| Energy |
** The Third Industrial Revolution: How Lateral Power is Transforming Energy, the Economy, and the World. Jeremy Rifkin (President, Foundation on Economic Trends, Bethesda MD; senior lecturer, U of Penn. Wharton School Advanced Management Program). NY: Palgrave Macmillan, Oct 2011, 288p. Author of 19 books over the past 30 years argues that our industrial infrastructure built on fossil fuels is aging and in disrepair. A new economic narrative is needed for a more equitable and sustainable future, based on a convergence of the Internet and renewable energy. The five pillars of the Third Industrial Revolution are shifting to renewable energy, transforming building stock into micro-power plants to collect renewable energies on-site, deploying hydrogen and other storage technologies, using the Internet to transform the power grid of every continent into an energy-sharing “intergrid,” and transitioning the transport fleet to electric plug-in and fuel cell vehicles that can buy and sell electricity on a smart, interactive power grid. This democratization of energy will bring a fundamental reordering of human relationships. Rifkin has worked with the European Parliament since 2006 in drafting an economic development plan. In May 2007, the EP issued a formal written declaration endorsing the Third Industrial Revolution as the long-term economic vision and road map for the EU. Unfortunately, Americans largely continue to be in a state of denial. However, in 2008, 80 US business leaders and trade associations agreed to create a Third Industrial Revolution network to transition the global economy into a “distributed post-carbon era.” In the next 50 years, the centralized operations of the First and Second Industrial Revolutions will increasingly be subsumed to distributed business practices, and traditional hierarchical organization will give way to lateral power organized nodally across society. The 40-year build-out of the TIR, the last of the great Industrial Revolutions, will lay the foundation for the emerging collaborative age, where “collaborative power” will fundamentally restructure human relations. But the TIR is not inevitable: the prospects of proliferating weapons of mass destruction, coupled with the looing climate crisis, “has tipped the odds dangerously in favor of an endgame, not only for civilization as we know it, but for our very species.” (ENERGY * INTERNET AND ENERGY * LATERAL POWER * THIRD INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION * ECONOMY * MICRO-POWER)
* World Energy Outlook 2011 (13th edition). International Energy Agency. Paris: OECD, Nov 2011, 740p, $168 . Brings together the latest data, policy developments, and the experience of another year to provide analysis and insight into global energy markets, for the next 25 years. This edition gives the latest energy demand and supply projections for different future scenarios, broken down by country, fuel and sector. It also gives special focus to topical energy sector issues: Russia's energy prospects and their implications for global markets, the role of coal in driving economic growth in an emissions-constrained world, implications of a possible delay in oil and gas sector investment in the Middle East and North Africa, how high-carbon infrastructure "lock-in" is making the 2°C climate change goal more challenging and expensive to meet, the scale of fossil fuel subsidies, support for renewable energy (and its impact on energy, economic and environmental trends), a "Low Nuclear Case" to investigate what a rapid slowdown in the use of nuclear power would mean for the global energy landscape, and the scale and type of investment needed to provide modern energy to the billions of the world’s poor that do not have it. (ENERGY * WORLD ENERGY OUTLOOK)
* Solar Energy Perspectives. International Energy Agency. Paris: IEA/OECD, Dec 2011, 240p. In 90 minutes, enough sunlight strikes the earth to provide annual energy needs for the entire planet. While solar energy is abundant, it is only a tiny fraction of the world’s current energy mix. This is changing rapidly, driven by global action to improve energy access and supply security, and to mitigate climate change. Countries and companies worldwide are rapidly investing in solar generation capacity, and costs continue to fall and technologies improve. This report looks at these technologies and market trends in all countries, with examples of best and most advanced practices, along with advice on how best to use major categories of solar energy. Chapters describe the rationale for harnessing the solar resource, the bright future for solar electricity, storage options, buildings (solar water heating, space heating, and air conditioning), industrial electricity, desalination, transport, photovoltaics and the PV learning curve, solar heat (flat-plate collectors, parabolic dishes, solar towers), concentrating solar power for electricity, solar fuels (hydrogen, solar-enhanced biofuels), policies for early deployment (tax credits, market design, CO2 pricing), and the world in 50 years. (ENERGY * SOLAR ENERGY: IEA OVERVIEW)
* The Answer: Why Only Mini Nuclear Power Plants Can Save the World. Reese Palley (Philadelphia). The Quantuck Lane Press (dist by W.W. Norton), Sept 2011, 165p, $25. Wind, solar, and hydroelectric power all have large CO2-emitting footprints, and are not the answer needed to make meaningful changes in our disastrous warming trend. Nor, for both economic and political reasons, can large nuclear power plants be built in time. We can only respond fast enough by radically reducing the scale of nuclear plants – constructing and distributing throughout the world container-sized nuclear generators that produce clean energy at the local level. (ENERGY * NUCLEAR POWER MINI-PLANTS)
* The Quest: The Global Race for Energy, Money, and Power. Daniel Yergin (Chairman, Cambridge Energy Research Associates). NY: Penguin Press, Sept 2011, 704p, $35. Author of The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power (Simon & Schuster, 1992), a #1 bestseller and winner of the Pulitzer Prize, describes the energy choices and decisions that are shaping our future. The drama of oil—the struggle for access, the battle for control, insecurity of supply, impacts of use and on the global economy—will continue to shape our world. Also discusses nuclear and coal power, electricity, natural gas, renewables, how climate change has become one of the most vital issues of our time, and principles of a robust and flexible energy security system for the decades to come.
