lets you know how little of everything we have left not just oil and coal and gas but every metal and mineral we take for granted. Our throw away society is flushing this planet down the pan. Our response till its too late is like the drunk i the pub, mines a pint please, goodbye leave the light on it will turn its self off !
Current trends indicate the world wide burning of fossil fuels is likely to flare by 50 percent between 1990 and 2010.......2006-11-23
All economic activity relies on the physical and chemical conversion of materials from one form into another, and the conversion of fuels into the energy need to distribute and consume the resultant products.
Energy and raw materials are the fundament of our economies.
World energy consumption show that 32 per cent is generated by burning crude oil, 25 per cent by burning coal, and 17 per cent by burning natural gas. Five per cent comes from nuclear fuels, and another 14 per cent from combustion of biomass, and hydroelectricity accounts for 6 per cent of all energy consumption.
Current trends indicate the world wide burning of fossil fuels is likely to flare by 50 percent between 1990 and 2010.
Is Nuclear energy life threatening? No. New pebble reactors will provide safe energy and safeguard against the possibility a critical chain reaction. France is building a new experimental fusion reactor and if successful could move the world into a hydrogen society. Long-term the world has infinite energy.
Scheer wants an immediate shift away from "life threatening fossil fuel resource trap" Solar=Hydrogen=electrical, "Only with the transition to renewable resources, and thus to a solar global economy can economic logic and with it the future path of economic development be radically altered."
Fallacy #1: Sheer says, increases in productivity and efficiency must stabilize resource consumption at its current level. Energy stabilize needs to be replaced with energy expansion. Life gets better as more energy becomes available. Energy consumption will only increase, increasing many fold over the next decade. Allocative efficiency favors big business and restricts competition.
Fallacy #2: Sheer says, "as reserves of crude oil, natural gas and certain strategically important minerals approach exhaustion, resource crisis are becoming more intense." Who has economic control? Who sets the prices for crude? And in the end Who will pay for them? It takes time to migrate from one energy source to another. Large capital investment is required to build infrastructure. The point of no return begins as banks and corporations begin building the new energy future. Energy shortages are short term crisis that push innovation and adoption of newer and cheaper fuels. Capitalist use their profits from a crisis to build the new infrastructure and world keeps on running.
Fallacy #3. Sheer says, "Energy and mineral resources are found in relatively few locations around the globe". Wow, amazing fear factor. In the 70s and 80s the US reduced dependancy on foreign oil by 50% before oil became cheap again. Today, the US and Canada represent a vast empty quarter of oil in the form of shale and tar. Canada is becoming an important source of oil. Wyoming will be developed as a new Texas oil source. Cheaper oil extraction system will become popular and make accessible oil in the western hemisphere.
Sheer is the realist. Sheer responses "but which the modern techno-pundits now imbue with bright promise) has been dazzled by partial, faddishly exaggerated and overgeneralized reports of the actual developments". Change requires risk. Innovation surges and falls before maturing.
Tough read, but interesting.......2005-06-28
The first time I tried to read this book, it confused me so much I had to put it down for a year. The author mixes a paragraph or two of insight and vision within pages of example and data. On, this my second, read I am doing better by skimming past the long lists of examples.
I would love to see this book boiled down to about 20 pages, with another 20 of optional documentation.
What the author does for the reader is lay out the foundation of the modern energy system, and its hidden costs. In great detail. Then he addresses the technical aspect of several different forms of "solar" or renewable energy technologies, and their potential.
I am learning quite a bit, even if I have to take it in small doses
A warning..........2005-03-05
Scheer's previous work on this matter was entitled "A Solar Manifesto". That should give you a pretty accurate idea as to his opinions on the matter. If you looking for a somewhat-balanced view of the coming renewable energy economy, look elsewhere (for example, Hawken's "Natural Capitalism"). If you looking for a neo-Luddite environmentalist rant, this book is exactly what you are looking for.
There are numerous flaws in Scheer's reasoning. For example,
1: He repeatedly calls lack of taxes a "subsidy".
2: He ignores that the most promising photovoltaic technologies are based on things like titanium and ruthenium, which are not renewable and by his own data are in short supply. Even in the best case they are a complex technology that requires big, centralized plants to product (reasonably) cheaply.
3: He a priori dismisses anything big or centralized.
4: He considers a system that uses more human labor a GOOD thing.
5: In 325 pages, he never mentions the cost of PV in $$/kwh, because it would undermine his point.
6: He repeatedly insults everyone who isn't in his camp. The word "blind" must appear a hundred times in this work.
I think the greatest example of Scheer's muddled thinking is the final sentence of the book.
