Wednesday 9 May 2018

Powering the Future

Powering the Future: A Scientist's Guide to Energy Independence Daniel B. Botkin

Botkin is an inspiring person with credentials that include over five decades of experience in environmental science. He is Professor Emeritus at U C Santa Barbara and President of the Center for the Study of the Environment. His writing career began with several science books combining computer modeling and Forest Ecology, and more recently among his works are the classics Discordant Harmonies, and The Moon in the Nautilus Shell; Discordant Harmonies Reconsidered. He writes quite beautifully and is considered an important American thinker and a world-renowned ecologist. He's written at least 12 other books and is a seasoned educator with a widely-used environmental science textbook among his works.
Energy independence is an important topic to be versed in, and Botkin has blended his eloquence with his capacity to write science for a layperson. This is an in-depth analysis, but Botkin has a style that is friendly and easy to read. It's not difficult to understand the scientific concepts he addresses without the daunting aspect of reading something that is considered "in-depth."
The book opens describing recent urban grid blackouts and continues in this direct, down-to-earth fashion. Each energy source is assessed in a special chapter. After the assessment, he follows by addressing energy distribution systems and how things currently work or fail to work, along with inefficiencies and options.
Chapter 7 is a discussion of solar power, and, like the other chapters, makes a reader feel like they are included in the evolution of the science behind the electrical power. The chapter involves opportunities for entrepreneurs, the upside and downside of solar energy and various intriguing new off-the-grid solar technologies. It also addresses the idea of on or off-the-grid in general and is a well-rounded exploration of the topic. It even has a section dedicated to sun-powered vehicles and each chapter includes thinking around transportation. The book is an objective assessment of prospect, costs, limitations, risks, dangers and the trade-offs associated with every leading and emerging source of energy including oil, not gas, coal, hydroelectric, nuclear, wind, solar, ocean power, and biofuels.
To be honest with you, I expected him to be in favour of the type of nuclear reactors that recycle nuclear material, thereby reducing radioactive waste, and that he would talk about new systems for minimizing radioactive waste and other advances that the nuclear industry has developed to assure us they are cleaning up their act. However, Botkin assessed the nuclear industry but then once he came to inefficiencies and failures, didn't give them a passing grade. What I enjoyed about the book the most was that Botkin directly addresses the concern that we cannot continue with our current standard of living while scaling back and shifting our energy consumption. Botkin believes we can, and sets out to prove it throughout the book. I think Botkin succeeds in this endeavor, which makes the book highly reassuring throughout, perhaps too reassuring, given what is at stake.
The final third discusses solutions, the scientific and economically sound path to sustainability and energy independence. Here Botkin's book is most clearly an indispensable primer that should be on the desk of policy-makers, not to mention students, schoolchildren, and everyday people.
In section three of the final chapter, Botkin explores how. This includes designing an energy system, transporting energy, pipelines, the concept of grid vs a smart grid, and a number of other interesting features. Botkin believes that governments are underfunding some of the essential mechanisms required for change, and these include research and development of alternative energy sources, railroads, and going full ahead with solar and wind.
It's not a huge book, but it's still an extraordinary undertaking considering the breadth of the topic(s) involved, one helluva primer rather than the entire owner's manual for energy independence in America.
The resounding message is that the energy and the planning is available to get even a large country like the United States out of crisis, and free from the grip of nuclear power dependence as well.
His analysis and rejection of nuclear power is certainly the point causing the most criticism of the book from the outside world, but it's why I like the book the most.
Energy independence is possible, there is a road map, and this is an excellent example of how it can be done. To paraphrase the back dust-jacket, which also includes the well-earned praise of required reading and a declaration that the book is comprehensive: you may not approve of his allocation of resources, but it's still an impressive read and certainly one of the more thought-provoking books on the topic. Uplifting and recommended.