The End of Fossil Energy and the Last Chance for Survival
Author : John Howe
Publisher :
Page : 163 pages
File Size : 46,83 MB
Release : 2006-01-01
Category : Energy conservation
ISBN : 9780974340432
The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels
Author : Alex Epstein
Publisher : Penguin
Page : 257 pages
File Size : 29,48 MB
Release : 2014-11-13
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 0698175484
Book Description
Could everything we know about fossil fuels be wrong? For decades, environmentalists have told us that using fossil fuels is a self-destructive addiction that will destroy our planet. Yet at the same time, by every measure of human well-being, from life expectancy to clean water to climate safety, life has been getting better and better. How can this be? The explanation, energy expert Alex Epstein argues in The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels, is that we usually hear only one side of the story. We’re taught to think only of the negatives of fossil fuels, their risks and side effects, but not their positives—their unique ability to provide cheap, reliable energy for a world of seven billion people. And the moral significance of cheap, reliable energy, Epstein argues, is woefully underrated. Energy is our ability to improve every single aspect of life, whether economic or environmental. If we look at the big picture of fossil fuels compared with the alternatives, the overall impact of using fossil fuels is to make the world a far better place. We are morally obligated to use more fossil fuels for the sake of our economy and our environment. Drawing on original insights and cutting-edge research, Epstein argues that most of what we hear about fossil fuels is a myth. For instance . . . Myth: Fossil fuels are dirty. Truth: The environmental benefits of using fossil fuels far outweigh the risks. Fossil fuels don’t take a naturally clean environment and make it dirty; they take a naturally dirty environment and make it clean. They don’t take a naturally safe climate and make it dangerous; they take a naturally dangerous climate and make it ever safer. Myth: Fossil fuels are unsustainable, so we should strive to use “renewable” solar and wind. Truth: The sun and wind are intermittent, unreliable fuels that always need backup from a reliable source of energy—usually fossil fuels. There are huge amounts of fossil fuels left, and we have plenty of time to find something cheaper. Myth: Fossil fuels are hurting the developing world. Truth: Fossil fuels are the key to improving the quality of life for billions of people in the developing world. If we withhold them, access to clean water plummets, critical medical machines like incubators become impossible to operate, and life expectancy drops significantly. Calls to “get off fossil fuels” are calls to degrade the lives of innocent people who merely want the same opportunities we enjoy in the West. Taking everything into account, including the facts about climate change, Epstein argues that “fossil fuels are easy to misunderstand and demonize, but they are absolutely good to use. And they absolutely need to be championed. . . . Mankind’s use of fossil fuels is supremely virtuous—because human life is the standard of value and because using fossil fuels transforms our environment to make it wonderful for human life.”
Eating Fossil Fuels
Author : Dale Allen Pfeiffer
Publisher : New Society Publishers
Page : 145 pages
File Size : 20,12 MB
Release : 2006-10-01
Category : Technology & Engineering
ISBN : 1550923765
Book Description
A shocking outline of the interlinked crises in energy and agriculture — and appropriate responses The miracle of the Green Revolution was made possible by cheap fossil fuels to supply crops with artificial fertilizer, pesticides, and irrigation. Estimates of the net energy balance of agriculture in the US show that ten calories of hydrocarbon energy are required to produce one calorie of food. Such an imbalance cannot continue in a world of diminishing hydrocarbon resources. Eating Fossil Fuels examines the interlinked crises of energy and agriculture and highlights some startling findings: The world-wide expansion of agriculture has appropriated fully 40% of the photosynthetic capability of this planet. The Green Revolution provided abundant food sources for many, resulting in a population explosion well in excess of the planet's carrying capacity. Studies suggest that without fossil fuel based agriculture, the US could only sustain about two thirds of its present population. For the planet as a whole, the sustainable number is estimated to be about two billion. Concluding that the effect of energy depletion will be disastrous without a transition to a sustainable, relocalized agriculture, the book draws on the experiences of North Korea and Cuba to demonstrate stories of failure and success in the transition to non-hydrocarbon-based agriculture. It urges strong grassroots activism for sustainable, localized agriculture and a natural shrinking of the world's population. Dale Allen Pfeiffer is a novelist, freelance journalist and geologist who has been writing about energy depletion for a decade. The author of The End of the Oil Age, he is also widely known for his web project: www.survivingpeakoil.com.
