Fact and Fiction in Global Energy Policy: Fifteen Contentious Questions

by Benjamin K. Sovacool, Marilyn A. Brown, Scott V. Valentine

Overview

A balanced examination of global energy issues.

Energy sustainability and climate change are two of the greatest challenges facing humankind. Unraveling these complex and interconnected issues demands careful and objective assessment. Fact and Fiction in Global Energy Policy aims to change the prevailing discourse by examining fifteen core energy questions from a variety of perspectives, demonstrating how, for each of them, no clear-cut answer exists.

Is industry the chief energy villain? Can we sustainably feed and fuel the planet at the same time? Is nuclear energy worth the risk? Should geoengineering be outlawed? Touching on pollution, climate mitigation and adaptation, energy efficiency, government intervention, and energy security, the authors explore interrelated concepts of law, philosophy, ethics, technology, economics, psychology, sociology, and public policy.

This book offers a much-needed critical appraisal of the central energy technology and policy dilemmas of our time and the impact of these on multiple stakeholders.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781421418971
Publisher:	Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication date:	04/29/2016
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	392
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.80(h) x 1.40(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Benjamin K. Sovacool is the director of the Center for Energy Technologies, a professor of business and social sciences at Aarhus University, and a professor of energy policy at the Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU) at the University of Sussex.

Marilyn A. Brown is an endowed professor of sustainable systems in the School of Public Policy at the Georgia Institute of Technology. She created and leads the Climate and Energy Policy Laboratory.

Scott V. Valentine is an associate professor in the School of Energy and Environment and the Department of Public Policy at the City University of Hong Kong.

Table of Contents

List of Figures vii

List of Tables ix

Acknowledgments xi

List of Unit Abbreviations xiii

Introduction: Framing Global Energy Policy 1

I Energy and Society

Question 1 Is Industry the Chief Energy Villain? 25

Question 2 Is Energy Efficiency a Worthwhile Investment? 42

Question 3 Should Governments Intervene in Energy Markets? 60

II Energy Resources and Technology

Question 4 Do Conventional Energy Resources Have a Meaningful "Peak"? 83

Question 5 Is Shale Gas a Bridge to a Clean Energy Future? 101

Question 6 Can Renewable Electricity Ever Be Mainstreamed? 120

Question 7 Is the Car of the Future Electric? 141

Question 8 Can We Sustainably Feed and Fuel the Planet? 161

III Climate Change

Question 9 Is Mitigation of Adaptation the Best Way to Address Climate Change? 183

Question 10 Should Geoengineering Be Outlawed? 206

Question 11 Is Clean Coal an Oxymoron? 226

IV Energy Security and Energy Transitions

Question 12 Is Nuclear Energy Worth the Risk? 249

Question 13 Is National Energy Independence Feasible and Desirable? 271

Question 14 Are We Nearing a Global Energy Crisis? 291

Question 15 Can Energy Transitions Be Expedited? 310

Conclusion Values and Truth, Fact and Fiction in Global Energy Policy 331

Index 359

What People are Saying About This

Amory B. Lovins

Energy is no less about facts, data, and choices than about frames, beliefs, and attitudes. This unique, wide-ranging, and valuable compilation delves beneath the surface of diverse energy controversies to reveal what is really at issue and at stake.

Michael P. Vandenbergh

In this era of polarization and simplistic debates, this book provides a refreshingly candid, nuanced, and balanced treatment of the most difficult energy choices.Insightful, penetrating and even witty, this work is the perfect antidote to your typical energy book.

John S. Duffield

Written by some of the most highly regarded energy policy experts active today, this deeply researched book displays an impressive command of a wide range of topics and literatures.

Herman E. Daly

A balanced and stimulating treatment of fifteen major energy policy questions, especially well designed for enriching student discussion.

Elizabeth Shove

Designed as a popular guide to a selection of controversies, this book takes stock of topics that people argue about when they argue about energy. Its central contribution is to show that green debates are made of black and white and many shades of grey. It will be useful reading for students, researchers and even practitioners.

