Addressing the sustainable energy crisis in an objective manner, this enlightening book analyzes the relevant numbers and organizes a plan for change on both a personal level and an international scale--for Europe, the United States, and the world. In case study format, this informative reference answers questions surrounding nuclear energy, the potential of sustainable fossil fuels, and the possibilities of sharing renewable power with foreign countries.
While underlining the difficulty of minimizing consumption, the tone remains positive as it debunks misinformation and clearly explains the calculations of expenditure per person to encourage people to make individual changes that will benefit the world at large.
If you've thrown your hands up in despair thinking no solution is possible, then read this book - it's an honest, realistic, and humorous discussion of all our energy options.
David MacKay was a Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Cambridge, a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) and Regius Professor of Engineering at Cambridge University.
He studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge and then obtained his PhD in Computation and Neural Systems at Caltech - the California Institute of Technology. He returned to Cambridge as a Royal Society research fellow at Darwin College. He is internationally known for his research in machine learning, information theory, and communication systems, including the invention of Dasher, a software interface that enables efficient communication in any language with any muscle. He taught Physics in Cambridge and devoted much of his time to public teaching about energy. He was a member of the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Climate Change.
From 2009 to 2014 he was Chief Scientific Advisor to the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change ( DECC ) and in the 2016 New Year's Honours List was awarded a knighthood for services to Scientific Advice in Government and Science Outreach. He passed away in 2016 at the age of 48.
Title: Sustainable Energy - Without the Hot Air
Author: Mackay, David
ISBN: 9780954452933
Binding:
Publisher: UIT Cambridge LTD
Publication Date: 2009-01-01
Number of Pages: 384
Weight: 0.9755 kg
For anyone with influence on energy policy, whether in government, business or a campaign group, this book should be compulsory reading.
-- Tony Juniper (Former Executive Director, Friends of the Earth)
At last a book that comprehensively reveals the true facts about sustainable energy in a form that is both highly readable and entertaining.
-- Robert Sansom (EDF Energy)
MacKay brings a welcome dose of common sense into the discussion of energy sources and use. Fresh air replacing hot air.
-- Prof Mike Ashby Royal Society Research Professor, Principal Investigator, Engineering Design Centre, Cambridge
This year's must-read book about tackling our future energy needs.
-- The Guardian
... may be the best technical book about the environment that I've ever read. This is to energy and climate what Freakonomics is to economics.
-- Cory Doctorow * Boing Boing *
The book is a tour de force ... As a work of popular science it is exemplary ... For anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the real problems involved [it] is the place to start.
* The Economist *
The first factual meme on renewable energy? A book about climate change that gets rave reviews from folk at oil companies, environmental groups and the Number One Blog of All Time has to be worth a peek.
-- energysource blog * The Financial Times *
