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15 of 16 found the following review helpful:
 America's energy choices today foretell our destiny, and could change the world! Nov 26, 2007
By Roger Nelson
Are you ready for $100/tank gas? Are you curious why most environmentalists do not have wind turbines in their backyard or solar panels on their roof? Do you want to know why your grandchildren will someday speak Chinese and/or Hindu, and maybe even French?
If these questions intrigue you, then Drs. Wright and Conca new book on the Geopolitics of Energy will engross you. This concise, but complete coverage of why the world's energy future looks so bleak contains not only a description of the problem, but a vision of the only real path forward that may avoid serious societal instability. And it does it both graphically and logically, without recourse to knowledge of history, culture or idealism.
In the very near future, whether driving a hybrid or a gas guzzler, you'll be happy to pay $100 to fill your tank, when you can get gas/alcohol/bio-diesel at all. "Peak Oil" is here, and adequate renewable energy sources are still many decades away. The risk to America in depending on foreign oil is unacceptable, but unavoidable, for many decades as well. Geopolitics of Energy explains that the rising standard of living in rapidly developing nations like China and India will drive the demand for oil past the price that America can support. It explains the inherent limitations of renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, hydro and geothermal. It also honestly questions whether America should use its limited arable land and water resources for producing oil replacements like ethanol or bio-diesel to power the nation, at the expense of growing food.
Geopolitics of Energy posits that America's (and even the world) energy future must balance upon a three-legged stool to reach to the future without societal instability. America learned about, but didn't like and quickly forgot, the first leg during the Arab oil embargo and gas lines of the 1970's: conservation though energy efficiency. The second leg has recently achieved true popularity among the masses. Every day, Americans hear about renewable energy in the form of solar, wind, and bio-fuels. Geopolitics of Energy recognizes that renewables must play a long-term role in the world's energy future, but realistically considers their supply-side limitations.
Finally, Drs. Wright and Conca join other former antinuclear apostles like Patrick Moore, cofounder of Green Peace, James Lovelock, creator of the Gaia hypothesis that Earth is a living organism and Whole Earth founder Stewart Brand, who have all recently resurrected themselves in support of nuclear energy. Drs. Wright and Conca also began their young careers as anti-nuclear activists, but as their professional lives took them to new places and new understanding, they recognized that nuclear power must play just as large a role as other energy sources. Geopolitics of Energy explains why and how we must balance on all three legs of the energy stool to allow all the peoples of the world to achieve an equitable standard of living within a sustainable future.
America needs quick action to change the way we think about and use energy. Geopolitics of Energy will help us make these changes without fighting among ourselves to further individual idealistic goals. Buy it for yourself. Buy it for your children... and theirs.
5 of 5 found the following review helpful:
Mandatory Reading For Politicians Oct 14, 2009
By Jeff Terry
The Geopolitics of Energy is a book that terrifies me. It manages to do so without polar bears and without floods of biblical proportion, etc. This book accurately explains how energy use is related to quality of life. With only 1 billion of the earth's inhabitance within what I consider the quality zone, another 5 billion people will need to be brought up to this standard. This will require a tremendous amount of energy, from where will this energy supply come?
The book recommends that the energy be supplied using a mix of 1/3 fossil fuel, 1/3 renewables, and 1/3 nuclear. Under the projected usage after behavior modification, the authors suggest that even the best scenario has fossil fuels depleted within 100 years. Now that is scary. This best case scenario assumes that we can achieve the 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 ratio by 2040, which is just one generation away. I don't know if the authors proposed ratio is achievable in 30 years. I hope that it is, solar and wind energy will need to grow from 0 to 33%, nuclear would need to grow from 17% to 34%. I am afraid that this is not possible without significant changes in the political climate in the United States. Local zoning boards are preventing wind turbine installations ([...]). No new nuclear plants have been built in the U. S. since work on the River Bend plant began in 1977, one generation ago.
This book goes a long way toward giving lay readers an understanding of the current energy situation. I believe that it should be mandatory reading for anyone elected to public office in the U. S. (and probably the rest of the world). It should also be required reading for all 6th-8th grade students. Unfortunately, they are probably going to be the ones dealing with this mess when 2040 finally rolls around as I expect that my generation will continue to ignore the problem of finding a stable energy supply.
One of the other reviews suggested that this book was improperly cited. The references used to formulate the book are listed in a bibliography. For the target audience of decision makers and general members of the public, I believe that this is sufficient. In fact, in line citations may have made the book difficult for the target audience to read. While I myself would have liked to have seen standard scientific referencing, many of the people that I have passed the book onto have not. I have looked into the references in the bibliography and found that these documents do back up the numbers in the book.
For a book of this type, it is remarkably error free. The only major error is in the table on page 49 in the fossil fuels section. The numbers in the table should read:
157 years 79 years 109 years
40 years 20 years 80 years
57 years 29 years 143 years
instead of the multiple hundreds of years listed.
