Customer Reviews

An End to Global Warming

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Book Review - "An End to Global Warming" by Laurence O. Williams

Laurence O. Williams' book, "An End to Global Warming" foretells of a not-to-distant future in which global warming and melting of ice caps due to fossil fuel consumption will submerge most of the worlds coastal cities. We have all heard predictions of Armageddon from impending environmental disasters and in some cases, have learned to take these predictions with a grain of salt. However if one proceeds through this book with this superficial approach a feeling of uneasiness soon begins to take over.
Williams has laid out his premise in a very logical systems analysis approach starting at the component parts, taking time to define scientific terms and concepts, construct relationships based on tables of relevant data, and extensively referencing pertinent results and extrapolations.
Societies increasing output of carbon dioxide and the correlation's of carbon dioxide gas in the atmosphere and global temperature changes are frightening. This data, along with observations of recent climactic changes and ice shelf effects, provide support to the seriousness and urgency of this global problem. Although one could possibly argue with the author's timelines as to future environmental disasters, the inevitability of these occurrences if we proceed down our current energy usage pathway is well foretold. As the real and projected effects of this warming on the earth are described and supported one is caught up in an appreciation of the magnitude of this problem could have on our future generations. The comprehensive analyses given to the many elements considered in this book may slow the reader slightly, but the author does an excellent job of putting concepts and terms in simple understandable descriptions. Time is taken, to the author's credit, to point out the colossal waste in burning our limited petroleum products which could be used for the production of needed medicines, polymers and other valuable organic industrial materials.
However, the pivotal concept that makes this book important is that Williams does more than bemoan a bleak, energy restrictive future, he offers us a well thought out solution. This solution, which is based on a clean primary energy source, and a clean transportable fuel, is based on technologies that are themselves not completely new, but on the coalescing of concepts to accomplish this unique energy revolution.
Williams gives a detailed approach for implementation of this concept and it is persuasive and elegantly constructed. The case is made for the need of a transportable fuel, and alternate fuels are compared. However, the choice of the primary transportable fuel is well supported. As a mater of fact, it is not only the optimum fuel it is probably the only choice for a transportable clean fuel. The considerations for the practical utilization of this fuel in domestic and industrial uses are studied in detail.
A new energy source is boldly presented by the author as the primary energy source for the production of electrical energy and transportable fuel. Seawater would provide all of our clean envirinmental needs. It would be utilized in this new low pollution society to more efficiently clean up polluted water and more completely destroy organic wastes. The development of a new power system is the cornerstone of this clean energy concept, and the one that makes to conversion to a pollution-free environment a possibility. More available alternate energy systems, such as solar and fission, may still allow the transition to a clean energy society and afford an interim approach to phase out carbon dioxide producing systems. However, I believe Williams is correct in emphasizing the urgency for an all out Manhattan-type project to develop this new clean power system.
The logic of the overall approach is undeniable and the insight into why, how, and when is sobering, but also interesting and exciting. Larry Williams' enthusiasm and urgency to implement an immediate change in how we look at our energy future and our environment is apparent. This book is worthy of our time to read and our commitment to do some deep thinking on the implication of these concepts on society. Hopefully this concept will motivate us all to become personally involved in the implementation of change to a more pollution-free, energy-rich, future environment.
David W. Neiswander Ph.D. - Environmental Consultant - Knoxville, TN.

Mr Williams has produced here a thoughtful study of what is perhaps the most important scio economic and environmental problem of our age. This is not an overstatement and this work deserves to be read and pondered.

The problem is energy. In this age a large reliable and safe source of energy is a necessity. It is not a luxury that can be forgone and the demand for energy will increase as more of the worlds populations come to demand the fruits of civilization--all of which, from agriculture to cell phones, require energy.

What is urgently needed is a comprehensive scenerio by which this can be accomplished. This Herculean task is what Mr. Williams has attempted--with considerable success.

It is difficult to cover all of the facets of this work in a short review, however,as an overview, Mr. williams concludes that the only vible approach will be to accept the inevitablilty of hydrogen as the portable fuel of choice and--shocking as it may seem to some--nuclear power as the original source of energy.

Along the way to reaching these conclusions, he has found it necessary to evaluate various alternatives--including the popular one of widespread conservation, which would be helpful of course, but is unlikely to be achieved on any broad basis. Mr. Williams give many of these ideas--such as solar power and a host of others--serious and courteous consideration. They all have a place--in this reviewers opinion at least--nevertheless, when examined in depth (as he does) inevitably fall short of promising a long term, ultimate solution. This part of the book is, by itself, worth reading.

The next stumbling block in accepting Mr. William's thesis is his insistance that nuclear power must be the primary source for energy. He envisions large plants producing the hydrogen from water and and, of course, there is a strong cultural bias in the general public agains anything nuclear. The foundations for this bias are dealt with convincingly. The radiation bugaboo is examined as well the general hazards which, as he shows, are no more extreme than in any energy realte activity on a large scale. Suffice it to say that coal mining and drilling for oil present similar hazards and hydrogen as a portable fuel is no more of a hazard than gasolene--although we are accustomed to the latter and familiarity breeds a level of complacency.

One starts reading a work like Mr. Willliam's rather cynically, expecting a grandiose plan for a perfect world--knowing that the devil is in the details, which are usually not provided. I am pleased to report that in this case, many of the details are identified and dealt with in an orderly fashion with a convincing candor. The plan presented here is intriguing and well documented and worthy of serious considersation.

Recommended reading.