Customer Reviews

Heat: How to Stop the Planet From Burning

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1 star:		(3)

 

 

With many politicians and scientists asserting that the Kyoto Protocol emissions levels cannot be met, should we abandon it for an "alternative solution". George Monbiot says that's the wrong question. The proper query is: "Have we really tried?" Monbiot thinks not and lists numerous cases of inattention, indifference and downright dishonesty in why our society continues to pour greenhouse gases into the air we breathe. However, unlike so many viewing our climate situation with alarm, Monbiot is neither a "calamity howler" nor a hand-wringing commentator waiting for somebody else to set a good example. Instead, this book is a catalogue of solutions to the problem.

None of the correctives proposed here are beyond us, either as individuals or nations. Monbiot, with admirable clarity and understanding of how to accomplish them, lines out easily implemented steps we can take and/or propose to our neighbours. After introductory comments on various "alternate" energy options, Monbiot discusses how we reached the energy consumption levels we enjoy. He deems our situation a "Faustian Pact" and heads each chapter with a quote from Christopher Marlowe's play "Doctor Faustus". Like Faust, we have made a deal, but it's with Nature, not with a devil. For Monbiot, Mephistopheles is fossil fuel and our use of it has advanced. The time for settling up on the bargain is now.

After a massive research effort, Monbiot is able to describe the problem in graphic detail and targets the means of continuing our existence. He quickly dismisses the "envirosceptics" as people who are as out of touch as those who believe in magic. There are some imposing numbers involved. The UK uses 400 terawatt hours per year. A terawatt is a one with twelve zeros trailing after it. Why, for a society of that size, is the number so big? The author examines closely and clearly the circumstances he lives in and how those are threatening the future. Housing and other buildings must be built or retrofitted to exacting standards. Most importantly, those standards must be enforced. Roads that expand capacity which is quickly filled is exactly the wrong policy. The same is true for airports, which encourage more carbon dioxide-producing flights.

His chapter on transportation is even more arresting than the one on housing and buildings. He's particularly scathing on the Bush administration's encouragement of "biofuels" to replace petrol. The lands taken up to produce ethanol will reduce even existing croplands and could instead be turned over to reforestation projects. The types of crops that would provide petrol replacement are hugely thirsty, adding to the depletion of an already overtaxed water supply. Air travel is a conundrum even this perceptive observer cannot resolve. Transatlantic flights, the transport of "exotic" foods to our mega-grocers to entice our palates, and the long-distance vacations generate an astonishing amount of pollutants. How many "business" flights can be replaced by teleconferencing? Yes, if you're dealing with somebody in Sydney, one of you will have to arise early. There will be adjustments, but these need not be severe.

Monbiot devises a cute catch phrase to arouse individual sensitivity to the immediacy of the task ahead. He proposes all people be assigned "icecaps". This isn't a cure for hangover, but a weight measured in acceptable carbon emissions per person. The "cap" is the maximum allowable carbon discharge we each produce to keep the planet cool enough for us to survive. From these "caps" Monbiot demonstrates the costs involved in maintaining them. That is the particular advantage of this book over the extensive list of other "climate change" works. Monbiot's cost assessment and value received for whatever investment we can make in protecting our children and ourselves. And children, as Monbiot admits "discovering" in his concluding chapter, is what this book and the circumstances it describes is all about. Having produced an offspring, Monbiot is keen to see her survive in a liveable world. It's a feeling many of us share.

Although this book's focus is United Kingdom, the issues are global. The book should be left in hotel rooms instead of those works of fiction called The Gideon Bible. As my copy is a "Canadian Edition", perhaps a first step has been taken. In his Foreword in this edition, Monbiot notes how poorly Canada is performing in emission control. He almost presciently forecasts the hopelessly inadequate "Made in Canada Solution" introduced by the present Conservative government. Even Monbiot, however, could not have seen our "solution" will require that government to be elected to power eleven times before the provisions come into effect. What is the situation in your country? [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

I have yet to find a more illuminating write up on the subject of Global Warming.
Monbiot is convincing and challenging at the same time; this book flat out asks the reader to either pay attention or go out and find a better examination on the issue.
Precise and without fanfare, Monbiot brings a most burning problem close to every home and incites discussion and interest.
Buy one for yourself and three to give to the most important persons in your life.

Monbiot accepts the reality of global warming and looks closely at the measures at hand we can use to prevent the worst possibilities. I am impressed with the thoroughness with which he has researched the problems for our homes, our power and transport systems and the possible solutions. He is optimistic if we make maximal effort soon but somewhat pessimistic about the political will to do so. He is convinced that we will largely have to do with technology that already exists, although often not yet developed, rather than hoping for major scientific breakthroughs because of the typically long delay in implementing new energy technology. I would urge you to read this book if you want to understand the trade offs that will be required to meet the global warming threat.