Storms of My Grandchildren
Author : James Hansen
Publisher : A&C Black
Page : 395 pages
File Size : 30,12 MB
Release : 2011-01-04
Category : Nature
ISBN : 1408820625
Book Description
_______________ 'When the history of the climate crisis is written, Hansen will be seen as the scientist with the most powerful and consistent voice calling for intelligent action to preserve our planet's environment' - Al Gore 'Few people know more about climate change than James Hansen ... This unnerving and fluently written book is the definitive one to read' - BBC Wildlife 'Anyone concerned about the world our children and grandchildren must inherit owes it to themselves to read this book' - Irish Times _______________ An urgent and provocative call to action from the world's leading climate scientist Dr James Hansen, the world's leading scientist on climate issues, speaks out with the full truth about global warming: the planet is hurtling to a climatic point of no return. Hansen - whose climate predictions have come to pass again and again, beginning in the 1980s when he first warned US Congress about global warming - is the single most credible voice on the subject worldwide. He paints a devastating but all-too-realistic picture of what will happen if we continue to follow the course we're on. But he is also a hard-headed optimist, and shows that there is still time to take the urgent, strong action needed to save humanity. _______________ 'James Hansen gives us the opportunity to watch a scientist who is sick of silence and compromise; a scientist at the breaking point - the point at which he is willing to sacrifice his credibility to make a stand to avert disaster' - LA Times
The Capitalism Papers
Author : Jerry Mander
Publisher : Catapult
Page : 272 pages
File Size : 29,55 MB
Release : 2012-06-08
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 1619020882
Book Description
In the vein of his bestseller, Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television, nationally recognized social critic Jerry Mander researches, discusses, and exposes the momentous and unsolvable environmental and social problem of capitalism. Mander argues that capitalism is no longer a viable system: "What may have worked in 1900 is calamitous in 2010." Capitalism, utterly dependent on never–ending economic growth, is an impossible absurdity on a finite planet with limited resources. Climate change, together with global food, water, and resource shortages, are only the start. Mander draws attention to capitalism's obsessive need to dominate and undermine democracy, as well as to diminish social and economic equity. Designed to operate free of "morality," the system promotes "permanent war" as a key economic strategy. Worst of all, the problems of capitalism are intrinsic to the form. Many organizations are already anticipating the breakdown of the system and are working to define new hierarchies of democratic values that respect the carrying capacities of the planet.
Energy and Civilization
Author : Vaclav Smil
Publisher : MIT Press
Page : 564 pages
File Size : 13,10 MB
Release : 2018-11-13
Category : Science
ISBN : 0262536161
Book Description
A comprehensive account of how energy has shaped society throughout history, from pre-agricultural foraging societies through today's fossil fuel–driven civilization. "I wait for new Smil books the way some people wait for the next 'Star Wars' movie. In his latest book, Energy and Civilization: A History, he goes deep and broad to explain how innovations in humans' ability to turn energy into heat, light, and motion have been a driving force behind our cultural and economic progress over the past 10,000 years. —Bill Gates, Gates Notes, Best Books of the Year Energy is the only universal currency; it is necessary for getting anything done. The conversion of energy on Earth ranges from terra-forming forces of plate tectonics to cumulative erosive effects of raindrops. Life on Earth depends on the photosynthetic conversion of solar energy into plant biomass. Humans have come to rely on many more energy flows—ranging from fossil fuels to photovoltaic generation of electricity—for their civilized existence. In this monumental history, Vaclav Smil provides a comprehensive account of how energy has shaped society, from pre-agricultural foraging societies through today's fossil fuel–driven civilization. Humans are the only species that can systematically harness energies outside their bodies, using the power of their intellect and an enormous variety of artifacts—from the simplest tools to internal combustion engines and nuclear reactors. The epochal transition to fossil fuels affected everything: agriculture, industry, transportation, weapons, communication, economics, urbanization, quality of life, politics, and the environment. Smil describes humanity's energy eras in panoramic and interdisciplinary fashion, offering readers a magisterial overview. This book is an extensively updated and expanded version of Smil's Energy in World History (1994). Smil has incorporated an enormous amount of new material, reflecting the dramatic developments in energy studies over the last two decades and his own research over that time.
Will We Survive Climate Change?: One Last Chance
Author : Len Frenkel
Publisher : Lulu.com
Page : 64 pages
File Size : 42,24 MB
Release : 2015-06-23
Category : Science
ISBN : 1483433455
Book Description
This book provides basic information about climate change and its very serious consequences, followed by a compelling and compassionate plea for all of us to change one aspect of our lives in order to save ourselves and most life on the planet.
