Large site logo

To Open The Sky

The Front Pages of Christopher P. Winter
Work in progress

Books about Energy Generation Methods and Climate Change

Note: Links to these categories are accessible at the next level up.

Economic
Impacts
Energy
Generation
Legality
& Ethics
Mitigation
Measuress
Panic
Mode
Political
Responsibility
Regional
Aspects
Scientific
Basis
Societal
Acceptance
Nuclear is for Life:
A Cultural Revolution
Wade Allison
Wade Allison Publishing (December, 2015)
No Review

Eh?

Rating by Amazon customers: 5.0 (2 ratings)
ISBN 978-0956275646 SJ0 1/14/2017
Oil, Power, and War:
A Dark History
Matthieu Auzanneau
Richard Heinberg (Foreword)
Chelsea Green Publishing; 8-Page Color Insert edition (November 30, 2018)
No Review
"Matthieu Auzanneau is the director of The Shift Project, a European think tank focusing on energy transition and the resources required to make the shift to an economy free from fossil fuel dependence, and also from greenhouse gas emissions. Previously he was a journalist, based in France, and mostly writing for Le Monde. He continues to write his Le Monde blog 'Oil Man,' which he describes as 'a chronicle of the beginning of the end of petroleum.' The original French edition of this book, Or Noir: La grande histoire du pétrole, was awarded the Special Prize of the French Association of Energy Economists in 2016. Richard Heinberg is Senior Fellow at the Post Carbon Institute. He is the author of several influential books on resource depletion including Peak Everything: Waking Up to the Century Of Declines."

"The story of oil is one of hubris, fortune, betrayal, and destruction. It is the story of a resource that has been undeniably central to the creation of our modern culture, and ever-present during the darkest exploits of empire the world over. For the past 150 years, oil has become the most essential ingredient for economic, military, and political power. And it has brought us to our present moment in which political leaders and the fossil-fuel industry consider extraordinary, and extraordinarily dangerous, policy on a world stage marked by shifting power bases.

"Upending the conventional wisdom by crafting a 'people's history,' award-winning journalist Matthieu Auzanneau deftly traces how oil became a national and then global addiction, outlines the enormous consequences of that addiction, sheds new light on major historical and contemporary figures, and raises new questions about stories we thought we knew well: What really sparked the oil crises in the 1970s, the shift away from the gold standard at Bretton Woods, or even the financial crash of 2008? How has oil shaped the events that have defined our times: two world wars, the Cold War, the Great Depression, ongoing wars in the Middle East, the advent of neoliberalism, and the Great Recession, among them?

"With brutal clarity, Oil, Power, and War exposes the heavy hand oil has had in all of our lives—and illustrates how much heavier that hand could get during the increasingly desperate race to control the last of the world's easily and cheaply extractable reserves.

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.5 (57 ratings)
ISBN 978-1603587433 ?
A Just Transition:
Making Energy Poverty History with an Energy Mix
NJ Ayuk
Made for Success; Unabridged edition (March 7, 2023)
No Review

"A leading energy lawyer and a strong advocate for African entrepreneurs, NJ Ayuk is recognized as one of the foremost figures in African business today. A Global Shaper with the World Economic Forum, one of Forbes' Top 10 Most Influential Men in Africa in 2015, and a well-known dealmaker in the petroleum and power sectors, NJ is dedicating his career to helping entrepreneurs find success and to building the careers of young African lawyers.

"As founder and CEO of Centurion Law Group, NJ strives through his work to ensure that business, and especially oil and gas, impacts African societies in a positive way and drives local content development. He is the current chairman of the African Energy Chamber and [co]author of Big Barrels: African Oil and Gas and the Quest for Prosperity.

"NJ graduated from the University of Maryland College Park and earned a Juris Doctor from William Mitchell College of Law and an MBA from the New York Institute of Technology."

"In just a few short decades, the many countries of our planet have become interconnected beyond our wildest imaginations. And as our view of the world has expanded, there has been a rise in the demand for cultures and political institutions around the world to 'think globally.' While thinking globally is often well-meaning, acting globally without consideration for local countries can unintentionally cause harmful results.

"In A Just Transition, renowned Cameroonian author and entrepreneur NJ Ayuk reveals how this sobering reality is unfolding as the International Energy Agency's ambitious green energy (IEA) policies have stifled and crippled the energy economies of Africa. When the IEA set a hard requirement for countries around the world to embrace 'green' energy sources, the burgeoning energy economies of Africa watched in horror as funding and business interest in their oil and gas energy projects evaporated.

"With a natural abundance of oil and gas resources, Africa has the potential to be a global energy leader. But this transformation cannot happen for African countries through green energy alone. A Just Transition is an insightful exploration into the possibility of a bright future for African countries and the factors that stand in the way of its manifestation.

"With thoughtful governance, a keen eye for opportunity, and the due consideration of the countries affected by a sweeping legislation, it is possible for countries in Africa to make a transition to renewable energy that is not only just but prosperous for all involved."

An Amazon reviewer notes: "His suggested approach may be the most practical one, given that Oil and energy sector holds the promise of great economic growth. However, based on my time working as a senior economist in East Africa, the problem in many resource-rich African countries is that, while oil and gas may improve the GDP numbers, very little of that wealth trickles down to the poorest. Jobs are undoubtedly created, however, these are not always jobs that respect labour rights. As such, I am not certain that this kind of economic growth is in the interests of true human development or even the most optimal way of evolving out of poverty." Another gives the title of the book as "A Just Transition: Making Energy Poverty History with Natural Resources." Africa needs more energy, but I don't think it needs more fossil-fuel energy.

Rating by Amazon customers: 5.0 (16 ratings)
ISBN 978-1641467506 ?
The Grid:
The Fraying Wires Between Americans and Our Energy Future
Gretchen Bakke Ph.D.
Bloomsbury USA (July, 2016)
No Review

"The Grid tells—entertainingly, perceptively—the story of what has been called "the largest machine in the world": its fascinating history, its problematic present, and its potential role in a brighter, cleaner future."

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.0 (172 ratings)
ISBN 978-1608196104 SJ1 333.7932
Internal Combustion:
How Corporations and Governments Addicted the World to Oil and Derailed the Alternatives
Edwin Black
Dialog Press (April 30, 2008)
No Review
"Edwin Black is the award-winning New York Times and international investigative author of 200 bestselling editions in 20 languages in more than 190 countries, as well as scores of newspaper and magazine articles in the leading publications of the United States, Europe and Israel. With more than 1.6 million books in print, his work focuses on human rights, genocide and hate, corporate criminality and corruption, governmental misconduct, academic fraud, philanthropy abuse, oil addiction, alternative energy and historical investigation. He can be found at www.edwinblack.com. His weekly Zoom TV Show can be found at www.theedwinblackshow.com."

"Edwin Black has produced an explosive, eye-opening expose of the corporate forces that have for more than a century sabotaged the creation of alternative energies and vehicles in order to keep us dependent on oil. There is enough truth in this book to revolutionize our way of life. Winner of four awards for editorial excellence: American Society of Journalists and Authors Best Book, Thomas Edison Award, Green Globes, AJPA Rockower Award."

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.3 (34 ratings)
ISBN 978-0914153115 ?
Powering the Future:
A Scientist's Guide to Energy Independence
Daniel B. Botkin
FT Press (April, 2010)
No Review

"Dr. Daniel B. Botkin objectively assesses the true prospects, limitations, costs, risks, dangers, and tradeoffs associated with every leading and emerging source of energy, including oil, natural gas, coal, hydroelectric, nuclear, wind, solar, ocean power, and biofuels. Next, Botkin addresses the energy distribution system, outlining how it currently works, identifying its inefficiencies, and reviewing options for improving it.

"Finally, Botkin turns to solutions, offering a realistic, scientifically and economically viable path to a sustainable, energy-independent future: one that can improve the quality of life for Americans and for people around the world." – publisher

Rating by Amazon customers: 3.6 (16 ratings)
ISBN 978-0137049769 ?
The West Texas Power Plant that Saved the World:
Energy, Capitalism, and Climate Change
Andy Bowman
Katherine Hayhoe (Foreword)
Texas Tech University Press (August 31, 2021)
No Review

"What if the harbinger of our greener future was a small power plant set in the middle of nowhere in West Texas? Longtime alternative energy executive Andy Bowman's book makes exactly this case, outlining what he suggests is a more sustainable future for American capitalism. The West Texas Power Plant that Saved the World takes the Barilla solar plant in Pecos County as a test case for the state of renewable energy in the twenty-first century United States.

"For author Andy Bowman, this is a very personal story. Bowman grew up in Galveston and acutely remembers watching stormwater climb up seawalls and wreak havoc on his home. He weaves these memories into his coming of age over two decades in the alternative energy industry, beginning in the 1990s, and tracks it's (sic) the industry's fits and starts that lead to the Barilla project. Barilla was the first solar project to be built 'on spec': essentially, the plant was built without a contract in place and with the assumption that customers would come. That trailblazing wager represents a tidal shift in the alternative energy industry.

"In a clear voice, Bowman explains the climate science that necessitated this shift and makes business-based arguments for what the future should look like. The result is a book that tells a personal story of West Texan innovation, gumption, and vision, while also outlining how our society needs to equip itself to confront climate change." – publisher

Rating by Amazon customers: 5.0 (2 ratings)
ISBN 978-1682830932 ?
Gusher of Lies:
The Dangerous Delusions of "Energy Independence"
Robert Bryce
PublicAffairs (March 4, 2008)
No Review
"Robert Bryce is one of America's foremost energy journalists. He is currently the managing editor of Energy Tribune and a contributing writer for the Texas Observer. The author of Pipe Dreams: Greed, Ego, and the Death of Enron and Cronies: Oil, the Bushes, and the Rise of Texas, America's Superstate, he lives in Austin with his wife, Lorin, their three children, and a hyperactive bird dog named Biscuit."

"Everybody is talking about "energy independence." But is it really achievable? Is it actually even desirable? In this controversial, meticulously researched book, Robert Bryce exposes the false promises behind the rhetoric while blasting nearly everybody—Republicans, Democrats, environmentalists, and war-mongering neoconservatives—for misleading voters about our energy needs.

"Gusher of Lies explains why the idea of energy independence appeals to voters while also showing that renewable sources like wind and solar cannot meet America's growing energy demand. Along the way, Bryce eviscerates the ethanol scam. Whether the issue is cost, water consumption, or food prices, corn ethanol is one of the longest-running robberies ever perpetrated on American taxpayers.

"Consumers concerned about peak oil and the future of global energy supplies need to understand that energy security depends on embracing free markets and the realities of interdependence. Gusher of Lies is illuminating, vital reading."

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.3 (67 ratings)
ISBN 978-1586483210 ?
Nuclear Power and the Energy Crisis:
Politics and the Atomic Industry
Duncan Burn
New York University Press (January, 1978)
No Review

Eh?