Since writing this review I have come across another very important book on energy policy -A Question of Balance: Weighing the Options on Global Warming Policies by the Yale economist, William Nordhaus. This book looks at the trade-offs of various approaches to ameliorating global warming using computer modeling to forecast the cost and results. A gradually increasing carbon tax, maximal participation by all nations and industries and support for alternative energy research come out best. The Gore approach (which is similar to Monbiot's) of stringent carbon restriction from the start ends up costing much more to reach the same results which surprised me.

I found this an excellent, comprehensive, up-to-date review of the risks of global warming and technology options to prevent it. I confess to thinking this was a controversial topic before picking up this book. Monbiot wastes no time in forcefully demonstrating that the only controversy about this issue is how best to combat it. He makes the case that that any perceived controversy over the seriousness of global warming is due to deliberate misinformation by oil lobbies. There is even a surprising link to the tobacco industry in its common desire to thwart governmental regulation of pollution.
The bulk of the book pursues his self-appointed task of formulating a way to reduce our carbon emissions by 90%. This agenda provides structure to the book, as he reviews selected areas of energy consumption, but at times the writing seems forced. Without any apparent irony, he suggests covering half the world's desert areas with solar panels (no mention of ecologic effects here), and adorning our homes with fuel cells, wind turbines AND solar panels in the desperate pursuit of "practical" means to meet his goal. Nevertheless, he does a good job of comprehensively exploring available carbon-sparing technologies, with fastidious referencing. My only quibble is his admitted tendency to "sit on (his) backside and tell other people what to do" in terms of energy resource management and regulation. The approach taken in the sections on land travel and retail stores was more engaging: giving examples of how present-day changes in consumer behavior and public policy can make a difference. As individuals, we can only choose how we spend and vote. For concisely informing these choices, Heat rates five stars.

An oddly disappointing book. Chiefly because GM talks mostly about the UK, not the world.
I guess GM isnt flying 'abroad' much these days, as jet aircraft are the most noxious carbon emitters he has discovered.
His columns pack a wallop, they are diffused in his book.
However, it is likely one of the most important books around.


.......... T CO2 per person
china..... 2.7
UK........ 9.5
USA....... 20.0

"micro wind turbines a waste of time and money"
I recall staying in a hippie hovel on Great Barrier Island. On the roof was a bicycle wheel with a hub generator. Pieces of tin as vanes, in the spokes. Fantastically inefficient, but on an island miles from any grid, a zero-cost way to run a radio, or charge a cell phone (which didnt exist then).
Tens of thousands of outback farms used small windmills to pump water. Way less investment than pv/electric.

GM reckons that emissions trading is like shoving food around your plate & pretending its eaten.
Taxes are unfair. What we need is rations & regulations. I cant fault him, but on my bicycle in clouds of carbon, it seems unlikely.
At present: Huge subsidies to carbon, falling investment in alternatives.
GM scatters mentions of good things being done in Germany & Sweden & Switzerland etc.
Then he returns to Leaky houses in gloomy England venting scads of carbon.
Giant Plasma TVs 5x crt
Vacuum panel fridges 12% of current fridge energy use.

Smart meters: an idea he doesnt develop.
We have the smart sensors to turn streetlights, roomlights on only when something moves nearby.
Water heaters should heat water just before its needed (they could learn)
Dimmed lights until you need to find something.

Burying CO2: GM is bullish, although he admits the maps of suitable strata arent available.
I fear this is a boondoggle.

Worlds powerstations: 10.4E9T/yr (nice to see a 'world' figure)

He mentions 'underground coal gassification' but omits the more realistic CCCGassification, which SciAm claims may be the only realistic way to capture CO2.

Uranium. The blatant unreality of the situation where the State agrees that nuclear power doesnt need to insure against disaster. The constant leaks. Every reactor sits beside a pool cooling spent fuel. If the pool dries, tens of thousands die, cities become wastelands.
The good ore isnt plentiful.

Highvoltage DC cables (1700km in DRCongo) mean that wind etc can be spread about.
"In Helsinki 98% of heating comes from district schemes" - we need another book maybe "New Energy schemes in continental Europe" , GM's book begins to seem like "dreary failure of Englands energy vision"

GM rabbits on about Hydrogen "fairly cheap" (sic) - I fear he has bought into another big-carbon boondoggle.

On Land transport, GM reckons that buses are best. I regretfully must concur. I hate the things, from a bicycle seat they are unhuman scale. The answer seems to be to give them special lanes. Fine on Freeways, but in the city, the kerbmost lane is designated bus-only. Guess where bikes go?
Buses are ten times more efficient than cars.

