Power Hungry
The Myths of "green" Energy and the Real Fuels of the Future
New York, NY : PublicAffairs, [2010]
Format: Book
Description: xix, 394 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm
The promise of "green jobs" and a "clean energy future" has roused the masses. But as Robert Bryce makes clear in this provocative book, that vision needs a major re-vision. We cannot-and will not-quit using carbon-based fuels at any time in the near future for a simple reason: they provide the horsepower that we crave. The hard reality is that oil, coal, and natural gas are here to stay.Fueling our society requires more than sentiment and rhetoric; we need to make good decisions and smart investments based on facts. In 'Power Hungry', Bryce provides a supertanker-load of footnoted facts while shepherding readers through basic physics and math. And with the help of a panoply of vivid graphics and tables, he crushes a phalanx of energy myths, showing why renewables are not green, carbon capture and sequestration won't work, and even-surprise!-that the U.S. is leading the world in energy efficiency. He also charts the amazing growth of the fuels of the future: natural gas and nuclear. 'Power Hungry' delivers a clear-eyed view of what America has "in the tank," and what's needed to transform the gargantuan global energy sector.
Contents:
Power tripping 101 -- Happy talk -- Watt's the big deal? (Power tripping 102) -- Wood to coal to oil : the slow pace of energy transitions -- Coal hard facts -- If oil didn't exist, we'd have to invent it -- Twenty-seven Saudi Arabias per day -- Myth : wind and solar are "green" -- Myth : wind power reduces CO[subscript]2 emissions -- Myth : Denmark provides an energy model for the United States -- Myth : T. Boone Pickens has a plan (or a clue) -- Myth : wind power reduces the need for natural gas -- Myth : going "green" will reduce imports of strategic commodities and create "green" jobs -- Myth : the United States lags in energy efficiency -- Myth : the United States can cut CO[subscript]2 emissions by 80 percent by 2050, and carbon capture and sequestration can help achieve that goal -- Myth : taxing carbon dioxide will work -- Myth : oil is dirty -- Myth : cellulosic ethanol can scale up and cut U.S. oil imports -- Myth : electric cars are the next big thing -- Myth : we can replace coal with wood -- Why N2N? and why now? (the megatrends favoring natural gas and nuclear) -- A very short history of American natural gas and regulatory stupidity -- It's a gas, gas, gas : welcome to the "gas factory" -- America's secret google -- Gas pains -- Nuclear goes beyond green -- A smashing idea for nuclear waste -- Future nukes -- Rethinking "green" and a few other suggestions -- Toward cheap, abundant energy.
ISBN:
9781586487898 (alk. paper)
Availability | |||
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Call Number | Location | Shelf Location | Status |
TECH Energy Bry | Main (Downtown) | Nonfiction | In |
Includes bibliographical references and index.