Future Fuels

Most Americans view green jobs and green energy as our path to a clean energy future. Not so fast, proclaims energy journalist Bryce (Gusher of Lies); he challenges the scalability of renewable energy required for the world's enormous energy demand and explains why hydrocarbons (oil, coal) will be needed for a long time. With a strong stab at T. Boone Pickens's wind plan, he discredits wind power as a solution to environmental problems because all wind turbines must be backed up with gas-fired generators. Bryce considers unrealistic such ideas as carbon capture and sequestration, cellulosic ethanol, and electric cars. The solution for transitioning to a cleaner, lower-carbon future is N2N—natural gas to nuclear—because it has a higher power density and can provide the quantities of energy we need. VERDICT Bryce, whose home has solar panels, uses copious facts and research to make a compelling case that renewable sources have their place in our energy future but they aren't the viable panacea we're led to believe. Recommended for readers interested in both sides of the energy debate.—Eva Lautemann, Georgia Perimeter Coll. Lib., Clarkston

Environmentalists have been saying for years that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced to stop global warming. But how can this daunting task be accomplished? Goodall (How To Live a Low-Carbon Life) presents ten fields of technology that could help reduce carbon emissions and analyzes each in terms of its strengths, weaknesses, and predicted advances. While Goodall acknowledges that no one technology alone will solve our energy problems, he argues that great progress could be made if they are used together. Likewise, advances need to be made with each of these technologies to make them viable alternatives to fossil fuels in terms of both cost and energy production. Investing in these technologies should give ample return in the decades ahead. VERDICT Goodall provides a realistic game plan for battling global warming that will attract readers interested in learning about possible practical solutions.—William Baer, Georgia Inst. of Technology Lib., Atlanta