Rating by Amazon customers: ? (0 ratings)
ISBN 978-0814709986 ?
Nuclear Power or a Promise Lost:
A Policy Maker's Guide for a Future of Carbon Free, Sustainable Energy
Edward T. Burns
Brown Walker Press (March 12, 2020)
No Review

"This book captures the status of current electrical energy markets including the principal forces affecting decisions on selecting an energy source. It represents a seminal work that lays out the electrical energy decision tree for selecting an energy source in a world that is on the verge of catastrophic global warming because of the choices that have been made in the name of cheap energy. The impetus for this book includes the dire need to mitigate continued anthropogenic causes of global warming by turning to carbon free energy sources.

"Nuclear energy represents such a carbon-free energy source and could be a partial solution to the existential threat facing future society—the threat of a warming planet and its consequential, catastrophic effects on future generations. The world is at a crossroads in human interaction with their environment. The effects of radiation and the relationship of nuclear power to nuclear weapons are both discussed in an understandable and compelling manner. Nuclear energy is contrasted with other energy sources including fossil fuels and renewable energy sources regarding the risks and benefits imposed by each. Important personalities and world events that shaped nuclear power's development are recounted.

"The historical origins of nuclear power are outlined and the continued impetus to include nuclear power as part of the electric grid energy mix is assessed exposing the obstacles and road blocks to the continued use of nuclear power. Specific attention is paid to revealing the causes and lessons learned from the three severe accidents in commercial nuclear plants: TMI-2, Chernobyl, and Fukushima. An extensive discussion of nuclear waste disposal is provided as part of the decision tree for energy selection."

"The context for the future of nuclear power as a viable energy source is illuminated by the current battle between economic growth and the harm created by burning fossil fuels. The status of the world's climate and projections for the disruptive effects of global warming on future populations, migration, economics, and world strife are debated against the backdrop of an increasing world population and the drive by developing nations to achieve economic parity with the industrialized nations. Within the context of increased world strife, the quest by nations to obtain nuclear weapons is also discussed. The steps taken by the world to limit nuclear weapons proliferation are examined with emphasis on potential links between nuclear power generation and access to nuclear weapons.The final chapter discusses the moral responsibility of current generations with respect to future generations, specifically, the applicability of "intergenerational equity" in political and social decision-making regarding the actions that add to global warming and those risk averse actions that can be taken to minimize global warming."

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.6 (3 ratings)
ISBN 978-1627347440 ?
Crisis Without End:
The Medical and Ecological Consequences of the Fukushima Nuclear Catastrophe
Helen Caldicott (Editor)
New York: The New Press, October 2014
My Review

A lifelong opponent of all forms of nuclear technology, Dr. Caldicott here claims that the radiation released from the Fukushima Daiichi plant will kill millions — basically the same claim she made about Chernobyl. However, the book is the result of a March 2013 symposium in New York City, and there is valuable information in it.

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.6 (13 ratings)
ISBN 978-1-59558-960-6 SJ3 363.1799 Crisis
The New Energy Crisis: (2nd ed.)
Climate, Economics and Geopolitics
J. Chevalier & P. Geoffron (Editors)
Palgrave Macmillan (March, 2013)
No Review

"Global warming reveals that world energy consumption is on an unsustainable path. This updated second edition of The New Energy Crisis examines the impact of climate change on energy economics and geopolitics, exploring key issues such as energy poverty, renewable and nuclear energy, and focusing on the implications of the Fukushima crisis."

Rating by Amazon customers: ? (0 ratings)
ISBN 978-0230301825 ?
Climate Intervention:
Carbon Dioxide Removal and Reliable Sequestration
by Committee on Geoengineering Climate
National Academies Press (July 17, 2015)
No Review

Eh?

Rating by Amazon customers: 5.0 (2 ratings)
ISBN 978-0309305297 SJ eBook
Power To Save the World:
The Truth About Nuclear Energy
Gwyneth Cravens
Richard Rhodes (Intro.)
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, October 2007
My Review

Mrs. Cravens is another convert to nuclear power.

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.2 (88 ratings)
ISBN 978-0-307-26656-9 ?
Clean Break:
The Story of Germany's Energy Transformation and What Americans Can Learn from It
Osha Gray Davidson
Catherine Mann (Illustrator)
Susan White (Editor)
InsideClimate News (November, 2012)
No Review

Amazon Kindle edition. A customer reviewer writes: "Davidson deserves major credit for bringing us this story, one which until now was ignored by America's news media."

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.2 (115 ratings)
ASIN: B00A4IEJ5K N/A
The Petroleum Papers:
Inside the Far-Right Conspiracy to Cover Up Climate Change
Geoff Dembicki
Greystone Books (September 20, 2022)
No Review
"Geoff Dembicki is an investigative climate journalist based in Brooklyn. He is a frequent contributor to VICE, The Guardian and The Tyee. His book The Petroleum Papers was named a Washington Post Best Book of 2022."

Burning fossil fuels will cause catastrophic global warming: this is what top American oil executives were told by scientists in 1959. But they ignored that warning. Instead, they developed one of the biggest, most polluting oil sources in the world—the oil sands in Alberta, Canada. As investigative journalist Geoff Dembicki reveals in this explosive book, the decades-long conspiracy to keep the oil sands flowing into the U.S. would turn out to be one of the biggest reasons for the world's failure to stop the climate crisis.

"In The Petroleum Papers, Dembicki draws from confidential oil industry documents to uncover for the first time how companies like Exxon, Koch Industries, and Shell built a global right-wing echo chamber to protect oil sands profits—a misinformation campaign that continues to this day. He also tells the high-stakes stories of people fighting back: a Seattle lawyer who brought down Big Tobacco and is now going after Big Oil, a Filipina activist whose family drowned in a climate disaster, and a former Exxon engineer pushed out for asking hard questions.

"With experts now warning we have less than a decade to get global emissions under control, The Petroleum Papers provides a step-by-step account of how we got to this precipice—and the politicians and companies who deserve our blame."

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.4 (64 ratings)
978-1771648912 ?
Renewable Energy Finance:
Powering the Future
Charles W. Donovan (Editor)
Icp (June, 2015)
No Review

"The future of clean energy is no longer about science and technology; it's all about access to finance. The fossil fuel industry has been subsidized for decades with tax breaks and government backing, while renewables have struggled to compete. But now clean energy is the safe bet for investors, as is argued in Renewable Energy Finance: Powering the Future, edited by Dr Charles Donovan, Principal Teaching Fellow at Imperial College Business School. With a foreword by Lord Brown and contributions from some of the world's leading experts in energy finance, this timely book documents how investors are spending over Us$250 billion each year on new renewable energy projects and positioning themselves in a global investment market that will continue to expand at double-digit growth rates until 2020. It documents first-hand experiences of the challenges of balancing risk and return amid volatile market conditions and rapid shifts in government policy. Renewable Energy Finance provides an insider's perspective on renewable energy transactions, and insight into how countries like the US, India and China are responding to the global energy challenge. Drawing together contributions from senior executives and leading academics, Renewable Energy Finance serves an audience of readers craving intelligent, practical perspectives on the future of clean energy investment."

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.7 (5 ratings)
ISBN 978-1911299783 ?
The Switch:
America's Global Energy Renaissance
Dan K. Eberhart
Greenleaf Book Group Press (November 21, 2017)
No Review

"For the first time in decades, the US has a rare opportunity to realistically reject oil supplies from other nations."

Except that we are still importing large quantities of oil from the Middle East.

Rating by Amazon customers: 5.0 (11 ratings)
ISBN 978-1626342583 ?
The Nuclear Imperative: (2nd ed.)
A Critical Look at the Approaching Energy Crisis
Jeff Eerkens
Springer (July, 2010)
No Review

"In this global wake-up call, nuclear physicist Jeff Eerkens explores remedies for the impending energy crisis, when oil and natural gas are depleted. The Nuclear Imperative demonstrates that solar, wind, and biomass power are incapable of supplying the enormous quantities of electricity and heat needed for manufacturing portable synthetic fuels to replace our current use of fossil fuels. It offers a fresh look at uranium-produced energy as the optimal affordable solution."

Rating by Amazon customers: 5.0 (2 ratings)
ISBN 978-9048186662 ?
Myths, Lies and Oil Wars
F. William Engdahl
Gertrud Engdahl (July, 2012)
No Review
"F. William Engdahl is is a political economist and founder of Engdahl Strategic Risk Consulting, providing geopolitical strategic risk advice to companies and financial institutions. He has specialized for more than thirty seven years in geopolitical analysis of global events, and is an American citizen."

"The book details revolutionary and shocking new scientific work developed in Cold War secrecy in the Soviet Union which proved that oil originates not from dinosaur detritus or fossilized algae as western geology mythology maintains. The Soviet scientists showed that oil and gas have deep origins at the level of the Earth's mantle some 200 km below. Like volcanoes, hydrocarbons are forced upwards until they typically are "trapped" in reservoir rock formations. The Russian work has been the target of a concerted campaign to discredit the theory. Little wonder. Were its implications understood widely, oil and gas would be considered as virtually a renewable energy and our energy crises and wars a thing of the past. As Henry Kissinger said, "If you control the oil you control entire nations." The converse is also true—If oil cannot be controlled the controlling powers lose their control over other nations and the wars that go with it. This is an entirely different account of the world's most important and most political commodity—oil."

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.4 (171 ratings)
ISBN 978-3981326369 ?
Fossil Fuels Improve the Planet
Alex Epstein (with Eric M. Dennis, contributor)
Center for Industrial Progress (February, 2013)
No Review

"The basic question underlying our energy policy debates is this: Should we be free to generate more and more energy using fossil fuels? Or should we restrict and progressively outlaw fossil fuels as "dirty energy"? I believe that if we look at the big picture, the facts are clear. If we want a healthy, livable environment, then we must be free to use fossil fuels. Why? Because for the foreseeable future, fossil fuels provide the key to a great environment: abundant, affordable, reliable energy."

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.6 (36 ratings)
ISBN 978-0989344807 ?
Fossil Future:
Why Global Human Flourishing Requires More Oil, Coal, and Natural Gas—Not Less
Alex Epstein
Portfolio (May 24, 2022)
No Review
"Alex Epstein is an energy expert and founder of the Center for Industrial Progress, which offers a positive, pro-human alternative to the green movement. His New York Times bestselling book The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels has been widely praised as the most persuasive argument ever made for our continuing use of fossil fuels, winning Epstein the 'Most Original Thinker of 2014' award from The McLaughlin Group."

"The New York Times bestselling author of The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels draws on the latest data and new insights to challenge everything you thought you knew about the future of energy"

"For over a decade, philosopher and energy expert Alex Epstein has predicted that any negative impacts of fossil fuel use on our climate will be outweighed by the unique benefits of fossil fuels to human flourishing—including their unrivaled ability to provide low-cost, reliable energy to billions of people around the world, especially the world's poorest people.

"And contrary to what we hear from media 'experts' about today's 'renewable revolution' and 'climate emergency,' reality has proven Epstein right:

  • Fact: Fossil fuels are still the dominant source of energy around the world, and growing fast—while much-hyped renewables are causing skyrocketing electricity prices and increased blackouts.
  • Fact: Fossil-fueled development has brought global poverty to an all-time low.
  • Fact: While fossil fuels have contributed to the 1 degree of warming in the last 170 years, climate-related deaths are at all-time lows thanks to fossil-fueled development.

