Customer Reviews

The End of Energy Obesity: Breaking Today's Energy Addiction for a Prosperous and Secure Tomorrow

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As a Western Canadian living near the Athabasca tar sands I'm very concerned about the impacts of the energy sector (i.e oil industry) activity on the environment. I picked up a copy of The End of Energy Obesity because of the optimistic-sounding title. Canadians, Americans and other developed nations are consuming energy at an unsustainable rate. The developing world is striving to emulate our very energy inefficient lifestyle. I'm skeptical about the author's belief that we can grow our economies indefinitely, while at the same time reducing our "energy appetite", but at least he supports his ideas with plausible arguments. The key appears to lie in changing transportation behavior, which includes the way in which wealthy (i.e. "energy obese") societies rely on huge amounts of fossil fuel for the daily suburban commutes and transglobe business trips of its citizens. The book describes how the information revolution causes the need for much of this transportation to fall to the wayside as new-fangled communication tools make online collaborative work ever easier. The social implications of this Brave New World with its threat of ever-deepening social isolation is a little frightening, but the benefits of "energy fittness" to our global environment outweigh the dangers of one collapsing from an "energy cardiac arrest". Interesting ideas.

Tertzakian sensitized us to our enormous energy appetite (western world) in A Thousand Barrels a Second (what a title!). He introduced in that work, the concept of energy break points. Historical periods when mankind has experienced disruptive events forcing a change in how energy is used (burned up all the wood, had to move to coal). Now, in Energy Obesity, he lays out two fundamental energy principles. The First Principle of Energy Consumption simply holds that throughout our history, improved quality of life has been directly related to greater energy consumption. The Assymetry Principle takes what is traditionally considered an energy problem, the efficiency losses from source of production to point of consumption, and stands it on its head. He makes the case that for each barrel of oil equivalent we don't have to consume (by making more intelligent choices about our energy consumption and maximizing technology), we save six or more barrels from having to be produced, with all the environmental savings that go along with that. An incredibly powerful way of looking at the benefits of energy conservation - which many agree is key to a sustainable future (in conjunction with technologial innovation). It is this need for conservation (reduction in wastemaking) that is referred to as the Third Commandment of the Human Revolution in The Vanishing of a Species? - another study of mankind's material demands on planet earth and how to curb them to provide a chance at a sustainable future.

Tertzakian has an interesting writing style, sprinkling personal observations and anecdotes throughout the scientific material used to make his case. An easy read, and one that presents a hopeful view of the future in the face of significant challenges facing us over the next few decades in terms of our energy appetite. Highly recommended.

Finally, a book that offers a really sensible approach to dealing with the world's energy problems: stop just focusing on new sources of supply and start looking for ways to decrease demand! Many may react to this book's proposal in the same of knee-jerk manner and suppose that any reduction in energy demand, i.e. consumption, is always going to reverse economic growth. And it's in part because of this attitude that we're forced to dig for oil and gas in the most inhospitable corners of the planet. The belief that we must "supply" ourselves out of our energy problems comes from "The First Principle of Energy Consumption". The book describes this as the rule that if energy consumption goes up so too does GDP and human comfort levels. But the book shows that this rule can be broken. To no surprise, it talks about energy conservation and improving efficiency. But what I didn't expect in the book was talk about the trend toward "virtualization" and how this is the real game changer in the energy sector. Slowly but surely, the way that people live, work and play is changing because of rapidly evolving communication technology. It all started with the telephone and telegraph, but today the platform of our long distance interaction with others is shifting over to Skype, videoconferencing and telepresence- to name a few of these new technologies. Transportation is the big glutton in energy demand and so much of it-from daily commutes to business travel- is being made redundant. The long and short of the book's message is that we can free ourselves from the belief in the connection between prosperity and energy demand growth. We can become economically more productive while burning less and less fuel if we start taking advantage of these communication tools. It's a straightforward and optimistic message.

The most important energy development in tha past five years has been the new technology that provides the economic release of enormous amounts of natural gas - all over the world. Finally, a book has been written that clearly points its importance and the impact it will have on the so many energy sources that are doomed for failure. I hope the politicians will take notice.

Peter Tertzakian works with Keith Hollihan in THE END OF ENERGY OBESITY, exploring solutions to the problem of a widening appetite for energy and showing how to change the fuel diet for a better future. His focus on practical options and immediate applications makes for a comprehensive survey key to any serious understanding of energy usage and alternatives: a pick for both college and general lending collections.

The book is well researched and easy to read. It kept my interest going right to the end. Thought provoking and informative.