The Transition Handbook
Author : Rob Hopkins
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
Page : 242 pages
File Size : 50,53 MB
Release : 2008-02-25
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 1907448705
Book Description
Move from feeling anxious about the oil crisis to developing a positive visions and taking traction action to create a more self-reliant existence with this ground-breaking book. We live in an oil-dependent world, and have become reliant in a very short space of time, using vast reserves of oil in the process – and without planning for when the supply is not so plentiful. Most of us avoid thinking about what happens when the oil runs out (or becomes prohibitively expensive), but the reality may not be as bad as we think. The Transition Handbook shows how the inevitable and profound changes ahead could have a positive effect. Written by permaculture expert Rob Hopkins, he discusses the possibility of a rebirth of local communities, which will generate their own fuel, food and housing. These will encourage the development of local currencies, to keep money in the local area, and unleash a local 'skilling-up', so that people have more control over their lives. The growth in interest in the Transition model continues to be exponential. There are now more than 35 formal Transition Initiatives in the UK, including towns, cities, islands, villages and peninsulas, with more joining as the idea takes off. With little proactivity at government level, communities are taking matters into their own hands and acting locally. If your community has not yet become a Transition Initiative, this upbeat guide, filled with beautiful black and white photographs, offers you the tools to get started. The Transition Handbook is the perfect manual to guide communities, as they begin this 'energy descent' journey.
UTOPIAS - Book 0, Climate Crisis
Author : Don Viecelli
Publisher : Don Viecelli
Page : 174 pages
File Size : 33,45 MB
Release : 2020-05-27
Category : Fiction
ISBN :
Book Description
By 2098 the human race is faced with a Sixth Mass Extinction Level Event from extreme climate change conditions caused by humans. The planet is dying. Humans will not be able to breathe the air within five years. They are presented with two choices; enter cryosleep for at least 100 years or die slowly from lack of oxygen, deadly carbon dioxide, other greenhouse gases and rising temperatures. The world is in Climate Crisis! By 2098, the environment has turned against man and all living things. Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and Methane Gas (CH4) levels have reached all-time highs. Oxygen (O2) levels are falling rapidly. Humans will not be able to breathe the air within five years. Humans are the cause for this Sixth Mass Extinction Level Event (ELE)! There is only one solution left for mankind. Embrace the Human Cryostasis Program proposed by Ricardo Carlos, President of the United Americas Continent. This involves entering cryosleep chambers in secret underground bunkers for the next one hundred years and creating Artificial Intelligence Androids to help save the world; or face dying slowly in the Wilderness Areas outside protected megacities like Utopias. Utopias is the name of the great megacity that stretches from St. Louis to Chicago to Milwaukee and is the Capital of the United Americas Continent (UAC). There are only nineteen large megalopolises left in the UAC, which is comprised of the former countries of Canada, United States, Central America, South America and Caribbean. Outside these megacities lie the Wilderness Areas where nature is struggling to survive the environmental disasters caused by Climate Change. Sentient A.I. Androids will become the savior of mankind or the beginning of its demise. Only time will tell. One thing is certain; humans alone cannot solve the Climate Crisis they created. Without help from these androids, humans will die out. UTOPIAS - Book 0, Climate Crisis, is the Prequel to the UTOPIAS Dystopian Series. It explains in realistic and explicable detail how Climate Crisis began and what it will take to reverse the environmental damage caused by dependence on fossil fuels leading to mankind’s Sixth Mass Extinction Level Event. UTOPIAS - Books 1 & 2 continue the story when President Carlos and others wake up in 2199 after sleeping for one hundred years. The world has changed, but the future is still unpredictable.
The End of Fossil Fuel Insanity
Author : Terry Etam
Publisher : FriesenPress
Page : 241 pages
File Size : 15,50 MB
Release : 2019-01-17
Category : Technology & Engineering
ISBN : 1525540262
Book Description
Everyone knows that fossil fuels won’t last forever. Something needs to change at some point, regardless of whether the issue is climate change or because we need a practical replacement for petroleum as cheap supplies run out. But while headlines suggest that a green-energy paradise is around the corner, not many are aware of the immense technical challenges that stand in its way. To turn our backs on fossil fuels, a staggering amount of work will be required to refit a global energy sector that has grown systematically for over a century. News of the latest green advancements can make it seem like plug-and-play technology, and simply a matter of switching from one source to another. In reality, the challenge is far greater, and infinitely more complicated. To make matters worse, environmentalists and fossil-fuel defenders wage continuous but fruitless war, and the growing gap makes it impossible to have any sort of constructive dialogue. Each camp becomes more locked in their position with every exchange, and the most revolutionary ideas never see the light of day. Instead of building, time and money are wasted sparring. Sparing no sacred cows, Terry Etam cuts through the media rhetoric, government propaganda, and widespread ignorance of the energy sector to get to the heart of what needs to change—and what needs to stay the same—if the challenges of moving away from fossil fuels are to be met, while maintaining the quality of life we have come to expect and rely on.
