50 Energy Books

Energy for Future Presidents: The Science Behind the Headlines by Richard A. Muller Main Points: The major energy catastrophes like Fukushima-Daichi and BP Oil Spill have not and should not impact world energy markets/decisions. Fukushima resulted in areas affected with 0.1-2 rem (unit for radiation damage). An area with 25 rem has a 1% chance of developing cancer. Hence 2,500 rem-person is the threshold for danger. By these estimates Fukushima will result in 100-1500 deaths caused by radiation, which is less than deaths caused by the tsunami. Additionally, the BP oil spill resulted in light hydrocarbons evaporating, heavy hydrocarbons (tars) sinking and being consumed by bacteria. The Energy Landscape shapes two key problems for the United States and world: (1) energy security - heavy dependence on liquid energy like oil and (2) global warming- caused by heavy reliance on coal. Incentives for utilities to use strategies like "decoupling plus"- offer subsidies to cu

The Quest: Energy, Security, and the Remaking of the Modern World By Daniel Yergin Main Points: The book is split up into 5 sections detailing Modern Oil Market, Maintaining the Supply, the Age of Electricity, Climate Change, and the Rebirth of Renewables. The Modern Oil Markets center around developments of the key choke points for world oil supply: the Bosporus, the Malacca Strait, the Strait of Hormuz, the Suez Canal, the Strait of Bab El-Mandeb, and the Danish Straits. A significant amount of attention is placed up on the New Great Game between the United States and Russia over control of key oil regions in Central Asia. Yergin notably talks about the Baku oil fields and the Kashagan fields of Kazakhstan and the roles that both US/Russia play in negotiating pipelines to move both west to the Black Sea/Mediterranean Sea or north to Moscow. The Age of Electricity talks about two key innovations that were critical to the development of the modern grid. First was the establish

The Grid: A Journey Through the Heart of Our Electrified World by Phillip F Schewe Main Points: The development of the American grid follows the stories of Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla, Samuel Insull, and David Lilienthal. Edison pioneered direct current, while Tesla promoted alternate current with his polyphase induction motor. The companies they spurred (General Electric and Westinghouse) became major utilities that shaped our landscape. Samuel Insull was one of the founders of Commonwealth Edison and built one of the largest empires from Chicago to the East Coast. David Lilienthal was the founder of the Tennessee Valley Authority, a New Deal welfare program turned utility, that was unique by design and provided electricity access to the Tennessee region.  The book also explores the impact of deregulation on the electricity markets through a case study of the California deregulatory acts of the 1990's and early 2000's. This puts into play the counteracting and sometim

Private Empire: ExxonMobil and American Power by Steve Coll Main Points:  Exxon and Mobil were both descendants of Standard Oil, John D. Rockefeller's oil monopoly. Following anti-trust laws in 1911, the two companies became private companies placed in an existential crisis: replace 1.5 billion barrels of oil/year.  In March 23, 1989, the Exxon Valdez oil tanker crashes into the reef of Prince William Sound near Alaska. This results in a destructive oil spill and a tightening up of risk management at the company.   Following 2000, when Exxon and Mobil joined- Exxon inherited 5 separatist insurgencies in Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, Chad,  Venezuela and Aceh, Indonesia. Adam Hochschild of the New York Times reviewed the book in a 2012 articled titled " A Well-Oiled Machine ". Foreign Policy's David Biello also reviewed the book in the Oil and Glory section of the online newsource. For a great in-depth analysis of the book, one can watch an interv