The Truth About Energy: Our fossil-fuel addiction and the transition to renewables

John K. White
Softcover, 720 pages, Cambridge University Press (2024)

We are at the beginning of a revolution, as profound as the IT revolution and the advent of the microchip in the 1960s. The ET or Energy Technology revolution isn't advancing as fast or as easily, however, with an entrenched carbon economy still at the forefront of everyday use, led by an old-world, fossil-fuel industry, despite decreasing oil supplies and the increasing consequences of harmful emissions. Institutional change comes slowly. Revolutions are disruptive. They change everything.

Resources

• General Energy News Links

• Household Grid Use Calculator

• Recommended Energy Books

• 50 Energy Movies

• 50 Energy Songs (coming soon)

• Energy Tours (coming soon)

Some questions answered in The Truth About Energy
What type of radiation is heat? • Why was James Watt's steam engine unique? • Is all coal the same? • Where was the first commercial electric-generating station and who built it? • How is petroleum separated into components and what is the difference between petrol/gasoline and diesel? • How rich were John D. Rockefeller, Henry Ford, and J. Paul Getty? • What is the difference between conventional and unconventional oil? • How much oil is in controlled by OPEC and what is "peak" oil? • What is the difference between natural, enriched, weapons-grade, and depleted uranium? • Should be worried about Chernobyl and Fukushima? • Where does all the nuclear waste go? • Why does the temperature in a tokamak need to be 10 times that of the sun's core? • Who made the first functional solar cell? • What is the difference between a solar cell and a light-emitting diode (LED)? • What is the difference between a PV and a CSP solar installation? • Where is the world's largest solar farm? • Where are the world's largest onshore and offshore wind farms? • When and where was the first geothermal power plant? • Is hydroelectric power green? • Why did Nikola Tesla originally use AC current? • Which company was the first to use computer batteries for cars? • What is VPP and V2G? • Can we power a house from a car? • Why is lithium salt ("white petroleum") in such demand? • Will cutting down on plastic reduce petroleum use? • Can we make a difference to global warming from more conservation in the home?

The Truth About Energy: Our fossil-fuel addiction and the transition to renewables

John K. White
Softcover, 720 pages, Cambridge University Press (2024)

We are at the beginning of a revolution, as profound as the IT revolution and the advent of the microchip in the 1960s. The ET or Energy Technology revolution isn't advancing as fast or as easily, however, with an entrenched carbon economy still at the forefront of everyday use, led by an old-world, fossil-fuel industry, despite decreasing oil supplies and the increasing consequences of harmful emissions. Institutional change comes slowly. Revolutions are disruptive. They change everything.