"What does the future hold? In Fossil Future, Epstein, applying his distinctive 'human flourishing framework' to the latest evidence, comes to the shocking conclusion that the benefits of fossil fuels will continue to far outweigh their side effects—including climate impacts—for generations to come. The path to global human flourishing, Epstein argues, is a combination of using more fossil fuels, getting better at 'climate mastery,' and establishing 'energy freedom' policies that allow nuclear and other truly promising alternatives to reach their full long-term potential.

"Today's pervasive claims of imminent climate catastrophe and imminent renewable energy dominance, Epstein shows, are based on what he calls the 'anti-impact framework'—a set of faulty methods, false assumptions, and anti-human values that have caused the media's designated experts to make wildly wrong predictions about fossil fuels, climate, and renewables for the last fifty years. Deeply researched and wide-ranging, this book will cause you to rethink everything you thought you knew about the future of our energy use, our environment, and our climate."

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.7 (1,793 ratings)
ISBN 978-0593420416 ?
Nuclear Energy:
What Everyone Needs To Know
Charles D. Ferguson
Oxford University Press (May, 2011)
No Review

"Originally perceived as a cheap and plentiful source of power, the commercial use of nuclear energy has been controversial for decades. Worries about the dangers that nuclear plants and their radioactive waste posed to nearby communities grew over time, and plant construction in the United States virtually died after the early 1980s. The 1986 disaster at Chernobyl only reinforced nuclear power's negative image. Yet in the decade prior to the Japanese nuclear crisis of 2011, sentiment about nuclear power underwent a marked change. The alarming acceleration of global warming due to the burning of fossil fuels and concern about dependence on foreign fuel has led policymakers, climate scientists, and energy experts to look once again at nuclear power as a source of energy.

"In this accessible overview, Charles D. Ferguson provides an authoritative account of the key facts about nuclear energy. What is the origin of nuclear energy? What countries use commercial nuclear power, and how much electricity do they obtain from it? How can future nuclear power plants be made safer? What can countries do to protect their nuclear facilities from military attacks? How hazardous is radioactive waste? Is nuclear energy a renewable energy source? Featuring a discussion of the recent nuclear crisis in Japan and its ramifications, Ferguson addresses these questions and more in Nuclear Energy: What Everyone Needs to Know™, a book that is essential for anyone looking to learn more about this important issue."

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.6 (65 ratings)
ISBN 978-0199759453 ?
Why We Need Nuclear Power:
The Environmental Case
Michael H. Fox
Oxford University Press (July, 2014)
No Review

Eh?

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.9 (15 ratings)
ISBN 978-0-19-934457-4 SJ8 TK9153.F69 2014
Smart Power Anniversary Edition:
Climate Change, the Smart Grid, and the Future of Electric Utilities (2nd ed.)
Peter Fox-Penner
James E. Rogers (Foreword)
Dan Esty (Foreword)
Daniel Dobbeni (Foreword)
Lyon Rive (Foreword)
Oxford University Press (July, 2014)
No Review

"In this accessible and insightful book, Peter Fox-Penner considers how utilities interact with customers and how the Smart Grid could revolutionize their relationship. Turning to the supply side, he considers the costs of, and tradeoffs between, large-scale power sources such as coal plants and small-scale power sources close to customers. Finally, he looks at how utilities can respond to all of these challenges and remain viable, while financing hundreds of billions of dollars of investment without much of an increase in sales."

Rating by Amazon customers: 3.9 (4 ratings)
ISBN 978-1610915892 ?
We Almost Lost Detroit
John G. Fuller
Carl J. Hocevar (Fwd.)
New York: Reader's Digest Press, 1975
My Review

This is one of the important books that portrays the downside of nuclear power — nothing inherent in the physics, but the result of hasty construction and laxity about safety.

Rating by Amazon customers: 3.9 (14 ratings)
ISBN 978-0-88349-070-91 ?
Thunder on the Mountain
How Politicians, Big Oil and Coal, Journalists, and Activists Are Fueling the Climate Crisis—and What We Can Do To Avert Disaster
Peter Galuszka
New York: Basic Books, 2004
My Review

Galuzska examines the practices of one particular coal baron — Don Blankenship — and shows us the declining future of the coal industry.

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.8 (10 ratings)
ISBN 978-0-8021-4898-1 ?
Megawatts and Megatons:
A Turning Point in the Nuclear Age?
Richard L. Garwin
Georges Charpak
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, October 2001
My Review

"Meanwhile, nuclear power already provides one-sixth of all electrical energy in the world—France, for instance, derives 80% of its electricity from reactors—but nuclear power has met with great resistance in the United States, where the specter of the Three Mile Island breakdown still looms in the public's consciousness. Garwin and Charpak take a temperate, rational tone in evaluating the benefits of nuclear energy. They show how it can provide an assured, economically feasible, and environmentally responsible supply of energy in a way that avoids the hazards of weapons proliferation. – publisher

Rating by Amazon customers: 3.4 (5 ratings)
ISBN 978-0-375-40394-1 ?
Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less:
A Handbook for Slashing Gas Prices and Solving Our Energy Crisis
Newt Gingrich & Vince Haley
Regnery Publishing (September, 2008)
No Review

"UNABRIDGED VERSION--INCLUDES BUMPER STICKER"

Rating by Amazon customers: 3.8 (28 ratings)
ISBN 978-1596985766 ?
Wind Energy Comes of Age
Paul Gipe
Christopher Flavin (Fwd.)
New York: John Wiley & Sons, April 1995
My Review

"A fascinating story, not only of technology but of the heart and soul behind it. A must for anyone that really wants to understand how wind power developed and what it takes to move sustainable technology toward the marketplace." – Carl Weinberg, former manager of R&D at Pacific Gas & Electric Co.

Rating by Amazon customers: 5.0 (2 ratings)
ISBN 978-0-471-10924-2 ?
The Boom:
How Fracking Ignited the American Energy Revolution and Changed the World
Russell Gold
New York: Simon & Schuster (April, 2015)
No Review

Eh?

Rating by Amazon customers: ? (? ratings)
ISBN 978-1451692297 ?
Green Breakdown:
The Coming Renewable Energy Failure
Steve Goreham
New Lenox, IL: New Lenox Books (August 1, 2023)
No Review

"Think wind, solar, and batteries can replace the hydrocarbon fuels that power our modern industrialized society? Green Breakdown shows why the Net Zero agenda—a forced transition to renewable energy—is costly, dangerous, and destined for failure. Using science, economics, and in-depth analysis, Steve Goreham exposes the weaknesses in the planned green energy transition and predicts a coming renewable energy failure.

"Green Breakdown is a complete discussion of all facets of the proposed green energy transition, including hydrocarbon and renewable energy, biofuels, power plants, home appliances, electric vehicles, ships, airlines, heavy industry, carbon capture and storage, and the hydrogen economy. Goreham uses color charts and graphs, and references to numerous studies to support his arguments. At the same time, his large collection of cartoons, colorful images, and quotes grabs the reader's interest.

"Green Breakdown is essential reading for anyone wishing to understand the truth about energy production, energy use, and policies related to climate change."

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.2 (22 ratings)
ISBN 978-0982499665 ?
The End of Energy:
The Unmaking of America's Environment, Security, and Independence
Michael J. Graetz
The MIT Press (March 2011)
No Review

"Graetz describes more than forty years of energy policy incompetence and argues that we must make better decisions for our energy future. Despite thousands of pages of energy legislation since the 1970s (passed by a Congress that tended to elevate narrow parochial interests over our national goals), Americans have never been asked to pay a price that reflects the real cost of the energy they consume. Until Americans face the facts about price, our energy incompetence will continue—and along with it the unraveling of our environment, security, and independence." – publisher

Rating by Amazon customers: 5.0 (3 ratings)
ISBN 978-0262015677 SJ3 333.79 Graetz
Electrify:
An Optimist's Playbook for Our Clean Energy Future
Saul Griffith
The MIT Press (October 12, 2021)
No Review

"Climate change is a planetary emergency. We have to do something now—but what? Saul Griffith has a plan. In Electrify, Griffith lays out a detailed blueprint—optimistic but feasible—for fighting climate change while creating millions of new jobs and a healthier environment. Griffith's plan can be summed up simply: electrify everything. He explains exactly what it would take to transform our infrastructure, update our grid, and adapt our households to make this possible. Billionaires may contemplate escaping our worn-out planet on a private rocket ship to Mars, but the rest of us, Griffith says, will stay and fight for the future.

"Griffith, an engineer and inventor, calls for grid neutrality, ensuring that households, businesses, and utilities operate as equals; we will have to rewrite regulations that were created for a fossil-fueled world, mobilize industry as we did in World War II, and offer low-interest 'climate loans.' Griffith's plan doesn't rely on big, not-yet-invented innovations, but on thousands of little inventions and cost reductions. We can still have our cars and our houses—but the cars will be electric and solar panels will cover our roofs. For a world trying to bounce back from a pandemic and economic crisis, there is no other project that would create as many jobs—up to twenty-five million, according to one economic analysis. Is this politically possible? We can change politics along with everything else."

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.6 (255 ratings)
ISBN 978-0262046237 ?
Renewable Energies and CO2:
Cost Analysis, Environmental Impacts and Technological Trends
Ricardo Guerrero-Lemus & José Manuel Martínez-Duart
Springer (September, 2012)
No Review

"Providing up-to-date numerical data across a range of topics related to renewable energy technologies, Renewable Energies and CO2 offers a one-stop source of key information to engineers, economists and all other professionals working in the energy and climate change sectors. The most relevant up-to-date numerical data are exposed in 201 tables and graphs, integrated in terms of units and methodology, and covering topics such as energy system capacities and lifetimes, production costs, energy payback ratios, carbon emissions, external costs, patents and literature statistics."

Rating by Amazon customers: 5.0 (1 rating)
ISBN 978-1447143840 ?
THORIUM:
Energy Cheaper than Coal
Robert Hargraves
CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (July, 2012)
No Review

"This book presents a lucid explanation of the workings of thorium-based reactors. It is must reading for anyone interested in our energy future." – Leon Cooper, Brown University physicist and 1972 Nobel laureate for superconductivity

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.5 (81 ratings)
ISBN 978-1478161295 ?
Frackopoly:
The Battle for the Future of Energy and the Environment
Wenonah Hauter
The New Press; Illustrated edition (June 7, 2016)
No Review
"Wenonah Hauter is the executive director of Food & Water Watch, a D.C.-based watchdog organization focused on corporate and government accountability relating to food, water, and fishing. She has worked and written extensively on food, water, energy, and environmental issues at the national, state, and local levels. She owns a working farm in The Plains, Virginia."

"Over the past decade a new and controversial energy extraction method known as hydraulic fracturing, commonly referred to as fracking, has rocketed to the forefront of US energy production. With fracking, millions of gallons of water, dangerous chemicals, and sand are injected under high pressure deep into the earth, fracturing hard rock to release oil and gas.

"Wenonah Hauter, one of the nation’s leading public interest advocates, argues that the rush to fracking is dangerous to the environment and treacherous to human health. Frackopoly describes how the fracking industry began; the technologies that make it possible; and the destruction and poisoning of clean water sources with the release of harmful radiation from deep inside shale deposits, creating what the author calls 'sacrifice zones' across the American landscape.