GM doesnt bite the bullet and recognise that we meed micro-transport; 30kph electric cars, more like golf carts than current cars. We could drive one to the bus stop, then use another (hired) to drive around town.
Europe features briefly again: "Holland,Germany,Switzerland & Denmark several different kinds.. vehicle tracking systems, gps, call centres, shared taxis."
I await the European Energy book for more details.. this isnt it.

Fast trains: above 180kph they use huge amounts of fuel.

Shop and shopping trips are a huge waste. GM'sobvious answer is delivery.

Air travel: There is no solution, we just must stop flying. I personally vote to allow GM to fly to conferences anywhere in the world. He deserves the break.
Hydrogen airships at 130kph are ok, but dodgy in strong winds.

Some of the things GM attacks seem perverse. He criticises tree planting for offsets, but I reckon tree planting per se is a darn good thing. GM also hits out at the 'rebound' effect whereby increase in efficiency is followed by increase in use such that more energy is used. GM may be correct in saying that regulation is required, but its hardly an argument against efficiency.

Read this book, but keep an eye out for the real book on 'how to stop the planet burning'

Heat is an optimistic response to more pessimistic works such as Lovelock's The Revenge of Gaia which suggest we should prepare for the consequences because it is too late. Monbiot asks the hard question: what specific solutions could reduce carbon emissions by 90% by 2050 and thus save the world from the worst impacts of global warming?

He examines electricity production, transportation, housing and in some case examples, retail stores and concrete production. Relying on government reports, think tanks and other sources he discovers that it may "just" be possible, so long as a society we approach it like we did WWII, with a massive and focused effort and some sacrifices. Except for long distance travel (by air, train or ship), everything else it should be possible, says Monbiot, to reduce by 90%.

Monbiot mainly addresses England. However, England is one of the worlds best organized countries politically and economically, so anything difficult for England is going to nearly impossible for other nations - can Georgia or Belarus or Chile or China reduce carbon emissions by 90%? It is a global problem and Monbiot doesn't look beyond England and the US, thus it is difficult to see how the entire world can turn around in such a short period of time. There are big areas that Monbiot does not address, such as agriculture. He also does not look at "climate surprises" or tipping points, where a little CO2 increase by humans triggers a massive CO2 release in nature (see Fred Pearce With Speed and Violence: Why Scientists Fear Tipping Points in Climate Change).

Monbiot is optimistic solutions are available, but I found his solutions so politically difficult to implement, and nearly impossible globally, I came away even more depressed about our prospects. However, one thing is clear, we have no choice but to try.

Monbiot's great fear is not that we will stop talking about Climate Change but rather that we will talk ourselves to Kingdon Come.

In his latest book Monbiot does an excellent job of looking at what needs to be done and how it can be done in most parts of the economy with existing technology. The challenge he sets us is that of reducing our carbon emissions in the UK by 90% by 2030. Monbiot has based this target on the emerging consensus from European scientists that in order to hold the climate change going into runaway change (above 2 degrees change) we will need much more radical emissions reductions in the West than earlier believed. He also argues forcefully for why we cannot as he has said many times buy out way out of this with Carbon Offsets.

Monbiot paints the big picture of how this is possible, with the exception being air travel for which nothing short of a massive reduction will be required (today emissions from Air Travel are the fastest growing AND not counted by countries in their emissions levels or targets!). The book is not perfect and you will need to go look at his references to learn about specific technologies and to see if you agree with particular points; but it is by far the most useful and well researched book on the subject out there today.

A quick note on the review of this book by R Riley if it is still here. That quote is NOT from the Monbiot book but was made in another publication that has nothing to do with George Monbiot. Google the quote if you don't believe me, with luck Amazon will have removed the review as it is clearly intended to mislead.

As far as I'm concerned, George Monbiot's Heat: How to Stop the Planet from Burning, is the most important and complete book about global warming and should be mandated as required reading by all high schools, universities, book clubs etc. I've already compiled a list of people who I will give this book to outright or highly recommend.

Heat works for a 3 very simple reasons. It is short, logical and very readable. It doesn't treat the reader like an idiot as it educates on the causes and effects of global warming. Finally, unlike most of the literature and famous movies by ex-Vice Presidents, it offers solutions that are physically practical yet obviously politically challenging. He cites everything using mostly peer reviewed journals and his arguments are logical and sensible.