The book also does a great job of trying to correct the mistaken risks that people believe to be associated with nuclear power. Comparing the number of deaths attributed to coal usage over a 5 year period (30000) to the number of deaths attributed to nuclear power (0) is a stark reminder of how it is possible incorrectly assign risks compared to common behavior, say driving to work (250000 deaths over the same time period).
In general, the authors have covered a tremendous amount of material, political, scientific, and cultural, in a manner that is understandable and very readable. I just hope that those with the power to act listen to their recommendations. Otherwise, the authors may end up having written the best horror book of all time as I would hate to speculate on what the consequences of the U. S. Human Development Index dropping to 0.5 would be.
5 of 5 found the following review helpful:
A stimulating analysis that everyone needs to come to grips with Mar 05, 2008
By Patricia Burns
Energy is a significant factor in determining quality of life. Drs. Wright and Conca provide a broad overview that illustrates through copious graphics, just how important energy is, and what the looming issues are to sustainability of energy--not only for the US--but also for the emerging countries of the world.
While I agree with another reviewer that the lack of footnotes is disappointing, many would see this as a feature, not a bug! For the serious scientist, I do not know of a more concise analysis that frames the significant issues as succinctly (albeit without footnotes). But the real power of the book is how it is targeted for a general audience and lays out the broad brush strokes with enough information that each person can draw their own conclusions regarding the need for immediate and sustained attention to our common problem. In this regard, I think it succeeds admirably.
The book can be thoughtfully read in a couple of 2 or 3 hour sittings. I read mine on an airplane trip and have not stopped talking about it since: with friends, relatives, my electrician, educators, clergy, and Ph.Ds. The logic is clear and the graphics well-chosen and effective to minimize confusion and illustrate the points. This book should not be viewed as a self-contained solution, it is a wake-up call and conversation starter designed to introduce the vocabulary to the uninitiated. Drs. Wright and Conca have started the conversation and I am now participating and encouraging others to do so.
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
Best explanation of energy for laymen that I have read. Oct 18, 2008
By Craig E. Nesbit
Jim Conca's book is by far the easiest to read explanation of the science and politics of energy on the market today. He combines his considerable scientific expertise with a remarkable ability to break down complex science into compelling stories that are so simple even young readers can understand them. Aside from his impressive academic credentials, Conca is an dyed-in-the-wool environmentalist, which gives the book added credibility (not that the book needs it). He gives a wonderful geo-history lesson on the origins of various energy sources, and delves into their environmental and economic impacts of how we use them. Anyone who seriously wants to learn about our 21st century energy conundrum and the solutions that are out there (as opposed to simply boosting or bashing wind, solar, nuclear, coal gas, geothermaal, etc) should read this book.
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
The authors have thrown down the gauntlet for rational, responsible, and aggressive action. Dec 16, 2007
By Michael H. Reynolds
Drs. Wright and Conca, in Chapter One, explain the dynamic relationship among four systems that, with a slight stretch of my imagination, dominated ancient science and philosophy beginning with the Greek philosopher Empepedocles and the alchemists for over 2000 years. The four systems they describe, and the elements of antiquity to which I relate them, are the (a) lithosphere (Earth), (b) atmosphere (Air), (c) hydrosphere (Water), and (d) biosphere (Fire [of life]). The premise that everything was formed from these four elements was firmly held until the rise of modern science. Even today, earth, water, air, and fire are not bad symbols for the four states of matter -- solid, liquid, gas, and plasma. Imbedded in the first sentence of this paragraph is the coalescence of philosophy and science that was characteristic of the ancients. The rise of industrialism and technology separated them so distinctively that now we see no relationship between the humanistic sciences and natural science, and yet it is human behavior that is responsible for the dire technological, environmental state of affairs with which we are wrestling.
This book is exquisitely written to facilitate the lay person's comprehensive understanding of the history of energy and mankind's behavior that has brought us into this energy predicament. The authors underscore the urgency to re-unite philosophy with nature, humanity with science. Amelioration of our energy/environmental crisis does not require exclusively scientific knowledge, but rather changes in technology and applied science based upon law and public policy, on institutional structures and practices, on habits of consumption, and countless other facets of daily life.
The structure and flow of information from Drs. Wright and Conca in this book provide a poignant lesson plan for political science, natural science, social science and economics programs from junior high school through university levels.
Many questions arise for us from their work regarding what effective activities might overcome the political/social/economical/technological issues that have brought us to this critical juncture in the history of earth. Drs. Wright and Conca have answered the technological questions and thrown down the gauntlet for our nation to cast aside irrational fears and to responsibly, rationally, and aggressively reunite the four elements of antiquity in harmony with the life forms they support.
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