"The book also examines the powerful interests that have supported fracking, including leading environmental groups, and offers a thorough debunking of its supposed economic benefits. With a wealth of new data, Frackopoly is an essential and riveting read for anyone interested in protecting the environment and ensuring a healthy and sustainable future for all Americans."

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.1 (24 ratings)
ISBN 978-1620970072 ?
Blackout:
Coal, Climate and the Last Energy Crisis
Richard Heinberg
New Society Publishers (July, 2009)
No Review

"Coal fuels about 50% of US electricity production and provides a quarter of the country's total energy. China and India's ferocious economic growth is based on coal-generated electricity. Coal currently looks like a solution to many of our fast-growing energy problems. However, while coal advocates are urging full steam ahead, increasing reliance on the dirtiest of all fossil fuels has crucial implications for climate science, energy policy, the world economy, and geopolitics."

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.1 (11 ratings)
ISBN 978-0865716568 ?
Our Renewable Future: (2nd ed.)
Laying the Path for One Hundred Percent Clean Energy
Richard Heinberg & David Fridley
Island Press (June, 2016)
No Review

"The next few decades will see a profound energy transformation throughout the world. By the end of the century (and perhaps sooner), we will shift from fossil fuel dependence to rely primarily on renewable sources like solar, wind, biomass, and geothermal power. Driven by the need to avert catastrophic climate change and by the depletion of easily accessible oil, coal, and natural gas, this transformation will entail a major shift in how we live. What might a 100% renewable future look like? Which technologies will play a crucial role in our energy future? What challenges will we face in this transition? And how can we make sure our new system is just and equitable?

"In Our Renewable Future, energy expert Richard Heinberg and scientist David Fridley explore the challenges and opportunities presented by the shift to renewable energy. Beginning with a comprehensive overview of our current energy system, the authors survey issues of energy supply and demand in key sectors of the economy, including electricity generation, transportation, buildings, and manufacturing. In their detailed review of each sector, the authors examine the most crucial challenges we face, from intermittency in fuel sources to energy storage and grid redesign. The book concludes with a discussion of energy and equity and a summary of key lessons and steps forward at the individual, community, and national level."

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.6 (11 ratings)
ISBN 978-1610917797 ?
Burn Out:
The Endgame for Fossil Fuels
Dieter Helm
Yale University Press; Updated Edition (April 25, 2017)
No Review

"Low oil prices are sending shockwaves through the global economy, and longtime industry observer Dieter Helm explains how this and other shifts are the harbingers of a coming energy revolution and how the fossil fuel age will come to an end. Surveying recent surges in technological innovations, Helm's provocative new book documents how the global move toward the internet-of-things will inexorably reduce the demand for oil, gas, and renewables—and prove more effective than current efforts to avert climate change.

"Oil companies and energy utilities must begin to adapt their existing business models or face future irrelevancy. Oil-exporting nations, particularly in the Middle East, will be negatively impacted, whereas the United States and European countries that are investing in new technologies may find themselves leaders in the geopolitical game. Timely and controversial, this book concludes by offering advice on what governments and businesses can and should do now to prepare for a radically different energy future."

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.5 (33 ratings)
ISBN 978-0300225624 ?
Energy, the Environment and Climate Change
Peter E. Hodgson
Imperial College Press (March, 2010)
No Review

"This book is a comprehensive account of all significant energy sources, evaluated according to their capacity, reliability, cost, safety and effects on the environment. Non-renewable sources (for example, coal, oil, gas and nuclear fuel) together with renewable sources like wood, hydro, biomass, wind, solar, geothermal, ocean thermal, and tidal; are considered. Also, nuclear radiations and the disposal of nuclear waste and the future of nuclear power are assessed, as well as pollution and acid rain, the greenhouse effects and climate change. Its social, political and moral problems are discussed, with a special mention of the opposition to nuclear power." – publisher

Rating by Amazon customers: ? (? ratings)
ISBN 978-1848164154 ?
Why Energy Conservation Fails
Herbert Inhaber
Praeger (July, 1997)
No Review

"Energy efficiency and energy conservation are often thought to be the same. They are not, according to Herbert Inhaber. Only when less total energy is consumed by all users will energy actually be saved. Energy efficiency schemes do not accomplish this goal of conservation: when one person or nation conserves energy, there is just more of it for others to use elsewhere."

Rating by Amazon customers: 2.6 (196 ratings)
ISBN 978-1567201208 ?
Apollo's Fire
Jay Inslee & Bracken Hendricks
Bill Clinton (Fwd.)
Washington, DC: Island Press, 2008
No Review

Eh?

Rating by Amazon customers: ? (? ratings)
ISBN 978-1-59726-175-3 ?
100% Clean, Renewable Energy and Storage for Everything
Mark Jacobson
Cambridge University Press (October 1, 2020)
No Review
"Mark Jacobson is Director of the Atmosphere/Energy Program and Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University. He is also a Senior Fellow of the Woods Institute for the Environment and of the Precourt Institute for Energy. He received a B.S. in Civil Engineering, an A.B. in Economics, and an M.S. in Environmental Engineering from Stanford in 1988. He received an M.S. and PhD in Atmospheric Sciences in 1991 and 1994, respectively, from UCLA and joined the faculty at Stanford in 1994. He has published three textbooks and over 160 peer-reviewed journal articles. He received the 2005 American Meteorological Society Henry G. Houghton Award and the 2013 American Geophysical Union Ascent Award for his work on black carbon climate impacts and the 2013 Global Green Policy Design Award for developing state and country energy plans. In 2015, he received a Cozzarelli Prize from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences for his work on the grid integration of 100% wind, water and solar energy systems. In 2018, he received the Judi Friedman Lifetime Achievement Award 'For a distinguished career dedicated to finding solutions to large-scale air pollution and climate problems.' In 2019, he was selected as 'one of the world's 100 most influential people in climate policy' by Apolitical. He has served on an advisory committee to the U.S. Secretary of Energy, appeared in a TED talk, appeared on the David Letterman Show to discuss converting the world to clean energy, and cofounded The Solutions Project. His work is the scientific basis of the energy portion of the U.S. Green New Deal and laws to go to 100% renewable energy in cities, states, and countries worldwide."

"Numerous laws — including the Green New Deal — have been proposed or passed in cities, states, and countries to transition from fossil fuels to 100% clean, renewable energy in order to address climate change, air pollution, and energy insecurity. This textbook lays out the science, technology, economics, policy, and social aspects of such transitions. It discusses the renewable electricity and heat generating technologies needed; the electricity, heat, cold, and hydrogen storage technologies required; how to keep the electric power grid stable; and how to address non-energy sources of emissions. It discusses the history of the 100% Movement, which evolved from a collaboration among scientists, cultural leaders, business people, and community leaders. Finally, it discusses current progress in transitioning to 100% renewables, and the new policies needed to complete the transition. Online course supplements include lecture slides, answers to the end-of-chapter student exercises, and a list of extra resources."

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.7 (33 ratings)
ISBN 978-1108790833 ?
Green Energy:
Sustainable Electricity Supply with Low Environmental Impact
Eric Jeffs
CRC Press (November, 2009)
No Review

"The author has more than forty years of experience as an international journalist reporting on power-generating technologies and on energy policies around the world. Detailing the developmental history, and current state, of the global nuclear industry, he discusses the dire, immediate need for large quantities of clean, emission-free electric power, for both domestic and industrial uses. This book details how current technologies—particularly nuclear, combined cycle, and hydro—can be applied to satisfy safely the growing energy demands in the future." – publisher

Rating by Amazon customers: ? (0 ratings)
ISBN 978-1439818923 ?
Green Energy:
Green Low-Carbon Development in China
Jinjun Xue, Zhongxiu Zhao, Yande Dai & Bo Wang (Editors)
Springer (October, 2013)
No Review

"The book provides an in depth analyses of the experience and lessons in Chinese energy and emissions reductions policies in a climate change constrained scenario. As China emerges as the world second largest economy and first largest carbon emitter, the country is moving onto a low-carbon development path.

"Projections of medium and long term energy supply and demand scenarios are presented, based on variations on the energy supply structure, key energy consumption sectors and energy conservation policy innovation. Energy efficiency policies are evaluated based on lessons and experiences from case studies in different sectors, and policy innovations in terms of financial, legal and regulatory approaches to improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions are proposed." – publisher

Rating by Amazon customers: ? (0 ratings)
ISBN 978-3319011523 ?
The Tyranny of Oil:
The World's Most Powerful Industry—and What We Must Do to Stop It
Antonia Juhasz
William Morrow (October, 2008)
No Review
"Antonia Juhasz is a leading oil industry, international trade, and finance policy expert. She is the author of The Bush Agenda. A frequent media commentator, Juhasz's writing has been featured in the New York Times, International Herald Tribune, and the Los Angeles Times, among other publications. She is a director at Global Exchange in San Francisco, California."

"In the tradition of the Academy Award-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth, Antonia Juhasz's The Tyranny of Oil offers a chilling exposé of the modern American oil industry and its dire abuse of power. A leading international trade and finance policy expert and the author of The Bush Agenda, Juhasz presents eye-opening truths about a potentially catastrophic global energy crisis that only promises to get much worse in the coming years—and provides possible solutions for meaningful change. Terry Tamminen, former Secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency, calls The Tyranny of Oil 'a bold blueprint for ending the madness,' and the Christian Science Monitor tells us, 'a good first step toward true energy independence is to read this insightful book.' "

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.0 (40 ratings)
ISBN 978-0061434501 ?
Black Tide:
The Devastating Impact of the Gulf Oil Spill
Antonia Juhasz
John Wiley and Sons (April, 2011)
No Review
"Antonia Juhasz is a leading oil industry expert and Director of the Energy Program at Global Exchange. She is the author of The Tyranny of Oil and The Bush Agenda, and editor of The True Cost of Chevron: An Alternative Annual Report, 2009 and 2010. She has covered and commented on the BP disaster on NPR, BBC Radio, CBC TV, and Democracy Now!, and in The Guardian, the Times-Picayune, Ms. Magazine, and Dollars & Sense. Her oil industry analyses have been published in the New York Times, International Herald Tribune, Petroleum Review Magazine, Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times, and she was featured in the CNBC documentary The Hunt for Black Gold and on Fresh Air with Terry Gross. A former legislative assistant to two members of Congress, Juhasz holds a master's degree in public policy from Georgetown University. Her Web site is www.black-tide.org."

"It is the largest oil disaster in American history, and it could happen again. It is more than a story of ruined beaches, dead wildlife, corporate spin, political machinations, and financial fallout. It is a riveting human drama filled with people whose lives will forever be defined as 'before' and 'after' the gulf oil disaster. Black Tide is the only book to tell this story through the perspective of people on all sides of the catastrophe, from those who lost their lives, loved ones, and livelihoods to those who made the policies that set the devastating event in motion, those who cut the corners that put corporate profits over people and the environment, and those who have committed their lives to ensuring that such an event is never repeated.

"Dramatic and compelling, Black Tide exposes the human failings and human cost of the largest oil disaster in American history and how it could easily happen again."