(ENERGY * OIL INDUSTRY)
* The Crisis in Energy Policy. John M. Deutch (Institute Prof, MIT; former Director of Central Intelligence and Deputy Secretary of Defense in Clinton Administration; Undersecretary of Energy in Carter Administration). Cambridge MA: Harvard U Press, Oct 2011, 200p, $24.95 (also as e-book). Our future depends on what we do about energy – and yet our government has failed to come up with a coherent energy policy. Looks at the muddled practices that have passed for energy policy in the last 30 years, and what we should learn from so many breakdowns in strategy and execution. Three goals to drive any comprehensive energy policy: a) develop an effective approach to climate change, b) transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy technologies; and c) increase the efficiency of energy use to reduce dependence on imported oil. Failure has resulted from popular but unrealistic goals, competing domestic and international agendas, and poor analysis in planning, policymaking, and administering government programs. (ENERGY * ENERGY POLICY * CLIMATE CHANGE)
* Energy Myths and Realities: Bringing Science to the Energy Policy Debate. Vaclav Smil (Distinguished Prof of Environment and Environmental Geography; U of Manitoba). Washington: AEI Press (dist. by Rowman & Littlefield), 2010, 232p, $34.95 (also as e-book). Debunks the most common fallacies to make way for a constructive scientific approach to the global energy challenge. When will the world run out of oil? Should nuclear energy be adopted on a larger scale? Are ethanol and wind power viable sources of energy for the future? Smil advises the public to be wary of exaggerated claims and impossible promises. The global energy transition will be prolonged and expensive — and hinges on development of an extensive new infrastructure. (ENERGY)
* Earth: The Operator’s Manual. Richard B. Alley (Prof of Geosciences, Penn State U; member, IPCC). NY: W. W. Norton, April 2011, 479p, $27.95. Companion to the PBS television documentary explores the history of energy use by humans over the centuries, provides proof that already-high levels of carbon dioxide are causing damaging global warming, and surveys alternative energy options available to exploit right now. The new energy sources may be the engines for economic growth in the 21st century, and the challenge is probably smaller than our successful installation of modern plumbing. “Our current system is completely unsustainable.” [Note: A generally popularized account with cutesy chapter heads, but also with 112 pages of footnotes.] (ENERGY * CLIMATE CHANGE)
** Water Security: The Water-Food-Energy-Climate Nexus. The World Economic Forum Water Initiative. Davos: World Economic Forum (dist by Island Press), Jan 2011, 300p, $30pb (also e-book). “The world is on the brink of the greatest crisis it has ever faced: a spiraling lack of fresh water,” as demand for water surges, while groundwater dries up. Worsening water security will soon have dire consequences in many parts of the global economic system. At its 2008 Davos Annual Meeting, the WEF assembled a group of public, private, NGO and academic experts to examine the water crisis issue from all perspectives. The resulting forecast – a stark, nontechnical overview of where we will be by 2025 if we take a business-as-usual approach to (mis)managing our water resources – suggests how business and politics need to manage the water-food-energy-climate nexus as leaders negotiate details of a climate change regime to replace the Kyoto protocols.