"Renewable resources will bring a new era of wealth-creating economic development - initiated not by bureaucratic fiat, but by the free choices of individuals".
I think many people would agree with this. Now, if Scheer hadn't spent the previous two chapters describing in detail the many bureaucratic fiats he wanted in order to enforce his ends upon free people, he may actually finished his book with a coherent point.
From a little earlier...
"Instead [eco-taxation proposals] must be founded on a clearly articulated strategy to drive nuclear and fossil fuel out of the market...
At least he is honest.
Customer Reviews:
Best primer on ups and downs of solar industry.......2005-11-19
Using the sun as a source of heat and power is such an obvious no-brainer,
it has attracted forward-thinking types for many years.
But the solar industry still limps along, barely viable.
Without state subsidies - which now exist in many states - residential solar
energy is not economically viable (translation: it costs a lot more than the
electricity in your wall outlets.)
Even with state subsidies, few people install solar unless they are
ecologically conscious.
Why? How could the source of all life in our solar system not support viable
businesses?
This book recounts - in great detail - the history and politics of the solar
industry. It shows how again and again solar power has seemed on the verge
of taking off, only to crash back to earth again.
The authors are solar advocates, and at times they go overboard in seeing
conspiracies around every corner. Electric and oil companies are not
all-powerful, although this book sometimes make them seem that way.
Still, the book is invaluable for anyone seeking to understand why and how
solar power will finally catch on, as I believe must happen. It is
well-researched and comprehensive, and I recommend it.
Informative.......1999-08-14
John T Oconnor has some great insights into the reasons why solar energy is not more readily available and in use. Great Book
Pulls you out of your seat and reveals the reality of solar........1998-07-09
"Who Owns the Sun?" is a densely packed, well written book with many surprising and practical revelations about where solar energy technology came from, how it has developed in the U.S. and where it presently stands. Drawing on the history of public vs. private power, the potentially crucial role of organized labor in the solar movement and the decisions being made by those who use energy primarily as a way to make money, Berman and O'Connor give a perceptive look into why our energy mix stands as it does today. By discussing the societal and environmental impacts of this mix we see renewable energy cast in a refreshing light. Gone is the euphoric notion of slapping some photovoltaics on your roof to solve the world's problems. Rather, by looking at the powers who control the energy supply and what they are doing to maintain that control into the future, we get a clear vision of the strategies that need to be considered by people concerned about the direction our world is going in. Cleaner less polluting options exist, but will these paths be followed by the same people who control the show right now? Probably not, and the authors give many lengthy examples as to why they feel this way. Ultimately, "Who Owns the Sun?" exposes much of the energy industry for what it really is, profit driven. By accepting this idea, the logic of the utilities and others controlling our energy fate becomes clear. And by acting on this logic we're able to begin stacking the deck in favor of consumer and environmental driven ideals.
Average customer rating:
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Farewell Fossil Fuels: Reviewing America's Energy Policy
Sidney Borowitz
Manufacturer: Da Capo
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ASIN: 0306457814 |
Book Description
Energy has become America's forgotten crisis. For more than a decade, Americans have become stridently complacent toward the use and especially the availability of energy to fuel most aspects of our economic and recreational lives. Memories of the oil shocks of the 1970s have grown very dim. Long lines at gas stations have been replaced by people at auto dealers buying gas-guzzling sports-utility vehicles. The United States now imports more oil (over 50% more) than it did prior to the first oil crisis in 1973-74. Yet our reliance on fossil fuels has not been tempered by history. The threat of global warming from greenhouse gases is real and significant.
Fossil fuels-petroleum, natural gas, and coal-are finite. They will run out and are not restorable. This obviously carries significant political and environmental implications for our future. However, we do have alternatives. In Farewell Fossil Fuels: Reviewing America's Energy Policy (Perseus Books, June 15, 1999), noted scientist and businessman Sidney Borowitz presents a concise, coherent narrative of the major sources of energy currently in use throughout the world, and explains in a cogent, jargon-free manner how these sources of energy can be developed. Borowitz places these nonfossil fuel sources in an economic and scientific context so that the case for conservation and growth is thoroughly grounded in reality.
Sidney Borowitz presents a clear-eyed, even-handed explication of optimal solutions to our future energy needs. And because energy touches on practically every aspect of our daily lives, Farewell Fossil Fuels is of vital importance to our future and the future of our children.
