Read one Book a Week
I once participated in an energy club in grad school. The club was composed mainly of grad students from several departments and disciplines - engineering, business, and law. Our mission was to foster a diverse energy community and enable interdisciplinary collaboration, knowledge exchange, and professional development. Over the course of two years, the club grew in size from 20 to over 100 students, creating its first alumni mentoring program, taking tours of several energy companies, hosting its first energy case competition, installing the largest solar panel array in the local neighborhood, building a vertical axis wind turbine, and collaborating with several organizations around the nation. I loved it. Mainly because of all the great friends who made my time in the club truly memorable.
Much of what we were trying to do was to understand the energy environment from those who worked, taught, and preached about it daily. While talks and small group dinners got us interested, I felt that like many class lectures in school... very few experiences left a lasting impact. This was partly because these talks are so broad, but don't necessarily give you the depth necessary to fully understand a subject. In fact, no textbook, class, or teacher could really bridge this gap of knowledge and provide a comprehensive understanding of energy. So I called up several of the people I met in the energy world (students from other clubs, professors, former mentors, etc.) and compiled a list of books that I think everyone should read. Now keep in mind I might be omitting a few really good ones, and that's definitely my fault, but I don't know that now... I will only know that when looking back.
My Goal: Read 1 Energy Book every week for 1 Year. ~ 50 Energy Books.
Here is the list:
1.) The Prize by Daniel Yergin
2.) The Quest by Daniel Yergin
3.) Private Empire by Steve Coll
4.) Merchants of Doubt by Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway
5.) Energy at Crossroads by Vaclav Smil
6.) A Golden Thread by Ken Butti
7.) Wind Power: Renewable Energy for Home, Farm, and Business by Paul Gipe
8.) Hydrofracking : What Everyone Needs to Know by Alex Prud'Homme
9.) The Grid: The Fraying Wires Between Americans and Our Energy Future, by Gretchen Bakke
10.) Energy for Future Presidents: The Science Behind the Headlines by Richard Muller
11.) Six Easy Pieces/ Six Not-So Easy Pieces by Richard Feynman
12.) Made in the USA by Vaclav Smil
13.) Reinventing Fire: Bold Business Solutions for the New Energy Era by Amory Lovins
14.) Megawatts and Megatons: A Turning Point in the Nuclear Age? by Garwin and Charpak
15.) From Edison to Enron: The Business of Power and What It Means for the Future of Electricity by Richard Munson
16.) The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan
17.) Storms of my Grandchildren by James Hansen
18.) The Grid: A Journey Through the Heart of Our Electrified World by Phillip Schewe
19.) The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes
20.) Sapiens by Yuval Harari
21.) The Power to Save the World: The Truth About Nuclear Energy, by Gwyneth Cravens
22.) The Powerhouse: America, China, and the Great Battery War by Steve Levine
23.) The Age of Sustainable Development by Jeffrey Sachs
24.) Designing Climate Solutions: A Policy Guide for Low-CarbonEnergy by Hal Harvey
25.) The Great Texas Wind Rush by Kate Galbraith
26.) Consider a Spherical Cow by John Harte
27.) Three Revolutions: Steering Automated, Shared, and Electric Vehicles to a Better Future by Professor Daniel Sperling
28.) The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation by Jon Gertner
29.) Creating Climate Wealth by Jigar Shah
30.) Bottled Lightning: Superbatteries, Electric Cars, and the New Lithium Economy by Seth Fletcher
31.) Cradle to Cradle by William McDonough and Michael Braungart
32.) Energy Trading and Investing by David Edwards
33.) Energy: A Human History by Richard Rhodes
34.) Thirst for Power by Michael E. Webber
35.) Smart Power: Climate Change, the Smart Grid, and the Future of Electric Utilities by Peter Fox-Penner
36.) Taming the Sun by Varun Sivaram
37.) The Power Surge: Energy, Opportunity, and the Battle for America's Future by Michael Levi
38.) Tesla: Inventor of the Modern by Richard Munson
39.) Green Energy for a Billion Poor: How Grameen Shakti Created a Winning Model for Social Business by Nancy Wimmer
40.) Burn Out: The Endgame for Fossil Fuels by Dieter Helm
41.) Geothermal Energy by William Glassley
42.) Electricity System Planning with Distributed Energy Resources by Jesse Jenkins
43.) The New Great Game by Lutz Kleveman
44.) Cold Cash, Cool Climate by Jonathan Koomey
45.) Renewables: The Politics of Global Energy Transition by Michaël Aklin and Johannes Urpelainen
46.) Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming by Paul Hawken
47.) Power Loss: The Origins of Deregulation and Restructuring in the American Electric Utility System by Richard Hirsch
48.) Foragers, Farmers, and Fossil Fuels by Ian Morris
49.) Should we Risk It? by Daniel Kammen
50.) Sustainable Energy Without the Hot Air by David McKay
Much of what we were trying to do was to understand the energy environment from those who worked, taught, and preached about it daily. While talks and small group dinners got us interested, I felt that like many class lectures in school... very few experiences left a lasting impact. This was partly because these talks are so broad, but don't necessarily give you the depth necessary to fully understand a subject. In fact, no textbook, class, or teacher could really bridge this gap of knowledge and provide a comprehensive understanding of energy. So I called up several of the people I met in the energy world (students from other clubs, professors, former mentors, etc.) and compiled a list of books that I think everyone should read. Now keep in mind I might be omitting a few really good ones, and that's definitely my fault, but I don't know that now... I will only know that when looking back.