(WATER * SECURITY AND WATER * CLIMATE CHANGE * ENERGY * FOOD/AGRICULTURE)
** America’s Environmental Report Card: Are We Making the Grade? (Second Edition). Harvey Blatt (Prof of Geology, Institute of Earth Sciences, Hebrew U of Jerusalem). Cambridge: MIT Press, April 2011, 376p, $19.95pb. Looks at water supplies, new concerns about water purity, the dangers of floods, infrastructure problems, the leaching of garbage buried in landfills, soil, contaminated crops, organic food, fossil fuels, alternative energy sources, controversies over nuclear energy, the increasing pace of climate change, and air pollution. Outlines workable and reasonable solutions that map the course to a sustainable future, and argues that American can lead the way to a better environment: we can afford it, and can’t afford not to. [Also see America’s Food: What You Don’t Know About What You Eat by Harvey Blatt (MIT, 2008).]
(ENVIRONMENT/RESOURCES * ENERGY * POLLUTION IN U.S. * WATER * FOOD)
* The End of Energy: The Unmaking of America’s Environment, Security, and Independence. Michael J. Graetz (Prof of Law, Columbia U). Cambridge: MIT Press, April 2011, 400p, $29.95. Americans have been living an energy delusion for 40 years: they have never been asked to pay a price that reflects the real cost of the energy they consume. Presidents have wasted billions seeking a technological “silver bullet” to solve all our problems, while Congress has elevated narrow parochial interests over national goals, directing huge subsidies and tax breaks to favored constituents and contributors. Describes 40 years of energy policy incompetence (the Nixon administration’s fumbled response to the OPEC oil embargo, failure to develop alternative energy sources, the current standoff over “cap and trade”) and calls for better decisions on the US energy future that reflect the real energy costs. (ENERGY * ENERGY: WASTEFUL DECISIONS IN U.S.)
* World Energy Outlook 2010. International Energy Agency. Paris: IEA/OECD, Nov 2010, 700p. Updates projections to 2035 of energy demand, production, trade, and investment, fuel by fuel and region by region. Shows what must be done and spent to achieve the goal of the Copenhagen Accord (where many countries pledged to reduce GHG emissions), how China and India will increasingly shape the global energy landscape, the role of renewables, what removing fossil-fuel subsidies would mean for energy markets and climate change, trends in Caspian energy markets, prospects for unconventional oil, and how to give the global population access to modern energy services. Includes a new scenario that anticipates future actions by governments to meet the commitments they have made to tackle climate change. (ENERGY * CLIMATE CHANGE * COPENHAGEN ACCORD * GLOBAL ENERGY)
** Energy Technology Perspectives 2010: Scenarios and Strategies to 2050. International Energy Agency. Paris: OECD/IEA, July 2010, 710p. Examines emerging energy technologies, their costs and benefits, and policies needed to foster their use and accelerate the switch to a more secure, low-carbon energy future. Presents updated scenarios from the present to 2050, highlights the importance of finance to achieve change, considers implications of the scenarios for energy security, and offers roadmaps and transition pathways for spurring development of the most important clean technologies and for overcoming existing barriers.
(ENERGY * SCENARIOS: ENERGY TECHNOLOGY TO 2050 * LOW-CARBON ENERGY FUTURE)
** America’s Energy Future: Technology and Transformation (Summary Edition). Committee on America’s Energy Future, National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, National Research Council. Washington DC: National Academies Press, Jan 2010/184p (8x10”)/$24.95. The challenge is to develop an energy portfolio that provides sufficient and affordable energy supplies to sustain economic prosperity, while reducing depletion of natural resources, degradation of the environment, and threats to national security. Examines deployment potential, costs, barriers, and impacts of energy supply and end-use technologies during the next two to three decades. Discusses energy efficiency, alternative transportation fuels, renewable energy, fossil fuel energy, and nuclear energy, as well as technologies for improving electrical transmission and distribution systems. (ENERGY * ENERGY IN U.S.: NEXT 20-30 YEARS * FUEL OPTIONS)
* Climate 2030: A National Blueprint for a Clean Energy Economy. Rachel Cleetus, Steven Clemmer, and David Friedman (all Union of Concerned Scientists). Washington: Island Press, March 2010/212p/$25pb. A peer-reviewed analysis of the economic and technological potential for a comprehensive suite of climate, energy, and transport solutions to greatly reduce US global warming emissions. Meeting stringent near-term emissions caps in the US is feasible, and can be done cost-effectively. (ENERGY; CLEAN ENERGY ECONOMY BY 2030)