Customer Reviews:
edicatonal.......2001-01-17
this book is an action packed edge of ur seat excitment-NOT
Book Description
In 1961, President John F. Kennedy ignited America’s Apollo Project and sparked a revolution in space exploration. Today the New Apollo Energy Project is poised to revolutionize the production of energy and thereby save our planet. The nation that built the world’s most powerful rockets, its most advanced computers, and its most sophisticated life support systems is ready to create the world’s most powerful solar energy systems, its most advanced wind energy turbines, and its most sophisticated hybrid cars. This will result in nothing less than a second American Revolution. Who are the dreamers in California who believe they can use mirrors and liquid metal to wring more electricity from a ray of sunshine than anyone else on earth can?
Who are the innovators who have built a contraption that can turn the energy of a simple wave off the Oregon coast into burnt toast in Idaho? Who are the scientists in Massachusetts who have invented a battery that now runs your hand drill and will soon run your car? Readers will meet them all in this book. They will learn how the new energy economy will grow, the research that is required, and the legislation that must be passed to make the vision a reality.
This is a thoughtful, optimistic book, based on sound facts. No one before has tied together the concepts of economic growth and greenhouse gas reductions with such concrete examples. No one has previously told the real stories of the people who are right now on the front lines of the energy revolution. The co-authors, one a U.S. Congressman who is the primary sponsor of the New Apollo Energy Act, and the other the founder of the Apollo Alliance, have joined their experience, expertise, and passion for a clean energy future to lay out the path to stop global warming and gain energy independence.
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Beyond the Carbon Economy
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0199532699 |
Book Description
The present energy economy, with its heavy dependence on fossil fuels is not sustainable over the medium to long term for many interconnected reasons. Climate change is now recognized as posing a serious threat. Energy and resource decisions involving the carbon fuels therefore play a large role in this threat. Fossil fuel reserves may also be running short, and many of the major reserves are in politically unstable parts of the world. Yet citizens in nations with rapidly developing economies aspire to the benefits of the modern energy economy. China and India alone have 2.4 billion potential customers for cars, industries, and electrical services. Even so, more than half of the world's citizens still lack access to energy. Decisions involving fossil fuels are therefore a significant part of the development equation. This volume explains how the law can impede or advance the shift to a world energy picture significantly different from that which exists today. This book first examines the factors that create the problems of the present carbon economy, including environmental concerns and development goals. It then provides international and regional legal perspectives, examining public international law, regional legal structures, the responses of international legal bodies, and the role of major international nongovernmental actors. The book then moves on to explore sectoral perspectives including the variety of renewable energy sources, new carbon fuels, nuclear power, demand controls, and energy efficiency. Finally the authors examine how particular States are, could, or should, be adapting legally to the challenges of moving beyond the carbon economy.
Product Description
Shows how renewable energy sources, energy efficiency, & electric vehicles, when used together, can sustain a healthy economy & give us back a clean environment. Projects an inspiring yet realistic vision of this energy future & profiles the leading energy scientists, engineers, & entrepreneurs creating the solar, wind, geothermal, electric vehicle, & biomass ind. that will change our world. Appraises current policies that have kept us reliant on oil, coal, uranium, & gas resources that pollute the atmosphere, exhaust our economy, & will one day become too expensive. Captures the excitement of creating new industries & reveals the foot-dragging of the government & fossil-fuel giants
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Economics of Sustainable Energy in Agriculture (Economy & Environment)
Manufacturer: Springer
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 140200785X |
Book Description
This book contains up-to-date studies on the economics of sustainable energy in agriculture. The studies focus on energy efficiency improvement and the use of biomass. Specific attention is paid to the economic aspects of land use and the competition for land, both for food production and dedicated energy crops. The book will be of special interest to economists, agronomists, energy experts, and politicians that deal with energy issues in agriculture, both in developing and industrialised countries.
The book is relevant for those who are interested in the topic of global warming and carbon sequestration, and the transition towards carbon-free energy resources.
Books:
- Business: Its Legal, Ethical, and Global Environment
- Casino Gambling For Dummies (For Dummies (Sports & Hobbies))
- Chase's Calendar of Events 2007 w/CD ROM (Chase's Calendar of Events)
- Chemical Fate And Transport In The Environment
- Christo & Jeanne-Claude: Wrapped Reichstag, Berlin, 1971-1995 (Jumbo Series)
- Complete Idiot's Guide to Running a Bed and Breakfast
- Conservation Directory 2005-2006: The Guide To Worldwide Environmental Organizations (Conservation Directory)
- Constructed Wetlands in the Sustainable Landscape
- Crimes Against Nature: How George W. Bush and His Corporate Pals Are Plundering the Country and Hijacking Our Democracy
- Deep Sleep (Diviniti) (Diviniti)
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