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.2 (17 ratings)
ISBN 978-0470943373 ?
The Three Secrets of Green Business:
Unlocking Competitive Advantage in a Low Carbon Economy
Gareth Kane
Routledge (December, 2009)
No Review

"Business is coming under increasing pressure from government, customers and campaigning groups to improve its environmental performance. Soaring utility and compliance costs are hitting companies where it hurts — on their bottom line. But there is another way of looking at the green agenda — as an opportunity rather than a threat. Written by renowned green business expert Gareth Kane, this practical 'how-to' guide contains everything you need to know about making your business green and increasing profits. Key features include:

  • The Three Secrets of Green Business Success.
  • Preparing To Go Green - change management, indicators, communication and marketing.
  • Small Steps - the easy actions that will cut waste of materials, water and energy and save you money.
  • Huge Leaps - the really big changes that will make your business truly green by changing your processes, products and business models.
  • Hundreds of handy hints and tips.
  • Checklists and a brainstorming tool

"Packed with examples, this book provides a highly accessible, practical guide to those who want to introduce sustainability into their business or organization quickly and effectively.

Rating by Amazon customers: 3.0 (3 ratings)
ISBN 978-1844078745 ?
Biofuels: Greenhouse Gas Mitigation and Global Warming:
Next Generation Biofuels and Role of Biotechnology
Ashwani Kumar, Shinjiro Ogita, & Yuan-Yeu Yau (Editors)
Springer (February 10, 2018)
No Review

"This timely book is a compilation of edited articles by distinguished international scientists discussing global warming, its causes as well as present and future solutions. Social and economic growth at global level is measured in terms of GDP, which requires energy inputs generally based on fossil fuel resources. These, however, are major contributors to increasing levels of CO2, causing 15 tonnes of green house gas emissions per capita. Renewable sources of energy offer an alternative to fossil fuels, and would help reduce this to the 2 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per capita per annum needed to achieve sustainable growth. As such, the book discusses the next-generation of biofuels and all related aspects, based on the editors' significant investigations on biofuels over the last 30 years. It also presents the latest research findings from research work carried out by contemporary researchers. Presenting global biofuel perspectives, it examines various issues related to sustainable development of biofuels in the contexts of agriculture, forestry, industry and economic growth. It covers the 1st to 4th generation biofuels, as well as the status of biofuel resources and their potential in carbon neutral economy. Offering a comprehensive, state-of-art overview of current and future biofuels at local and global levels, this book appeals to administrators, policy makers, universities and research institutions."

Rating by Amazon customers: ? (0 ratings)
ISBN 978-8132237617 ?
Energy Transitions:
A Socio-technical Inquiry
Olivier Labussière & Alain Nadaï (Editors)
Palgrave Macmillan (May 1, 2018)
No Review

"This book elucidates what it means to transition to alternative sources of energy and discusses the potential for this energy transition to be a more democratic process. The book dynamically describes a recent sociotechnical study of a number of energy transitions occurring in several countries — France, Germany and Tunisia, and involving different energy technologies — including solar, on/off-shore wind, smart grids, biomass, low-energy buildings, and carbon capture and storage."

Rating by Amazon customers: ? (0 ratings)
ISBN 978-3319770246 ?
The Sustainable Way:
Straight talk about global warming — what causes it, who denies it, and the common sense transition to renewable energy
James Leach
CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (March, 2016)
No Review

"A plainspoken 50 page booklet that will open your mind to the incredible abundance of affordable renewable energy and the truly catastrophic consequences if we fail to transition our energy systems away from fossil fuels."

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.8 (11 ratings)
ISBN 978-1530932849 ?
The Price of Justice:
A True Story of Greed and Corruption
Laurence Leamer
Times Books (May, 2013)
No Review

"Don Blankenship, head of Massey Energy since the early 1990s, ran an industry that provides nearly half of America's electric power. But wealth and influence weren't enough for Blankenship and his company, as they set about destroying corporate and personal rivals, challenging the Constitution, purchasing the West Virginia judiciary, and willfully disregarding safety standards in the company's mines—in which scores died unnecessarily.

"As Blankenship hobnobbed with a West Virginia Supreme Court justice in France, his company polluted the drinking water of hundreds of citizens while he himself fostered baroque vendettas against anyone who dared challenge his sovereignty over coal mining country. Just about the only thing that stood in the way of Blankenship's tyranny over a state and an industry was a pair of odd-couple attorneys, Dave Fawcett and Bruce Stanley, who undertook a legal quest to bring justice to this corner of America. From the backwoods courtrooms of West Virginia they pursued their case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, and to a dramatic decision declaring that the wealthy and powerful are not entitled to purchase their own brand of law.

"The Price of Justice is a story of corporate corruption so far-reaching and devastating it could have been written a hundred years ago by Ida Tarbell or Lincoln Steffens. And as Laurence Leamer demonstrates in this captivating tale, because it's true, it's scarier than fiction."

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.5 (226 ratings)
ISBN 978-0805094718 ?
Nuclear 2.0:
Why a Green Future Needs Nuclear Power
Mark Lynas
UIT Cambridge Ltd. (April, 2014)
My Review

"By making use of the latest in world energy statistics, author Mark Lynas shows that with wind and solar still at only about one percent of global primary energy, looking to renewable energy as a solution to deliver all the world's power is a dangerously delusional concept. Moreover, with no possibility reducing the world's energy usage—when the developing world is fast extricating itself from poverty and adding the equivalent of a new Brazil to the global electricity consumption each year—additional solutions are needed." – publisher

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.4 (73 ratings)
ISBN 978-1906860233 ?
The "Peak Oil" Scare and the Coming Oil Flood
Michael C. Lynch
Praeger (July, 2016)
No Review

"Is the earth's oil supply starting to run out, or is there far more oil than some experts believe? This book points out flaws in the research used to warn of an oil shortfall and predicts that large new reserves of oil are soon to be tapped." – publisher

Rating by Amazon customers: 5.0 (3 ratings)
ISBN 978-1440831867 ?
Poisoned Legacy:
The Human Cost of BP's Rise to Power
Mike Magner
New York: St. Martin's Press, June 2011
My Review

"The story is all too-familiar: On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, killing eleven workers and creating the largest oil spill in the history of U.S. offshore drilling. But, this wasn't the first time British Petroleum and its cost-cutting practices destroyed parts of the natural world. It also was not the first time that BP's negligence resulted in the loss of human life, ruined family businesses or shattered dreams." – publisher

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.5 (4 ratings)
ISBN 978-0-312-55494-1 ?
Atomic Accidents
A History of Nuclear Meltdowns and Disasters: From the Ozark Mountains to Fukushima
James Mahaffey
New York: Pegasus Books, January 2014
My Review

"A gripping narrative of nuclear mishaps and meltdowns around the globe, all of which have proven pivotal to the advancement of nuclear science." – publisher

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.6 (742 ratings)
ISBN 978-1-60598-492-6 SJ3 363.1799 Mahaffey
Atomic Awakening
A New Look at the History and Future of Nuclear Power
James Mahaffey
New York: Pegasus Books, June 2009
No Review

"It has been said that if gasoline were first used to make napalm bombs, we would all be driving electric cars. Our skewed perception of nuclear power is what makes James Mahaffey's new look at the extraordinary paradox of nuclear power so compelling. From medieval alchemy to Marie Curie, Albert Einstein, and the Manhattan Project, atomic science is far from the spawn of a wicked weapons program. The discovery that the atom can be split brought forth the ultimate puzzle of the modern age: Now that the energy of the universe is available to us, how do we use it? For death and destruction? Or as a fuel for our society that has minimal impact on the environment and future generations?"

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.7 (162 ratings)
ISBN 978-1605980409 SJ3 621.48 Mahaffey
Fossil Capital:
The Rise of Steam-Power and the Roots of Global Warming
Andrew Malm
Verso (March, 2016)
No Review

"The more we know about the catastrophic implications of climate change, the more fossil fuels we burn. How did we end up in this mess? In this masterful new history, Andreas Malm claims it all began in Britain with the rise of steam power. But why did manufacturers turn from traditional sources of power, notably water mills, to an engine fired by coal? Contrary to established views, steam offered neither cheaper nor more abundant energy—but rather superior control of subordinate labour. Animated by fossil fuels, capital could concentrate production at the most profitable sites and during the most convenient hours, as it continues to do today. Sweeping from nineteenth-century Manchester to the emissions explosion in China, from the original triumph of coal to the stalled shift to renewables, this study hones in on the burning heart of capital and demonstrates, in unprecedented depth, that turning down the heat will mean a radical overthrow of the current economic order." – publisher

Rating by Amazon customers: 3.7 (12 ratings)
ISBN 978-1784781323 ?
Coal Wars:
The Future of Energy and the Fate of the Planet
Richard Martin
Palgrave Macmillan (April 2015)
No Review

"Richard Martin's timely and powerfully written book reveals with clarity the multiple dangers emitted by coal combustion as an energy source. His journey takes him to sites around the U.S. where a number of aging and obsolete installations are being shut down as natural gas plants flourish, and to China and Germany, where coal plants are on the rise despite a growing, science-based recognition that their toxic wastes harm life and their carbon-dioxide emissions imperil ecosystems, significantly acidifying the oceans and contributing mightily to the rapid increase in climate change." – Gwyneth Cravens, author of Power to Save the World: The Truth About Nuclear Energy

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.2 (33 ratings)
ISBN 978-1-137-27934-7 SJ0 6/22/2018
Superfuel:
Thorium, the Green Energy Source for the Future
Richard Martin
New York: Palgrave Macmillan, May 2012
My Review

This book is well-written and imparts useful information on thorium reactors but Richard Martin glosses over their shortcomings.

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.4 (86 ratings)
ISBN 978-0-230-11647-4 SJ3 669.2922 Martin
Climate Change:
The Science of Global Warming and Our Energy Future
Edmond A. Mathez
Columbia University Press (April, 2009)
No Review

Eh?

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.6 (13 ratings)
ISBN 978-0231146425 ?
Gaslight:
The Atlantic Coast Pipeline and the Fight for America's Energy Future
Jonathan Mingle
Island Press (May 9, 2024)
No Review
"Jonathan Mingle is an independent journalist. He has written about the science and politics of climate change, energy, technology, public health, and other subjects for The New York Review of Books, The New York Times, Undark Magazine, Yale Environment 360, Slate, The Boston Globe, and other outlets. He is a recipient of the Middlebury Fellowship in Environmental Journalism and the Alicia Patterson Foundation Fellowship. As a 2020 APF fellow, he reported on the political, legal, and grassroots battles over new natural gas (aka methane) infrastructure, and its local impacts and global climate consequences. His first book is Fire and Ice: Soot, Solidarity, and Survival on the Roof of the World."

"Imagine one day you receive a letter in the mail that informs you that a large energy company is planning to build a massive pipeline through your property. That surveyors will be coming out soon. That they have the legal right to do so, whether you like it or not, because this project is in the 'public interest'—because the pipeline will be carrying natural gas, the so-called 'bridge fuel' that politicians on both sides of the aisle have been peddling for decades as the path to a clean, green energy future.

