Table of Contents
Acknowledgments xiii
Preface xv
Introduction 3
I Energy Catastrophes 9
1 Fukushima 11
Meltdown 11
Radioactive Release 15
Radioactivity and Death 17
The Denver Dose 20
Bottom Line: What Should We Do? 23
2 The Gulf Oil Spill 26
The Deepwater Horizon Accident 29
Damage 33
Iatrogenic Disease 35
3 Global Warming and Climate Change 38
A Brief Introduction to Global Warming 39
Tipping Points 50
Local Variability 52
Hurricanes 54
Tornadoes 56
Polar Warming 57
The Hockey Stick 60
Sea Level Rise 62
Assuming It Is a Threat-Can We Stop Global Warming? 65
Geoengineering 72
The Global-Warming Controversy 73
II The Energy Landscape 77
Recycled Energy 81
Energy Security 82
4 The Natural-Gas Windfall 87
Fracking and Horizontal Drilling 93
Shale Gas Reserves 96
Ocean Methane 98
5 Liquid Energy Security 102
Hubbert's Peak 105
6 Shale Oil 109
7 Energy Productivity 112
Invest for a 17.8% Annual Return, Tax-Free, with No Risk 114
Invest for a 209% Annual Return, Tax-Free, with No Risk 118
Government Energy Productivity Policy 119
Other Great Investments 123
Cool Roofs 123
More Efficient Autos 124
Energy-Efficient Refrigerators 126
The McKinsey Chart 127
Feel-Good Measures That Don't Necessarily Work 129
Buses 130
Recycling Paper 131
Power Blackouts 131
The Smart Grid 134
A Case Study: Smart Meters in California 135
III Alternative Energy 139
8 Solar Surge 145
The Physics of Sunlight 145
Solar Thermal 146
Photovoltaic Cells 150
Silicon 153
CdTe (Cadmium Telluride) 154
CIGS (Copper Indium Gallium Selenide) 155
Multijunction Cells 157
Solar-Cell Summary 158
9 Wind 159
10 Energy Storage 167
Batteries 167
The Physics and Chemistry of Batteries 169
The Future of Batteries 170
Bottled Wind: Compressed-Air Energy Storage (CAES) 171
Flywheels 173
Supercapacitors 176
Hydrogen and Fuel Cells 177
Natural Gas 177
11 The Coming Explosion of Nuclear Power 179
Blowing Up 180
Cost 183
Small Modular Nuclear Reactors 185
Running Out of Uranium? 192
Fukushima Deaths 193
Nuclear Waste Storage 194
The Coming Nuclear Explosion 197
12 Fusion 199
Tokamak 201
NIF, the National Ignition Facility 205
Beam Fusion 207
Muon Fusion 210
Cold Fusion 213
13 Biofuels 219
Ethanol from Corn 220
Biodegradable Is Bad? 221
Pseudo-biofuels 222
Ethanol from Cellulose 223
Ethanol from Algae 225
14 Synfuel and High-Tech Fossil Fuels 227
Synfuel 228
Coal Bed Methane 231
Coal Bed Gasification 231
Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) 233
Oil Sands 234
15 Alternative Alternatives: Hydrogen, Geothermal, Tidal, and Wave Power 236
Hydrogen 236
Geothermal 239
Tidal Power 243
Wave Power 246
16 Electric Automobiles 248
The Electric Auto Fad 250
Tesla Roadster 251
Chevy Volt 252
Nissan Leaf 253
Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles 254
Lead-Acid Batteries 255
Recharge Time 256
Effective Miles per Gallon 256
Ordinary Hybrids 258
Battery Challenges 259
17 Natural-Gas Automobiles 261
18 Fuel Cells 266
19 Clean Coal 273
IV What is Energy? 281
The Properties of Energy 281
Energy in Foods, Fuels, and Objects 281
Is Energy a Thing? 282
The Meaning of Energy 284
Energy as Taught to High School Students and College Freshmen 285
Energy as Taught to Sophomores 285
Energy as Taught to Juniors 286
Energy as Taught to Seniors and Graduates 286
The Beauty of Energy 288
V Advice for Future Presidents 291
Energy Technology Policy 294
Energy Productivity 294
Natural Gas 294
Shale Oil 294
Synfuel 295
Hybrids and Plug-in Hybrids 296
Nuclear 296
Key Considerations 297
Global Warming and China 297
More on Energy Productivity 299
Electric Power Grid and Venture Capitalism 301
Subsidies 301
Energy Catastrophes 301
Beware 302
Beware of Fads 302
Beware of Risk-Benefit Calculations 302
Beware of the Precautionary Principle 303
Beware of Optimism Bias and Skepticism Bias 303
Beware of Aphorisms 304
Your Legacy 305
Notes 307
Credits 323
Index 327