50 Energy Books

The Powerhouse: Inside the Invention of a Battery to Save the World by Steve Levine Main Points: Why write a book on batteries? After the 2010 crash, there was a question on whether the United States could innovate a new, large economy. Attention came onto the battery- a goal to create a more powerful battery to enable other industries - EV's, Solar and Wind, etc. Obama said they would put 1 million batteries on the road. In 2010 we didn't know that shale oil would come upon us, now we see 4 billion barrels/day come onto the market and cut the cost of oil in half. This has hurt Russia and caused OPEC to flounder. Another thing he saw was that the Exxon 25-year forecast of the future showed that by 2035 electric cars makeup 1% of the sales on the global market because battery scientists would make no progress. The Exxon report said that due to intermittency that solar and wind would have a slender slice of the pie. Giant incumbents were taking a massive risk in betting

Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming by Paul Hawken Main Points: Drawdown (noun)- the first point in time where greenhouse gases peak and go down on a year to year basis. Began in 2001 when Paul Hawken read the IPCC's Third Assessment. Right now the greenhouse gases are 470 ppm (50% greater than pre-industrial age), and if you add the other gases (nitrous oxide, etc.) it is over 490 ppm. We had never been above 300 ppm before 1937. We want an inflection point at around 482 ppm. The plan was written by 63 research fellows, 128 advisors, and 40 outside science reviewers. 80 models and 20 that are "to come". Model both the carbon and financial impact. Previous Plans "the solutions that are offered out there are proverbs" ( Scientific American ): Forego fossil fuels, move closer to work, consume less, be efficient, eat smart. Or ( Union of Concerned Scientists ): Change the car you drive, make your home air tig

Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues by Naomi Oreskes & Erik M. Conway Main Points: Context of Book:  In 2001, the IPCC had said that "human activities are modifying the concentration of atmospheric constituents."In fact, a Yale Climate Gallup poll said 72% of Americans completely or mostly convinced that global warming is happen, so F. Luntz decided to rephrase it as "climate change" in a 2003 memo and take the stance that there is "no consensus" about global warming in the scientific community. Naomi Oreskes' wrote a seminal paper which reviewed peer-reviewed scientific literature in Science  in 2004: she analyzed the literature from 1990 to 2000 to see how many papers disagreed or tried to refute climate change, it was none.  George H.W. Bush signed the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change which committed the U.S. and 192 other signatories to prevent anthropogenic inter

Made in the USA: The Rise and Retreat of American Manufacturing by Vaclav Smil Main Points: Dr. Smil explores the path of US manufacturing in three parts: The Ascent (1865-1940), Dominance (1941-1973), and the Retreat (1974-present) of manufacturing. The Ascent was in part due to the production of steel in the nineteenth century, the rise of a new electricity industry that both generates and distributes, as well as the pioneering developments in the invention and commercial design of new machines. Smil also explores the pioneering of Henry Ford to mass produce by using a moving assembly line with standardized components, as well as creating a vertically integrated manufacturing complex. Steel was introduced to the US in the 1860's with the Kelly-Bessemer process and was grown through three periods: 1865-1885 (railroads), 1885-1890 (cities), and 1885-1915 (weaponry). The advancements by Thomas Edison (DC powered system), Siemens (dynamos), William Stanley (transformers), a

Hydrofracking: What Everyone Needs to Know® by Alex Prud'Homme Main Points: Natural gas has taken the world by surprise in recent years, plunging in price close to $5/MBTU. This book explores hydro fracking in the context of the growing energy sector, its inner workings, where in the US the fracking is occurring, the case for and against, and a glimpse into what is in store for the future.  The case for fracking claims that the US will be fully energy independent and no longer have to rely on foreign oil resources for transportation. In addition, there will be 600,000 jobs created in the US for gas related transportation or steel casings for drilling. Proponents say that the total water usage will still be less than that used by agriculture or nuclear reactors, and that methane will cause lower impact on global warming than coal emissions. The case against fracking claims that the US has limited water resources and that at 70-140 billion gallons of water used pe