Humans have a trait that distinguishes us from all other species: the ability to use fire. We turn on a switch and light comes into our homes. With the turn of a key, vehicles take us where we want to go. We adjust a thermostat in our homes to make us warm or cool. These are everyday events we hardly think about. It took centuries of vision, science and engineering to achieve this comfort-point in our long evolutionary journey. Today, an average person lives better than kings lived several centuries ago. As we revealed the facts behind global warming in our last book, The Resilient Earth, we take the same tack in out latest work, The Energy Gap. In its pages, we present the hard science and engineering that will close a looming energy gap for our country and the world. There is also a warning. If we chose the political route, the activist route, the human race will slide backwards for the first time since the Industrial Revolution. If we choose the correct path, as revealed in The Energy Gap, our species will continue its forward march towards a brighter future for all on Earth
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For the last half century the United States has been the acknowledged leader of the free world, especially in scientific and technological innovation. In recent decades, however, it appears that America has stumbled badly in one area: the quest for clean reliable energy. Other nations around the world have seized the initiative, announcing bold alternative energy programs. But they too are finding the path to a secure energy future difficult and fraught with hazards.
Your authors are both products of the latter half of the 20th century--an age when American ingenuity and optimism knew no bounds. We have watched with increasing concern as belief in progress has waned, both in the US and around the world. The future is now looked upon by many with fear and trepidation. The technology that has served us so well is now suspect, the energy that powers our factories and lights our cities viewed by many as a curse that is destroying nature and may even lead to our own destruction. The belief that each succeeding generation would enjoy a better quality of life than their parents has been called into question.
At the heart of this wave of lowered expectations and self loathing there is a growing problem, the shortfall between energy supplies and demand--an ever widening energy gap. And this is not just an American problem, every nation on Earth is scrambling to secure the energy their citizens require. At the same time, anti-globalization protesters, ecological activists, United Nations bureaucrats and meddling politicians are all using fear of climate change and the hunt for clean energy as a way to pursue their private agendas. In The Energy Gap, we will reveal where the problem lies and how to move forward to a safe, secure, and ecologically sound energy future using proven technology we already possess.
Your authors are both products of the latter half of the 20th century--an age when American ingenuity and optimism knew no bounds. We have watched with increasing concern as belief in progress has waned, both in the US and around the world. The future is now looked upon by many with fear and trepidation. The technology that has served us so well is now suspect, the energy that powers our factories and lights our cities viewed by many as a curse that is destroying nature and may even lead to our own destruction. The belief that each succeeding generation would enjoy a better quality of life than their parents has been called into question.
At the heart of this wave of lowered expectations and self loathing there is a growing problem, the shortfall between energy supplies and demand--an ever widening energy gap. And this is not just an American problem, every nation on Earth is scrambling to secure the energy their citizens require. At the same time, anti-globalization protesters, ecological activists, United Nations bureaucrats and meddling politicians are all using fear of climate change and the hunt for clean energy as a way to pursue their private agendas. In The Energy Gap, we will reveal where the problem lies and how to move forward to a safe, secure, and ecologically sound energy future using proven technology we already possess.
About the Author
Authors Doug L. Hoffman and Allen Simmons both have strong backgrounds in science and engineering. Hoffman has a PhD in Computer Science from the U. of North Carolina where he did research in molecular dynamics and protein structure. Currently he serves as senior grid architect for a major IP company and as an adjunct Professor of Computer Science at UCA and Hendrix College. Simmons has a BSEE from U. of Miami and worked first for Bell Labs, then twelve years for NASA. Subsequently, he met Hoffman and, together, developed a complete hardware/software system to track nuclear submarines and targets at a deep ocean test range in the Caribbean Sea. Returning to the States, and after completing a Navy test project for the F-18, both men ventured to Saudi Arabia to participate in the construction of an industrial city, where latest technologies of co-generation, refining and desalination were implemented.
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6 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Our new book, The Energy Gap, is now available for purchase on Amazon.com. The Energy Gap is a book about energy--its history, where it comes from, how much the world has left and what it all means for the future of humanity. While mankind has been distracted by wars, disasters and pending crises like global warming, a real crisis has been advancing upon all the people's of the world--a growing energy gap that threatens to eclipse all other problems that now consume our attention. At stake is human civilization itself, because without energy our machines will stop and our cities will go dark. The only thing that keeps war, plague and famine from sweeping across the globe is something most of us take for granted: inexpensive, abundant energy. The Energy Gap is your guide to the upcoming energy crisis and the political debates that are just starting to emerge.
Energy is the biggest problem that nobody is talking about. After 500 years of technological progress, humanity seems to have stumbled. All around the world, people's expectations are being lowered and austerity is the new watchword. Here is how we framed the problem in the preface:
"The future is now looked upon by many with fear and trepidation. The technology that has served us so well is now suspect, the energy that powers our factories and lights our cities is viewed by many as a curse that is destroying nature and may even lead to our own destruction. The belief that each succeeding generation would enjoy a better quality of life than their parents has been called into question.