From the Publisher

Designed as a popular guide to a selection of controversies, this book takes stock of topics that people argue about when they argue about energy.  Its central contribution is to show that green debates are made of black and white and many shades of grey.  It will be useful reading for students, researchers and even practitioners.
—Elizabeth Shove, Lancaster University

In this era of polarization and simplistic debates, this book provides a refreshingly candid, nuanced, and balanced treatment of the most difficult energy choices. Insightful, penetrating and even witty, this work is the perfect antidote to your typical energy book.
—Michael P. Vandenbergh, Vanderbilt University

Energy is no less about facts, data, and choices than about frames, beliefs, and attitudes. This unique, wide-ranging, and valuable compilation delves beneath the surface of diverse energy controversies to reveal what is really at issue and at stake.
—Amory B. Lovins, Rocky Mountain Institute

Written by some of the most highly regarded energy policy experts active today, this deeply researched book displays an impressive command of a wide range of topics and literatures.
—John S. Duffield, Georgia State University, author of Fuels Paradise: Seeking Energy Security in Europe, Japan, and the United States

A balanced and stimulating treatment of fifteen major energy policy questions, especially well designed for enriching student discussion.
—Herman E. Daly, University of Maryland, author of Ecological Economics and Sustainable Development

Editorial Reviews

Recommended. . . General readers through faculty.
—Choice

The idea behind this book is excellent - to bring to a wider audience issues relating to energy policy for which no clear-cut answers exist. The writing is clear, and the style aimed at the educated citizen as well as the student.
—Technological Forecasting and Social Change

Fact and Fiction in Global Energy Policy: Fifteen Contentious Questions is that rare book that should, and must, be read by a wide audience: undergraduate and graduate students, policymakers (or at least their staffers), industry representatives, and leaders of an array of energy-focused and/or environmental non-governmental organizations . . . the importance of the ideas in this book, its clear and accessible writing, and the timeliness of its publication should make it required reading for decision-makers in energy and environment policy and practice."
—Environmental Politics

The book provides a valuable resource for stimulating discussion and debate in university and senior secondary school classes, and in the community at large.
—Energy Journal

[Fact and Fiction in Global Energy Policy] urges policymakers and the general public to critically think on how to incorporate such diverse perspectives in a truly sustainable global energy policy.
—Frontiers in Psychology

An essential guide to the international debate on how to create a more sustainable energy system by probing into some of the key areas of contention. . . [highly recommended] as a tour de force that will be of utility to students, researchers and practitioners seeking to better understand global energy policy.
—The London School of Economics Review of Books

It reflects a substantial effort to compile reams of information in a fair and balanced way. . . fills an important gap.
—Review of Policy Research

[Fact and Fiction in Global Energy Policy] accomplishes much in introducing the wide scope of the global energy landscape and outlining many of the challenges and tradeoffs inherent in the creation of global energy policy.
—Journal of Environmental Studies and Science

This book's impressive strengths include its careful and extensive research, relentlessly balanced presentation, thoughtful syntheses, and appeals to move beyond partisanship.
—Ecological Economics

From the Publisher

[Fact and Fiction in Global Energy Policy] urges policymakers and the general public to critically think on how to incorporate such diverse perspectives in a truly sustainable global energy policy.

Frontiers in Psychology

Fact and Fiction in Global Energy Policy: Fifteen Contentious Questions is that rare book that should, and must, be read by a wide audience: undergraduate and graduate students, policymakers (or at least their staffers), industry representatives, and leaders of an array of energy-focused and/or environmental non-governmental organizations . . . the importance of the ideas in this book, its clear and accessible writing, and the timeliness of its publication should make it required reading for decision-makers in energy and environment policy and practice."

Environmental Politics

The idea behind this book is excellent - to bring to a wider audience issues relating to energy policy for which no clear-cut answers exist. The writing is clear, and the style aimed at the educated citizen as well as the student.

Technological Forecasting and Social Change

It reflects a substantial effort to compile reams of information in a fair and balanced way. . . fills an important gap.

Review of Policy Research

This book's impressive strengths include its careful and extensive research, relentlessly balanced presentation, thoughtful syntheses, and appeals to move beyond partisanship.

Ecological Economics

An essential guide to the international debate on how to create a more sustainable energy system by probing into some of the key areas of contention. . . [highly recommended] as a tour de force that will be of utility to students, researchers and practitioners seeking to better understand global energy policy.

The London School of Economics Review of Books

The book provides a valuable resource for stimulating discussion and debate in university and senior secondary school classes, and in the community at large.

Energy Journal

Recommended. . . General readers through faculty.

Choice

[Fact and Fiction in Global Energy Policy] accomplishes much in introducing the wide scope of the global energy landscape and outlining many of the challenges and tradeoffs inherent in the creation of global energy policy.

Journal of Environmental Studies and Science