* World Energy Outlook 2009. International Energy Agency/OECD, Nov 2009/698p. Authoritative annual global energy projections, with analysis of what the economic crisis will mean for energy markets, financing clean energy investment under a post-2012 climate framework, prospects for natural gas markets, and energy trends in Southeast Asia. (ENERGY * GLOBAL ENERGY PROJECTIONS)
** Plan B 4.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization. Lester R. Brown (President, Earth Policy Institute). NY: W. W. Norton, Oct 2009/304p/$16.95pb. “Substantially revised” fourth edition on the new energy economy of wind, solar, and geothermal replacing oil, coal, and natural gas at a pace and on a scale not imagined even a year ago. Also see Plan B 3.0 (Norton, Jan 2008/398p), including a proposal for a new US Dept. of Global Security. (ENERGY * ENVIRONMENT)
** Structuring an Energy Technology Revolution. Charles Weiss (Distinguished Prof of Sci/Tech, Georgetown U) and William B. Bonvillian (former senior advisor, US Senate). Cambridge: MIT Press, April 2009/280p/$24. A federal program on the scale of the Manhattan Project seems essential; proposes measures to stimulate private investment in new technology, a revamped energy innovation system focusing on marketplace obstacles, and a new integrated policy framework that aims for a level playing field. (ENERGY * SCI/TECH)
* Electricity from Renewable Resources: Status, Prospects, and Impediments. National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and National Research Council. America’s Energy Future Series. Washington: National Academies Press, Sept 2009/300p/$49.95pb. On the technical potential for electric power generation with alternative sources such as wind, solar photovoltaic, solar-thermal, geothermal, hydro, etc. Focuses on sources that show the most promise for initial commercial deployment within 10 years, laying out expectations of costs, performance, impacts, barriers, R&D needs, and potential improvements in the national electricity grid to enable more use of renewables.
(ENERGY * ELECTRIC POWER)
* Liquid Transportation Fuels from Coal and Biomass: Technological Status, Costs, and Environmental Impacts. National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and National Research Council. America’s Energy Future Series. Washington: National Academies Press, Sept 2009/300p/$49.95pb. The transport sector cannot continue on its current path: developing domestic sources of alternative fuels with lower greenhouse emissions is now a national imperative. Coal and biomass are in abundant supply, and potential costs are considered for biochemical conversion of biomass and thermochemical conversion of coal and biomass. With immediate action and sustained effort, alternative liquid fuels can be available by 2020.
(ENERGY * TRANSPORTATION FUELS * COAL * BIOMASS)
* Real Prospects for Energy Efficiency in the United States. National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and National Research Council. America’s Energy Future Series. Washington: National Academies Press, Sept 2009/300p/$49.95pb. On the potential for reducing energy demand through improving efficiency by using existing technologies, technologies developed but not yet widely utilized, and prospective technologies. Evaluates technologies based on estimated time to initial commercial deployment, costs, barriers, and research needs. To achieve greater efficiency, we need technology, more informed consumers and producers, and investments.
(ENERGY EFFICIENCY* TECHNOLOGY)
* Blackout: Coal, Climate and the Last Energy Crisis. Richard Heinberg (Post Carbon Institute, Sebastopol CA; www.RichardHeinberg.com). New Society Publishers, June 2009/208p/$18.95pb. Growing reliance on the dirtiest of all fossil fuels has crucial implications for global climate, energy policy, the world economy, and geopolitics, and the time of peak coal production is closer than we think. Also by Heinberg, see Peak Everything: Waking Up to the Century of Declines (NSP, 2007/224p/$24.95pb) on how to make the transition from The Age of Excess to the Era of Modesty with grace and satisfaction, and The Oil Depletion Protocol: A Plan to Avert Oil Wars, Terrorism and Economic Collapse (NSP, 2006/208p/$16.95pb), proposing an accord where nations voluntarily reduce oil production and imports according to a consistent, sensible formula. (ENERGY* COAL)
* Challenged by Carbon: The Oil Industry and Climate Change. Bryan Lovell (Senior Research Fellow in Earth Sciences, Cambridge U). Cambridge U Press, Jan 2010/208p/$28.99pb. Considers the tensions accompanying the gradual greening of the petroleum industry over the last decade, and how—given the right lead from government—the oil industry could be environmental saviors by playing a crucial role in capture and storage of CO2; also calls for decisive leadership and urgent action to establish an international framework of policy and regulation. (CLIMATE CHANGE* ENERGY* OIL INDUSTRY)
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