At the heart of this wave of lowered expectations and self loathing there is a growing problem, the shortfall between energy supplies and demand--an ever widening energy gap.... Read more ›
Energy is the biggest problem that nobody is talking about. After 500 years of technological progress, humanity seems to have stumbled. All around the world, people's expectations are being lowered and austerity is the new watchword. Here is how we framed the problem in the preface:
"The future is now looked upon by many with fear and trepidation. The technology that has served us so well is now suspect, the energy that powers our factories and lights our cities is viewed by many as a curse that is destroying nature and may even lead to our own destruction. The belief that each succeeding generation would enjoy a better quality of life than their parents has been called into question.
At the heart of this wave of lowered expectations and self loathing there is a growing problem, the shortfall between energy supplies and demand--an ever widening energy gap.... Read more ›
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
A very good book on the impending energy crisis that many of the worlds developed countries are likely to suffer from due to their implementation of green energy policies. The book highlights the failures of the policies and the science behind them in a very clear manner.
It also addresses means to over come the issues and provide mankind with the lasting energy supply that modern life requires.
It also addresses means to over come the issues and provide mankind with the lasting energy supply that modern life requires.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
If you liked their last book, The Resilient Earth, you will love this one
July 8, 2010
By NYC Lady
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
The authors, Hoffman and Simmons, should be running the US Department of Energy. Just like their last book, The Resilient Earth, where they started with the beginning of Earth and took us on a journey of how, when and why our planet's climate is what it is today, their new tome, The Energy Gap, takes a similar course with insightful vignettes of history, science and engineering as they relate to energy. Right out of the gate about energy, they write: "Prehistoric people, indistinguishable from modern humans, lived through frigid times aided by instincts, hunting skills, cooperation and by using the one thing that separates humans from all other species. That thing is not the use of tools, or even speech; it is the use of fire." The authors then take us on a journey of energy sources, starting with wood, coal, whale oil, petroleum, nuclear and then the book reveals something happened. The cycle of energy sources that leads to new technology, and new technology that leads to new energy sources went awry when we arrived at nuclear power. For the first time in human history, we stopped and look backward, not forward. Yes, for the first time, since the advance of the industrial revolution, where the average person in the developed world, lives better than kings did several centuries ago, we turned our back on a new technology. And that technology is nuclear. In clear, straightforward language, with backup numbers, the authors explain the folly of unreliable, variable, energy sources, called renewables. They do not make up stories about energy sources, they back up their words with facts, graphs, illustrations and numbers. Anyone who receives an electric bill each month should read this book.... Read more ›
4 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By Crosslands
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
The authors Doug Hoffman and Allen Simmons have written a very interesting book on energy and how humans can use the physical phenomenon. The authors in their book describe the various sources of energy, their historical development, how they are used, and their advantages and disadvantages. Hydrocarbon fuels, renewable energy, and nuclear fuels are all included. The chapters on nuclear energy are particularly good. The authors describe the major six proposed Generation IV nuclear reactors which have the potential in the future to meet the energy needs of humanity, or in the authors words solve the problem of the energy gap, safely and efficiently. The writing is clear and interesting to the reader.
The authors also include very interesting and informative chapters on the energy grid, hybrid and electric cars, and energy conservation. The authors are to be praised for exposing the ideology and antics of the environmentalists. They demonstrate how the environmentalists oppose virtually all central generation of energy, whether nuclear, hydrocarbon or wind and solar. The environmentalists apparently want to destroy industrial civilization and limit humanity in the United States and elsewhere to cottage industry. This effort if successful would devastate human living conditions and lead to many deaths from starvation and disease.
The authors recommend the use of nuclear energy as a long term solution the problem of the energy gap or energy shortage. This view point is very well supported by all available evidence.
However there are some problems with this work. First the authors assume that hydrocarbon fuels were made from decayed fossils. Thus they neglect the vast and growing evidence for the abiogenic theory of hydrocarbon fuels.... Read more ›
The authors also include very interesting and informative chapters on the energy grid, hybrid and electric cars, and energy conservation. The authors are to be praised for exposing the ideology and antics of the environmentalists. They demonstrate how the environmentalists oppose virtually all central generation of energy, whether nuclear, hydrocarbon or wind and solar. The environmentalists apparently want to destroy industrial civilization and limit humanity in the United States and elsewhere to cottage industry. This effort if successful would devastate human living conditions and lead to many deaths from starvation and disease.
The authors recommend the use of nuclear energy as a long term solution the problem of the energy gap or energy shortage. This view point is very well supported by all available evidence.
However there are some problems with this work. First the authors assume that hydrocarbon fuels were made from decayed fossils. Thus they neglect the vast and growing evidence for the abiogenic theory of hydrocarbon fuels.... Read more ›