"This was the gist of the letter that Dominion Energy sent to thousands of residents living along the path of its proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline in 2014, setting off an epic, six-year battle that eventually led all the way to the Supreme Court. That struggle's epicenter was in the mountains of Virginia, where communities stretching from the Blue Ridge foothills to the Shenandoah Valley and the Allegheny highlands became Dominion's staunchest foes. On one side was an archetypal Goliath: a power company that commands billions of dollars, the votes of politicians, and the decisions of the federal government. On the other, an army of Davids: lawyers and farmers, conservationists and conservatives, scientists and nurses, innkeepers and lobbyists, families who farmed their land since before the Revolutionary War and those who were not allowed to until after the Civil War.

"At stake was not only the future of the communities that lay in the pipeline's path but the future of American energy. Would the public be swayed by the industry's decades-long public relations campaign to frame natural gas—a fossil fuel and itself a potent greenhouse gas—as a 'solution' to climate change? Or would we recognize it as a methane bomb, capable of not only imperiling local property and upending people's lives, but of pushing the planet further down the road towards climate chaos?

"Vivid and suspenseful, gut-wrenching and insightful, Gaslight is more than the chronicle of a turning point in American history. It is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the dark, overlooked story of America's 'favorite fossil fuel,' and the immense future stakes of the energy choices we face today."

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.9 (22 ratings)
ISBN 978-1642832488 ?
Seeing the Light
The Case for Nuclear Power in the 21st Century
Scott L Montgomery & Thomas Graham Jr
Cambridge University Press (September, 2017)
No Review

"Nuclear power is not an option for the future but an absolute necessity. Global threats of climate change and lethal air pollution, killing millions each year, make it clear that nuclear and renewable energy must work together, as non-carbon sources of energy. Fortunately, a new era of growth in this energy source is underway in developing nations, though not yet in the West. Seeing the Light is the first book to clarify these realities and discuss their implications for coming decades. Readers will learn how, why, and where the new nuclear era is happening, what new technologies are involved, and what this means for preventing the proliferation of weapons. This book is the best work available for becoming fully informed about this key subject, for students, the general public, and anyone interested in the future of energy production, and, thus, the future of humanity on planet Earth."

Rating by Amazon customers: 3.7 (6 ratings)
ISBN 978-1108418225 ?
The Demise of Nuclear Energy?
Lessons for Democratic Control of Technology
Joseph G. Morone & Edward J. Woodhouse
New Haven: Yale University Press, April 1989
My Review

These authors make the argument that early adoption of light-water and boiling-water reactors was the wrong choice for America's nuclear industry. They wonder if it is still possible to take another path and revive that failing industry.

Rating by Amazon customers: 5.0 (1 rating)
ISBN 978-0-300-04449-2 ?
Why Carbon Fuels Will Dominate the 21st Century Energy Economy
Peter Odell
Multi-Science Publishing Co. Ltd. (April 1, 2004)
No Review

"This text provides a survey of the energy resources for the foreseeable future and argues that there is not, nor has there been, a supply crisis. It contends that the current claims of impending disaster are as falsely based as those first made in the 1960s, albeit for different reasons."

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.0 (1 rating)
ISBN 978-0906522226 ?
The Answer:
Why Only Inherently Safe, Mini Nuclear Power Plants Can Save Our World
Reese Palley
Quantuck Lane Press (October, 2011)
No Review

"Reese Palley argues that wind, solar, and hydroelectric power—all of which have large CO2-emitting footprints—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."

Rating by Amazon customers: 3.7 (18 ratings)
ISBN 978-1593720452 ?
Climate Gamble:
Is Anti-Nuclear Activism Endangering Our Future?
Rauli Partanen & Janne M. Korhonen
CreateSpace, August 2015
My Review

These authors, a science writer and an engineer, debunk the misinformation being spread about nuclear power and argue convincingly that the sheer magnitude of worldwide energy demand makes it an essential part of our low-carbon energy system.

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.6 (9 ratings)
ISBN 978-952-7139-05-9 ?
Wind Power in View:
Energy Landscapes in a Crowded World
Martin J. Pasqualetti, Paul Gipe, & Robet W. Righter
San Diego: Academic Press, 2002
No Review

"More than ever, travelers are encountering a different sort of landscape, one not only of nature but of technology. Wind Power in View is the first authoritative discourse on the aesthetic impact of wind turbines on the landscape and what can be done about it. It is a detailed and thoroughly illustrated discussion of the issue from several different perspectives. The book also provides an overview of the status of wind energy at the dawn of the new millennium, examines some of the ongoing battles, and offers guidelines on minimizing its visual impact.

"Taking examples from the United States, Germany, Denmark, Great Britain, and Sweden, Wind Power in View is the first book to tackle the thorny land use questions raised by wind energy's hard won respectability. What will be the future of wind energy? Will it be welcomed as savior, or will it be opposed as a new-age intrusion on open space and landscape preservation? These 11 essays, international in nature and written by objective experts, address landscape issues in creative, original ways."

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.0 (1 rating)
ISBN 978-0-12-546334-8 ?
Changing Energy:
The Transition to a Sustainable Future
John H. Perkins
University of California Press (September, 2017)
No Review

"Changing Energy outlines how humanity established the current energy economy through three previous transitions, and how we now stand poised for a necessary fourth transition. Human societies around the globe have received immense benefits from uses of coal, oil, gas, and uranium sources, yet we must now rebuild our energy economies to rely on renewable sources and use them efficiently. The imperative for a fourth energy transition comes from dangers related to climate change, geopolitical tensions, documented health and environmental effects, and long-term depletion of today's sources. John H. Perkins argues that a future in which current levels of energy service benefits are sustained can come only from investments in the technologies needed to bring about a fourth energy transition. Changing Energy envisions a viable post-fossil fuel economy and identifies the barriers to be overcome."

Rating by Amazon customers: 5.0 (1 rating)
ISBN 978-0520287792 ?
Burning Up:
A Global History of Fossil Fuel Consumption
Simon Pirani
Pluto Press (October 15, 2018)
No Review

"Coal, gas, and oil have powered our societies for hundreds of years. But the pace at which we use them changed dramatically in the twentieth century: of all the fossil fuels ever consumed, more than half were burnt up in the past fifty years alone, the vast majority of that within a single generation. Most worrying of all, this dramatic acceleration has occurred against the backdrop of an increasingly unanimous scientific consensus: that their environmental impact is devastating and potentially irreversible.

"In Burning Up, Simon Pirani recounts the history of the relentless rise of fossil fuels in the past half century, and lays out the ways in which the expansion of the global capitalist economy has driven it forward. Dispelling common explanations that foreground Western consumerism, as well as arguments about unsustainable population growth, Pirani offers instead an insightful intervention in what is arguably the crisis of our time."

Rating by Amazon customers: 5.0 (4 ratings)
ISBN 978-0745335629 ?
The Fracking Debate:
The Risks, Benefits, and Uncertainties of the Shale Revolution
Daniel Raimi
Columbia University Press (December 2017)
No Review

"Over roughly the past decade, oil and gas production in the United States has surged dramatically—thanks largely to technological advances such as high-volume hydraulic fracturing, more commonly known as 'fracking.' This rapid increase has generated widespread debate, with proponents touting economic and energy-security benefits and opponents highlighting the environmental and social risks of increased oil and gas production. Despite the heated debate, neither side has a monopoly on the facts. In this book, Daniel Raimi gives a balanced and accessible view of oil and gas development, clearly and thoroughly explaining the key issues surrounding the shale revolution." – publisher

Rating by Amazon customers: 3.3 (5 ratings)
ISBN 978-0231184861 ?
Hostages of Each Other:
The Transformation of Nuclear Safety Since Three Mile Island
Joseph V. Rees
University of Chicago Press (May 28, 1994)
No Review
"Joseph V. Rees is assistant professor of political science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill."

"Rees offers the first in-depth account of the extraordinary transformation in the safety standards, operations, and management of the nation's nuclear facilities spurred by the accident at Three Mile Island. Detailing the surprising success of self-regulation within the nuclear industry, his book reveals the possibilities for effective communitarian action."

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.6 (15 ratings)
ISBN 978-0226706870 ?
Struggling for Air:
Power Plants and the "War on Coal"
Richard Revesz & Jack Lienke
Oxford University Press (January, 2016)
No Review

"Since the beginning of the Obama Administration, conservative politicians have railed against the President's "War on Coal." As evidence of this supposed siege, they point to a series of rules issued by the Environmental Protection Agency that aim to slash air pollution from the nation's power sector. Because coal produces far more pollution than any other major energy source, these rules are expected to further reduce its already shrinking share of the electricity market in favor of cleaner options like natural gas and solar power. But the EPA's policies are hardly the "unprecedented regulatory assault" that opponents make them out to be. Instead, they are merely the latest chapter in a multi-decade struggle to overcome a tragic flaw in our nation's most important environmental law." – publisher

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.7 (4 ratings)
ISBN 978-0190233112 ?
Energy:
A Human History
Richard Rhodes
New York: Simon & Schuster (May 29, 2018)
No Review

"In Energy, Rhodes highlights the successes and failures that led to each breakthrough in energy production; from animal and waterpower to the steam engine, from internal-combustion to the electric motor. He addresses how we learned from such challenges, mastered their transitions, and capitalized on their opportunities. Rhodes also looks at the current energy landscape, with a focus on how wind energy is competing for dominance with cast supplies of coal and natural gas. He also addresses the specter of global warming, and a population hurtling towards ten billion by 2100." – publisher

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.5 (2 ratings)
ISBN 978-1501105357 ?
NUCLEAR RENEWAL:
Common Sense About Energy
Richard Rhodes
New York: Whittle Books, September 1993
My Review

"The author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Making of the Atomic Bomb discusses the feasibility of nuclear power in America, arguing that it is the safest, cleanest, and most economical energy source available." – publisher

Rating by Amazon customers: 3.8 (6 ratings)
ISBN 978-0-670-85207-9 ?
Beyond Smoke and Mirrors:
Climate Change and Energy in the 21st Century
Burton Richter
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, April 2010
No Review

Eh?

Rating by Amazon customers: ? (? ratings)
ISBN 978-0-521-76384-4 ?
THE HYPE ABOUT HYDROGEN
Fact and Fiction in the Race to Save the Climate
Joseph J. Romm
John H. Gibbons (Fwd.)
Washington, DC: Island Press, March 2004
My Review

"With President Bush's 2003 pledge to earmark a billion-plus dollars for developing fuel-cell vehicles, the holy grail of clean energy has been looking more and more like hydrogen, a substance whose only waste product is water vapor. Yet Romm, a Department of Energy advisor during the Clinton administration, makes a compelling case for believing that widespread use of hydrogen is still four to five decades away." – Carl Hays, Booklist

Rating by Amazon customers: 3.9 (28 ratings)
ISBN 978-1-55963-703-9 ?
The Green and the Black:
The Complete Story of the Shale Revolution, the Fight over Fracking, and the Future of Energy
Gary Sernovitz
St. Martin's Press (February, 2016)
No Review

"Gary Sernovitz leads a double life. A typical New York liberal, he is also an oilman — a fact his left-leaning friends let slide until the word 'fracking' entered popular parlance. 'How can you frack?' they suddenly demanded, aghast. But for Sernovitz, the real question is, 'What happens if we don't?' "

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.7 (38 ratings)
ISBN 978-1250080660 ?
Energy Politics
Brenda Shaffer
University of Pennsylvania Press (February, 2011)
No Review
"Brenda Shaffer is a specialist on energy and foreign policy, global energy market trends, energy security policies, Azerbaijan, ethnic politics in Iran, the Caucasus, and energy in the Caspian and Eastern Mediterranean regions. Prof. Shaffer is a faculty member of the US Naval Postgraduate School, Senior Advisor for Energy at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) think tank, and Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council's Global Energy Center."

