Sustainable Energy - Without the Hot Air [Paperback]

David JC MacKay (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 20, 2009

Addressing the sustainable energy crisis in an objective manner, this enlightening book analyzes the relevant numbers and organizes a plan for change on both a personal level and an international scale—for Europe, the United States, and the world. In case study format, this informative reference answers questions surrounding nuclear energy, the potential of sustainable fossil fuels, and the possibilities of sharing renewable power with foreign countries. While underlining the difficulty of minimizing consumption, the tone remains positive as it debunks misinformation and clearly explains the calculations of expenditure per person to encourage people to make individual changes that will benefit the world at large.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"If someone wants an overall view of how energy gets used, where it comes from, and the challenges in switching to new sources, this is the book to read."  —Bill Gates, chairman, Microsoft

"I would choose Sustainable Energy as a text over its competitors because MacKay has moved the energy discussion in the direction where energy alternatives can be considered quantitatively."  —American Journal of Physics

"This is a must-have book for anyone who is seriously interested in energy policy."  —Scott Kirwin, therazor.org

"The main text of his book is readable (and witty) and its technical appendices bristle with equations. If the planet and its people are the patient, MacKay's book is the the lab results, temperature chart and electrocardiogram." —The New York Review of Books (April 26, 2012)

"This is a brilliant book that is both a racy read and hugely informative . . . It shows . . . how cars might become far more efficient but why planes cannot."  —David Newbery, director, Electricity Policy Research Group, University of Cambridge

"Here are the numbers in a form easy to digest about energy use and availability. Fantastic achievement."  —Professor Volker Heine, Fellow of the Royal Society

"May be the best technical book about the environment that I've ever read.  This is to energy and climate what Freakonomics is to economics."  —boingboing.net

"A tour de force . . . As a work of popular science it is exemplary . . . For anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the real problems involved [it] is the place to start."  —economist.com

About the Author

David MacKay is a professor in the department of physics at Cambridge University, a member of the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on Climate Change, and a regular lecturer on sustainable energy.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: UIT Cambridge Ltd.; 1 edition (February 20, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0954452933
• ISBN-13: 978-0954452933
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 0.6 x 11 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (58 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #69,770 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #30 in Books > Business & Investing > Industries & Professions > Oil & Energy
  • #59 in Books > Professional & Technical > Engineering > Energy

More About the Author

David MacKay is a professor in the Department of Physics at Cambridge University, a Fellow of the Royal Society, and Chief Scientific Advisor to the Department of Energy and Climate Change, UK.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

61 of 64 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read if discussing sustainable or renewable energy March 5, 2009

By Albion Exile

Format:Paperback

This book is an essential resource for understanding energy policy as it relates to conservation and to renewable resources.

I've just been listening to yet another "news" report pointing out that compact fluorescent light bulbs don't save much energy because an incandescent light bulb will also heat your house.

Coincidentally I had just read the part of this book dealing with this myth, so I was able to confidently mutter under my breath "true, but only in the winter (when you need the heating) and only if you are heating inefficiently using electricity."

This book puts real numbers to a lot of hand-waving arguments which are used to justify grandiose claims made for different renewable energy sources or to imply that we could save the world if we all just unplugged our mobile phone chargers. Some of the arguments stand up when the numbers are put in, but many don't. When you see what the numbers are, it becomes evident how unrealistic and ineffectual many of the proposals are.

Is it worth unplugging a power block when not in use? Can planes be made more efficient? How much space would solar farms or a wind farms need to occupy to meet our energy needs? How much agricultural land would be required for bio-diesel? All these questions (and many more) are answered.

What makes this book really stand out is that it converts energy amounts to comprehensible units (kilowatt-hours per person per day), supplies copious references for the numbers used, and provides the calculations on which the arguments are based. (Detailed calculations are presented in appendices for the math-averse and should be accessible to anybody with a basic knowledge of physics).

Note. Although this book is primarily aimed at a UK audience (energy consumption figures are based upon UK patterns, and land use proposals are related to UK locations), the discussions are of global applicability.

36 of 38 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Do the numbers! March 4, 2009

By Robert Hargraves

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book is essential for anyone thinking about energy policy. It excels because MacKay does not espouse one specific solution, but rather teaches the reader how to create solutions and evaluate them. He emphasizes that the numbers must add up -- total energy production must equal total energy consumption.

In a way the book is very simple. He leads the reader by the hand in estimating the energy requirements of society - transportation, heat, food, gadgets, and so on. He similarly helps you make credible estimates of achievable production from sources such as sunlight, tides, hydro, nuclear, wind, coal, and oil.

Like a good physicist, MacKay is able stand back and estimate these numbers top-down from first principles, with just enough depth to generate numbers that are credible to you and good enough for policy making.

The charts, graphs, tables, and pictures are extensive and clear.

If you have a particularly loved energy source [wind?] or a particularly hated one [coal?] you can "do the numbers" and build your own energy policy. The only requirement is that the numbers add up!

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential purchase August 9, 2009

By D. BULL

Format:Paperback

I work for an environmental watchdog in New Zealand. I flicked through the first few pages of "Sustainable Energy - without the hot air" as it sat on a colleague's desk, took it back to my own desk and read it for two hours straight, got online and bought my own copy. It's that good.
For a start, this is how environmental science should be communicated; crystal clear text and honest graphs, with simplified theory and ballpark calculations that anyone can follow, backed up by empirical data as a check on results, real examples, frequent references, and explanations of limitations.
But the thinking behind it is every bit as good. MacKay is entirely pragmatic about energy supply and demand, never preachy, and he is game enough to admit when his results surprise even himself. If he is cautiously optimistic in his conclusions, it is because he has laid out a number of justifiable options.
Buy it. Better still, buy it and read it.