50 Energy Books

The Grid: The Fraying Wires Between Americans and Our Energy Future By Gretchen Bakke, Ph.D. Main Points: The current state of the U.S. grid is the product of several interesting pieces of legislation passed over the years. The Public Utilities Regulatory Policy Act of 1978 forced competition between the established utilities and smaller electricity suppliers/ plants, thus diversifying the grid sources of energy. This first step in deregulation led to the Energy Policy Act in 1992  which unbundled generation and transmission. Bakke says "It did so for a reason, and that reason was energy trading. The act turned electricity into a commodity."The result of this has been corruption in the form of companies like Enron that manipulated the markets by creating artificial shortages and destabilization of voltage levels the grid- resulting in more surges or brownouts. How does the grid work with so many players? You might have heard ISO/RTO, PUC, IRP, IOU, or POU. You

Power to Save the World: The Truth about Nuclear Energy by Gwyneth Cravens Main Points: In 1940, scientists discovered that the uranium atom used in fission is the U-235 isotope which is only 0.7% of natural uranium. Ms. Cravens walks the reader through the process of enriching uranium- by taking uranium oxide, adding fluorine gas, centrifuging the uranium hexafluoride, thus isolating the heavier uranium isotopes. Nuclear waste is a central topic in this book and several interesting ideas are thrown out that I had never come across. First, Cravens delves into the pros and cons of the Yucca Mountain repository. The DOE implemented a tax on utilities with nuclear power plants in 1987 to start funding the central repository, but defaulted on their promise. The $9 billion facility has yet to be used, despite fierce opposition from Nevadan senators. The second location that is often overlooked is the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, New Mexico in the southeastern

The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, & Power by Daniel Yergin Main Points: Oil contributed to the rise of capitalism. Whether it was the creation of the first monopoly in Standard Oil that faced antitrust suits in case #398 in May of 1911 or the decision by Calouste Gulbenkian to allow foreign oil majors to participate in the production of oil within the boundaries of the old Ottoman empire at a cost of 5% of their profits, capitalism is front and center in the story of oil. In order to prevent Iran moving into the hands of the Soviets, the United States CIA and Churchill created Operation Ajax to depose Mossadegh Mohammad and replace him with the Shah of Iran. In order to prevent Enrico Mattei from pushing a Soviet Union pipeline into Italy or changing the way profits are divided between oil majors and governments, interested powers facilitated his death. Capitalism and the economic force of open markets helped determine the price of oil, quantity of oil, and th

Taming the Sun: Innovation to Harness Solar Energy and Power the Planet by Varun Sivaram Main Points: The History of Solar Energy has its origins in the Chinese Yong Sui, Augustin Mouchet who in 1874 built a solar engine using concentrated solar power, Bequerel who in 1839 started employing the solar voltaic effect, Einstein's Annus Mirabilus in 1905 where he published the first paper on the effect, Bell Labs who in 1953 helped develop the first commercial solar cell in remote locations to power relaying stations/switches for AT&T Bell, and the Big Oil industry that helped also invest in the technology through the 90's into the 21st century. The purpose of the book is to understand the potential for solar, why we have not adopted the technology widely, and what it will take to get there. Sivaram notes a "Capital Gap" of $2.5 trillion in investment that will need to take place by 2040. He also believes in a hybrid system in developing countries that sti