"It is not uncommon to hear states and their leaders criticized for 'mixing oil and politics.' The U.S.-led Iraq War was criticized as a 'war for oil.' When energy exporters overtly use energy as a tool to promote their foreign policy goals, Europe and the United States regularly decry the use of energy as a 'weapon' rather than accept it as a standard and legitimate tool of diplomacy.

"In Energy Politics, Brenda Shaffer argues that energy and politics are intrinsically linked. Modern life—from production of goods, to means of travel and entertainment, to methods of waging war—is heavily dependent on access to energy. A country's ability to acquire and use energy supplies crucially determines the state of its economy, its national security, and the quality and sustainability of its environment. Energy supply can serve as a basis for regional cooperation, but at the same time can serve as a source of conflict among energy seekers and between producers and consumers.

"Shaffer provides a broad introduction to the ways in which energy affects domestic and regional political developments and foreign policy. While previous scholarship has focused primarily on the politics surrounding oil, Shaffer broadens her scope to include the increasingly important role of natural gas and alternative energy sources as well as emerging concerns such as climate change, the global energy divide, and the coordinated international policy-making required to combat them. Energy Politics concludes with examinations of how politics and energy interact in six of the world's largest producers and consumers of energy: Russia, Europe, the United States, China, Iran, and Saudi Arabia."

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.1 (5 ratings)
ISBN 978-0812221664 ?
Break Through:
From the Death of Environmentalism to the Politics of Possibility
Michael Shellenberger & Ted Nordhaus
Houghton Mifflin Co. (October, 2007)
No Review

I'm placing this book by the Breakthrough Institute boys in the "red" category because. like Bjorn Lomborg, they tend to advise just waiting for the breakthrough technology that will solve climate change for us.

By the way, there is a new edition of this book, published 2009 with a new subtitle, that is billed as a first edition. Amazon does not show the Houghton Mifflin edition (July 2020.)

Rating by Amazon customers: 3.6 (34 ratings)
ISBN 978-0618658251 ?
Apocalypse Never:
Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All
Michael Shellenberger
Harper (June 30, 2020)
No Review

"Michael Shellenberger has been fighting for a greener planet for decades. He helped save the world’s last unprotected redwoods. He co-created the predecessor to today’s Green New Deal. And he led a successful effort by climate scientists and activists to keep nuclear plants operating, preventing a spike of emissions. But in 2019, as some claimed 'billions of people are going to die,' contributing to rising anxiety, including among adolescents, Shellenberger decided that, as a lifelong environmental activist, leading energy expert, and father of a teenage daughter, he needed to speak out to separate science from fiction.

"Despite decades of news media attention, many remain ignorant of basic facts. Carbon emissions peaked and have been declining in most developed nations for over a decade. Deaths from extreme weather, even in poor nations, declined 80 percent over the last four decades. And the risk of Earth warming to very high temperatures is increasingly unlikely thanks to slowing population growth and abundant natural gas.

"Curiously, the people who are the most alarmist about the problems also tend to oppose the obvious solutions.

"What’s really behind the rise of apocalyptic environmentalism? There are powerful financial interests. There are desires for status and power. But most of all there is a desire among supposedly secular people for transcendence. This spiritual impulse can be natural and healthy. But in preaching fear without love, and guilt without redemption, the new religion is failing to satisfy our deepest psychological and existential needs."

I'm placing this book by the former Breakthrough Institute author in the "red" category because. like Bjorn Lomborg, he tends to advise that climate change is over-hyped. And the blurb above contains some false statements: carbon emissions declining for over a decade; the risk of very high temperatures is increasingly unlikely.

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.7 (3,052 ratings)
ISBN 978-0063001695 ?
COAL RIVER
Michael Shnayerson
New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, January 2008
My Review

An examination of the maneuvering (legal and otherwise) done by coal companies in West Virginia, with special emphasis on Massey Energy's Don Blankenship.

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.4 (25 ratings)
ISBN 978-0-374-12514-1 SJ3 338.2724 Shnayers
Taming the Sun:
Innovations to Harness Solar Energy and Power the Planet
Varun Sivaram
The MIT Press (March 2, 2018)
No Review

"Solar energy, once a niche application for a limited market, has become the cheapest and fastest-growing power source on earth. What's more, its potential is nearly limitless—every hour the sun beams down more energy than the world uses in a year. But in Taming the Sun, energy expert Varun Sivaram warns that the world is not yet equipped to harness erratic sunshine to meet most of its energy needs. And if solar's current surge peters out, prospects for replacing fossil fuels and averting catastrophic climate change will dim."

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.7 (29 ratings)
ISBN 978-0262037686 ?
Energy and Civilization:
A History
Vaclav Smil
The MIT Press (May, 2017)
No Review

"A comprehensive account of how energy has shaped society throughout history, from pre-agricultural foraging societies through today's fossil fuel-driven civilization."

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.6 (16 ratings)
ISBN 978-0262035774 ?
Energy Transitions:
Global and National Perspectives (2nd ed.)
Vaclav Smil
Praeger (December, 2016)
No Review

"This book provides a detailed, global examination of energy transitions, supplying a long-term historical perspective, an up-to-date assessment of recent and near-term advances in energy production technology and implementation, and an explanation of why efforts to limit global warming and to shift away from fossil fuels have been gradual."

Rating by Amazon customers: 5.0 (2 ratings)
ISBN 978-0262035774 ?
Crude Justice:
How I Fought Big Oil and Won, and What You Should Know About the New Environmental Attack on America
Stuart H. Smith
BenBella Books (January 13, 2015)
No Review

"Stuart H. Smith is a practicing plaintiff attorney licensed in Louisiana. He is a founding partner of the New Orleans-based law firm Smith Stag, LLC. The firm's practice is concentrated in the fields of environmental law and toxic torts. Smith has practiced law for nearly 25 years and is recognized internationally as a crusader against major oil companies and other polluters for damages associated with radioactive oilfield waste.

"Smith has also been lead counsel on more than 100 oil pollution cases, which focus primarily on damages caused by the wastewater and sludge oil companies discharge into the environment. Smith's litigation experience includes a lawsuit against Ashland Oil for contaminating the Lee aquifer, once one of the largest sources of fresh water for residents in eastern Kentucky. He also sued Chevron Corporation for damages associated with that company's contamination of the groundwater in the rural town of Brookhaven, Mississippi. His firm also represents clients injured by chemicals and defective drugs.

"Smith is currently representing commercial fishermen, whose livelihoods have been devastated by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico."

"One day in the small Mississippi town of Laurel, a 26-year-old expectant mom named Karen Street sat down at the edge of her bathtub—and felt her hip split in two. The episode was so bizarre it wasn't until later, after she saw the doctor, that she realized her bone disease was almost certainly linked to her father-in-law's business. Winston Street ran a machine shop that drilled the gunk out of pipes used by Chevron, Shell and other giants of the oil industry—creating a white powder that covered Karen Street's husband's overalls every night, which then landed in their vegetable garden...and was highly radioactive.

"Winston Street didn't know the dust was poisonous, nor did his workers or his family. But someone did know. Indeed, there was evidence that America's Big Oil companies were aware for decades that they were pulling up radium from under the earth, poisoning yards like Street's while dumping radioactive water in unlined pits across the South. Now, to prove that and win justice for his blue-collar clients, an untested young lawyer named Stuart H. Smith and his eccentric team would have to get the better of America's best-known radiation attorney and the global clout of Chevron inside a Mississippi courtroom.

"In a gripping tale that reads as if torn from the pages of a John Grisham novel, Crude Justice tells how the Little Guy can take on the behemoth of Big Oil and win—with the help of a good attorney. Recounting more than two decades as a top environmental lawyer in the toxic oil patch of the American South, Smith tells the story of how he upped the ante again and again—getting the best of Chevron, then taking on the world's most powerful corporation, ExxonMobil, with $1 billion on the line, and finally ferreting out the elusive truth behind BP's 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

"Smith finally builds upon the courtroom drama of his past and the environmental threats of the present—from fracking to the Keystone XL pipeline—to issue a resounding call for America to break its crippling addiction to fossil fuels."

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.4 (30 ratings)
ISBN 978-1939529237 ?
KICKING THE CARBON HABIT
Global Warming and the Case for Renewable and Nuclear Energy
William Sweet
New York: Columbia University Press, 2006
My Review

"With glaciers melting, oceans growing more acidic, species dying out, and catastrophic events like Hurricane Katrina ever more probable, strong steps must be taken now to slow global warming. Further warming threatens entire regional economies and the well being of whole populations, and in this century alone, it could create a global cataclysm." – publisher

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.3 (7 ratings)
ISBN 978-0-231-13710-2 SJ eBook
The End of Energy Obesity:
Breaking Today's Energy Addiction for a Prosperous and Secure Tomorrow
Peter Tertzakian & Keith Hollihan
New York: John Wiley &Sons, 2009
No Review

Eh?

Rating by Amazon customers: ? (? ratings)
ISBN 978-0-470-43544-1 ?
Living on the Grid
William L. Thompson
iUniverse (May, 2016)
No Review

Eh?

Rating by Amazon customers: ? (? ratings)
ISBN 978-1491790434 ?
Plentiful Energy:
The Story of the Integral Fast Reactor:
The complex history of a simple reactor technology, with emphasis on its scientific bases for non-specialists
Charles E. Till
CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (December, 2011)
No Review

"The Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) is a fast reactor system developed at Argonne National Laboratory in the decade 1984 to 1994. The IFR project developed the technology for a complete system; the reactor, the entire fuel cycle and the waste management technologies were all included in the development program. The reactor concept had important features and characteristics that were completely new and fuel cycle and waste management technologies that were entirely new developments." – authors

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.8 (32 ratings)
ISBN 978-1466384606 ?
Ending Dirty Energy Policy:
Prelude to Climate Change
Joseph P. Tomain
Cambridge University Press (June, 2011)
No Review

Eh?

Rating by Amazon customers: ? (? ratings)
ISBN 978-0521661522 ?
Terrestrial Energy:
How Nuclear Energy Will Lead the Green Revolution and End America's Energy Odyssey
William Tucker
Bartleby Press (September, 2008)
No Review

"In Terrestrial Energy, Tucker is not content to merely give an argument about why nuclear is the best choice for our energy future. Instead he meticulously surveys entire the energy scene that has frustrated Americans for the past 30 years. Is there such a thing as clean coal? Can we expect that onservation will ever reduce our energy consumption?

"And what about the renewable energy sources (wind, solar energy, hydropower, and biofuels) and their promise of clean, plentiful power? Each has its place in America's energy mix but each of these sources also has serious problems. The limiting factor of all these technologies will not be the amount of energy radiating from the sun but the amount of land that will be required to capture and store it."