My Goal: Read 1 Energy Book every week for 1 Year. ~ 50 Energy Books.
Here is the list:
2.) The Quest by Daniel Yergin
3.) Private Empire by Steve Coll
4.) Merchants of Doubt by Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway
5.) Energy at Crossroads by Vaclav Smil
6.) A Golden Thread by Ken Butti
7.) Wind Power: Renewable Energy for Home, Farm, and Business by Paul Gipe
8.) Hydrofracking : What Everyone Needs to Know by Alex Prud'Homme
9.) The Grid: The Fraying Wires Between Americans and Our Energy Future, by Gretchen Bakke
10.) Energy for Future Presidents: The Science Behind the Headlines by Richard Muller
11.) Six Easy Pieces/ Six Not-So Easy Pieces by Richard Feynman
12.) Made in the USA by Vaclav Smil
13.) Reinventing Fire: Bold Business Solutions for the New Energy Era by Amory Lovins
14.) Megawatts and Megatons: A Turning Point in the Nuclear Age? by Garwin and Charpak
15.) From Edison to Enron: The Business of Power and What It Means for the Future of Electricity by Richard Munson
16.) The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan
17.) Storms of my Grandchildren by James Hansen
18.) The Grid: A Journey Through the Heart of Our Electrified World by Phillip Schewe
19.) The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes
20.) Sapiens by Yuval Harari
21.) The Power to Save the World: The Truth About Nuclear Energy, by Gwyneth Cravens
22.) The Powerhouse: America, China, and the Great Battery War by Steve Levine
23.) The Age of Sustainable Development by Jeffrey Sachs
24.) Designing Climate Solutions: A Policy Guide for Low-CarbonEnergy by Hal Harvey
25.) The Great Texas Wind Rush by Kate Galbraith
26.) Consider a Spherical Cow by John Harte
27.) Three Revolutions: Steering Automated, Shared, and Electric Vehicles to a Better Future by Professor Daniel Sperling
28.) The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation by Jon Gertner
29.) Creating Climate Wealth by Jigar Shah
30.) Bottled Lightning: Superbatteries, Electric Cars, and the New Lithium Economy by Seth Fletcher
31.) Cradle to Cradle by William McDonough and Michael Braungart
32.) Energy Trading and Investing by David Edwards
33.) Energy: A Human History by Richard Rhodes
34.) Thirst for Power by Michael E. Webber
35.) Smart Power: Climate Change, the Smart Grid, and the Future of Electric Utilities by Peter Fox-Penner
36.) Taming the Sun by Varun Sivaram
37.) The Power Surge: Energy, Opportunity, and the Battle for America's Future by Michael Levi
38.) Tesla: Inventor of the Modern by Richard Munson
39.) Green Energy for a Billion Poor: How Grameen Shakti Created a Winning Model for Social Business by Nancy Wimmer
40.) Burn Out: The Endgame for Fossil Fuels by Dieter Helm
41.) Geothermal Energy by William Glassley
42.) Electricity System Planning with Distributed Energy Resources by Jesse Jenkins
43.) The New Great Game by Lutz Kleveman
44.) Cold Cash, Cool Climate by Jonathan Koomey
45.) Renewables: The Politics of Global Energy Transition by Michaël Aklin and Johannes Urpelainen
46.) Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming by Paul Hawken
47.) Power Loss: The Origins of Deregulation and Restructuring in the American Electric Utility System by Richard Hirsch
48.) Foragers, Farmers, and Fossil Fuels by Ian Morris
49.) Should we Risk It? by Daniel Kammen
50.) Sustainable Energy Without the Hot Air by David McKay
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