The book is comprised of 11 chapters, each with a simple approach. Monbiot describes a facet of our everyday lives, the carbon emissions associated with institution, and how we can fix it according to his proposal of a 90% emissions cut by 2030. Here is a quick rundown of each chapter:

1) A summary of the many consequences of global warming, why it effects the poor people of the world disproportionately, and why his proposal of a 90% emissions cut is necessary.
2) A look at the Denial Industry, how policies are incorrectly influenced by junk science arguments, especially how Exxon has modeled its persuasive agenda after Phillip Morris.
3) The outline of his carbon rationing plan - why its better then other systems.
4) Examining home energy consumption and solutions
5) Examining current fossil fuel energy production systems and their faults.
6) Examining renewable energy and its potential.
7) A proposal for new energy grid system.
8) Examining the transport problem, solutions and auto technologies.
9) Examining airline pollution and possible solutions (there are none).
10) A look at the energy waste of supermarkets and the cement industry.
11) A final summary with a moral message.

Monbiot has done his research as he has over 1000 citations. I you trust Monbiot as a legitimate source on this information, then this book will change the way you think about every aspect of your consumption. All other problems in the world become secondary as the starvation and displacement of billions is eminent, putting wars and civil rights on the moral backburner. This will of course be argued as extreme by most (including myself before reading this book) but you should still read this book to judge for yourself.

Finally, not highly advertised but the book is published by a non-profit organization and criticizes many countries (mostly the US), and most political parties. There are no specific products endorsed, just types of technology but I really couldn't see any possible angle Monbiot has except his desire to educate.

Bottom Line: The definitive book on the definitive subject of our time.

I've lived over two quarter-centuries, and most of the college students I teach have yet to live a single quarter-century. I mention this by way of drawing into relief the generational burden shouldered by Monbiot's foundationally unsettling and utterly indispensable book. For many of my age, born in the middle of the baby boom, and who hail originally from the working and under classes, the prospect of facing what is likely to be our final productive quarter-century with, for instance, serious restrictions on air travel (the travel many of us could not afford to do in our youth), and indeed, with serious restrictions on fuel and energy consumption generally -- after having toiled for so many years, under any number of failed energy policies, to claw our way into the middle classes -- will likely be greeted as the unkindest cut of all, regardless of the indisputable sanity of such policies. This much needs to be understood before readers of my age and background crack open this book: you won't detect much sugar to help the medicine go down. And Monbiot's concluding appeal -- to our children's future (with which, to be fair, he has hardly been preoccupied) -- might do little to allay the sense that our final quarter-century will prove a bumpy environmental ride, both for those who have children and for those of us who don't, whether by choice or by necessity.

That said, and speaking as a former licensed professional engineer -- the Amazon reader review area is one of those online venues where flaunting one's street creds is sometimes a good idea -- I must confess that reading Monbiot's book some months after having viewed Gore's film completes my conversion, in principle, into an environmentally-conscious citizen (doubtless this comprises the political trajectory that Thomas L. Friedman has articulated of late). I write "in principle" simply because I'm not sure I have it in me, regrettably, to live a fully green life in pragmatic terms. But Monbiot's approach throughout is so thoroughly marked by an engineering outlook -- foremost among which is, or should be, the conviction that one never trust a gut instinct -- while evincing at the same time such admirable resistance to the engineering propensity for technofixes of the sort that mistake trees for forest, that I'd urge all readers to place this book at the top of their "to read" lists. In particular -- and this is high praise, to be sure -- Heat is THE book for technical professionals who, deep down inside, have known all along that we must go green, but haven't quite known how to square this sentiment with a professional legacy that has so often been at odds with what it deems (correctly at times, but more often incorrectly) as mere Luddite pretension.

If Monbiot is correct, and I suspect he is, we have a quarter-century left to reduce carbon emissions in the rich nations by 90%, in the meantime instituting a system of energy rationing that is fair and universal. That quarter-century, to those of my age, will not seem like a lot of time. To most of my students, it will seem an eternity. One of my goals as a teacher in the coming semester -- I'm fortunate enough to be able to teach a course that deals with environmental issues -- will be to persuade my students that, as far as the passing of time goes, they ought to think more like old people, or at least, like the middle-aged. Another goal will be to convince them that, if they think *only* like those older than themselves, our most ambitious plans will likely fail. They need, that is, to combine the impatience of youth with the wisdom peculiar to age. I don't know how they'll manage it, but -- with the help of Monbiot's book, and Gore's film, etc. -- I'm prepared to give them a hand, for if the classroom is to be a place of healthy skepticism, it must likewise be a place where we risk (among other things) environmental advocacy.

George Monbiot's book is a great read, packed with practical and innovative solutions and some wonderful dark humour. More important, it shows Monbiot's profound understanding and concern for humanity.

Although huge cuts in greenhouse emissions will be necessary by the year 2030, he explains how this cut can be achieved without bringing industrial civilisation to an end.