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.5 (57 ratings)
ISBN 978-0910155762 ?
The Star Builders:
Nuclear Fusion and the Race to Power the Planet
Arthur Turrell
Scribner (August 3, 2021)
No Review

"The most important energy-making process in the universe takes place inside stars. The ability to duplicate that process in a lab, once thought out of reach, may now be closer than we think. Today, all across the world teams of scientists are being assembled by the world's boldest entrepreneurs, big business, and governments to solve what is the most difficult technological challenge humanity has ever faced: building the equivalent of a star on Earth. If their plans to capture star power are successful, they will unlock thousands, potentially millions, of years of clean, carbon-free energy.

"Not only would controlled nuclear fusion go a long way toward solving the climate crisis, it could help make other highly desired technological ambitions possible—like journeying to the stars. Given the rising alarm over deterioration of the environment, and the strides being made in laser and magnetic field technology, powerful momentum is gathering behind fusion and the possibilities it offers.

"Arthur Turrell is an award-winning young plasma physicist with a unique talent for making complex science accessible. In The Star Builders, he describes fascinating star machines with ten times as many parts as the NASA Space Shuttle, and structures that extend over 400 acres. And he spotlights the individuals, firms, and institutions racing for the finish line: science-minded entrepreneurs like Jeff Bezos and Peter Thiel, companies like Goldman Sachs and Google, universities like Oxford and MIT, and virtually every rich nation. It's an exciting and game-changing international quest that, when completed, will make all of us winners."

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.4 (15 ratings)
ISBN 978-1982130664 ?
No Immediate Danger:
Volume One of Carbon Ideologies
William T. Vollmann
Viking (April 10, 2018)
No Review

"In his nonfiction, William T. Vollmann has won acclaim as a singular voice tackling some of the most important issues of our age, from poverty to violence to the dark soul of American imperialism as it has played out on the U.S./Mexico border. Now, Vollmann turns to a topic that will define the generations to come--the factors and human actions that have led to global warming. Vollmann begins No Immediate Danger, the first volume of Carbon Ideologies, by examining and quantifying the many causes of climate change, from industrial manufacturing and agricultural practices to fossil fuel extraction, economic demand for electric power, and the justifiable yearning of people all over the world to live in comfort. Turning to nuclear power first, Vollmann then recounts multiple visits that he made at significant personal risk over the course of seven years to the contaminated no-go zones and sad ghost towns of Fukushima, Japan, beginning shortly after the tsunami and reactor meltdowns of 2011. Equipped first only with a dosimeter and then with a scintillation counter, he measured radiation and interviewed tsunami victims, nuclear evacuees, anti-nuclear organizers and pro-nuclear utility workers.

"Featuring Vollmann's signature wide learning, sardonic wit, and encyclopedic research, No Immediate Danger, whose title co-opts the reassuring mantra of official Japanese energy experts, builds up a powerful, sobering picture of the ongoing nightmare of Fukushima."

Rating by Amazon customers: 3.7 (15 ratings)
ISBN: 978-0399563492 ?
No Good Alternative:
Volume Two of Carbon Ideologies
William T. Vollmann
Viking (June 5, 2018)
No Review

"The second volume of William T. Vollmann's epic book about the factors and human actions that have led to global warming begins in the coal fields of West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky, where "America's best friend" is not merely a fuel, but a "heritage." Over the course of four years Vollmann finds hollowed out towns with coal-polluted streams and acidified drinking water; makes covert visits to mountaintop removal mines; and offers documented accounts of unpaid fines for federal health and safety violations and of miners who died because their bosses cut corners to make more money.

"To write about natural gas, Vollmann journeys to Greeley, Colorado, where he interviews anti-fracking activists, a city planner, and a homeowner with serious health issues from fracking. Turning to oil production, he speaks with, among others, the former CEO of Conoco and a vice president of the Bank of Oklahoma in charge of energy loans, and conducts furtive roadside interviews of guest workers performing oil-related contract labor in the United Arab Emirates."

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.3 (7 ratings)
ISBN: 978-0525558491 ?
Harvest the Wind
America's Journey to Jobs, Energy Independence, and Climate Stability
Philip Warburg
Boston: Beacon Press, April 2012
My Review

A useful overview of large-scale wind farms in China and the American midwest, with plenty of statistics. Its major flaw is the author's condemnation of nuclear power.

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.1 (8 ratings)
ISBN 978-0-8070-0107-3 SJ-AB 333.9209 Warburg
The First Nuclear Era:
The Life and Times of a Technological Fixer
Alvin M. Weinberg
American Institute of Physics; 1994 edition (May, 1997)
No Review

"Alvin Weinberg is one of the most influential nuclear engineers & physicists in the U.S., having participated in many high profile projects from the early days of nuclear research on into the 1980s. This book is his autobiography and it's peppered with first-hand accounts of major historical events." – publisher

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.5 (13 ratings)
ISBN 978-1563963582 ?
Under the Surface:
Fracking, Fortunes, and the Fate of the Marcellus Shale
Tom Wilber
Cornell University Press (June, 2015)
No Review

Eh?

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.5 (13 ratings)
ISBN 978-0801456541 ?
Modernizing America's Electricity Infrastructure
Mason Willrich
The MIT Press (October, 2017)
No Review

"America's aging electricity infrastructure is deteriorating rapidly even as the need for highly reliable electric service—driven by the explosion of digital technology—continues to rise. Largely missing from national discussions, however, is a coherent, comprehensive national strategy for modernizing this critical infrastructure. Energy expert Mason Willrich presents just such a strategy in this book, connecting the dots across electric utilities, independent suppliers, government bureaucracies, political jurisdictions, and academic disciplines. He explains the need for a coherent approach, offers a framework for analyzing policy options, and proposes a step-by-step strategy for modernizing electrical infrastructure, end-to-end, in a way that ensures the delivery of affordable, reliable, secure, and environmentally sustainable electricity services."

Rating by Amazon customers: 5.0 (3 ratings)
ISBN 978-0262036795 ?
Energy, Environment, and Climate (3rd ed.)
Richard Wolfson
W. W. Norton & Company (August, 2017)
No Review

"We live in a world where humans are using more energy with each passing year. This popular text explores the science behind energy production and its impact on the planet. While acknowledging that energy-driven climate change is the dominant energy issue of this century, author Richard Wolfson allows the science to speak for itself; students receive the tools and information they need to weigh challenging trade-offs and draw informed conclusions." – publisher

Rating by Amazon customers: 3.8 (3 ratings)
ISBN 978-0393622911 ?
Nuclear Choices for the Twenty-First Century:
A Citizen's Guide
Richard Wolfson & Ferenc Dalnoki-Veress
The MIT Press (March 23, 2021)
No Review
"Richard Wolfson is Benjamin F. Wissler Professor of Physics at Middlebury College. Ferenc Dalnoki-Veress is Scientist-in-Residence and Adjunct Professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies."

"An authoritative and unbiased guide to nuclear technology and the controversies that surround it.

"Are you for nuclear power or against it? What's the basis of your opinion? Did you know a CT scan gives you some 2 millisieverts of radiation? Do you know how much a millisievert is? Does irradiation make foods safer or less safe? What is the point of a bilateral Russia-US nuclear weapons treaty in a multipolar world? These are nuclear questions that call for nuclear choices, and this book equips citizens to make these choices informed ones. It explains, clearly and accessibly, the basics of nuclear technology and describes the controversies surrounding its use."

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.5 (21 ratings)
ISBN 978-0262542036 ?
Fracktivism:
Corporate Bodies and Chemical Bonds
Sara Ann Wylie
Duke University Press Books (February 26, 2018)
No Review

"From flammable tap water and sick livestock to the recent onset of hundreds of earthquakes in Oklahoma, the impact of fracking in the United States is far-reaching and deeply felt. In Fractivism Sara Ann Wylie traces the history of fracking and the ways scientists and everyday people are coming together to hold accountable an industry that has managed to evade regulation. Beginning her story in Colorado, Wylie shows how nonprofits, landowners, and community organizers are creating novel digital platforms and databases to track unconventional oil and gas well development and document fracking's environmental and human health impacts. These platforms model alternative approaches for academic and grassroots engagement with the government and the fossil fuel industry. A call to action, Fractivism outlines a way forward for not just the fifteen million Americans who live within a mile of an unconventional oil or gas well, but for the planet as a whole."

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.8 (6 ratings)
ISBN 978-0822369028 ?
The Prize: (Reissue edition)
The Epic Quest for Oil, Money & Power
Daniel Yergin
Free Press (December, 2008)
No Review

Eh?

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.6 (446 ratings)
ISBN 978-1439110126 ?
The New Map:
Energy, Climate, and the Clash of Nations
Daniel Yergin
Penguin Press; Illustrated edition (September 15, 2020)
No Review

"The world is being shaken by the collision of energy, climate change, and the clashing power of nations in a time of global crisis. Out of this tumult is emerging a new map of energy and geopolitics. The 'shale revolution' in oil and gas has transformed the American economy, ending the 'era of shortage' but introducing a turbulent new era. Almost overnight, the United States has become the world's number one energy powerhouse. Yet concern about energy's role in climate change is challenging the global economy and way of life, accelerating a second energy revolution in the search for a low-carbon future. All of this has been made starker and more urgent by the coronavirus pandemic and the economic dark age that it has wrought.

"World politics is being upended, as a new cold war develops between the United States and China, and the rivalry grows more dangerous with Russia, which is pivoting east toward Beijing. Vladimir Putin and China's Xi Jinping are converging both on energy and on challenging American leadership, as China projects its power and influence in all directions. The South China Sea, claimed by China and the world's most critical trade route, could become the arena where the United States and China directly collide. The map of the Middle East, which was laid down after World War I, is being challenged by jihadists, revolutionary Iran, ethnic and religious clashes, and restive populations. But the region has also been shocked by the two recent oil price collapses—and by the very question of oil's future in the rest of this century.

"A master storyteller and global energy expert, Daniel Yergin takes the reader on an utterly riveting and timely journey across the world's new map. He illuminates the great energy and geopolitical questions in an era of rising political turbulence and points to the profound challenges that lie ahead."

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.6 (977 ratings)
ISBN 978-1594206436 ?
Green Electrical Energy Storage:
Science and Finance for Total Fossil Fuel Substitution
Gabrielle Zini
McGraw-Hill Education (September, 2016)
No Review

"Plan, fund, and successfully implement renewable energy storage projects using the expert information contained in this comprehensive guide. Green Electrical Energy Storage: Science and Finance for Total Fossil Fuel Substitution thoroughly explains the theories and technologies used in the many different kinds of electric energy storage along with pertinent economics, legal, and financing information. Written by a recognized expert in the field, the book offers detailed coverage of electrochemical, chemical, electrical, and flywheel mechanical energy storage devices, their integration in energy systems using renewable energy sources, the financial and legal tools to build them."

Rating by Amazon customers: 4.3 (4 ratings)
ISBN 978-1259642838 ?
Valid CSS! Valid HTML 4.01 Strict To contact Chris Winter, send email to this address.
Copyright © 2011-2024 Christopher P. Winter. All rights reserved.
This page was last modified on 28 December 2024.