As the climate crisis grows worse, many people question whether we can phase out human greenhouse-gas emissions before an irreversible feedback cycle begins. As a belated New Year's present for 2008, I want to offer for free the full text of my book Cooling It! No Hair Shirt Solutions to Global Warming, to increase optimism.
We not only have the technical capability to phase out fossil fuels over the course of 30 years, we can eliminate 94 percent of emissions within 20. The cost is close to zero: between savings from efficiency and renewable sources that are more expensive than fossil fuels (but not that much more expensive), the market cost will balance out to around what we pay now. That is before we gain benefits from less pollution and less climate chaos.
A lot of people worry (and rightfully so) not about the technical solutions, but about the politics of implementing them. They are right to do so; but the fact that we are missing huge opportunities for efficiency gains -- even at current prices -- shows that there is a political opportunity as well as a political danger. Let the people of the U.S. and the world understand the great opportunities green technology offers for better living and real wealth creation for the vast majority.
The old story that the Chinese character for "crisis" is composed of the characters for "danger" and "opportunity" is false -- but the metaphor is too good to drop.
You can download the entire book as a single file (or chapter by chapter) here.
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Comments
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gogreener Posted 10:05 am
29 Jan 2008
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Go Greener, Australia - you know you want to.
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elbarto Posted 2:41 pm
29 Jan 2008
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Gareth Posted 5:44 pm
29 Jan 2008
I'm not free to do the same with Hot Topic, but a PDF version's cheap, and I can do review copies for selected people... ;-)
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vincentcarragher Posted 12:36 am
30 Jan 2008
just a quip to back up the backbone of this book.
there is an attitude behaviour gap which needs to be closed for real change.
to see real change please log onto this website which defines the progress made within a community in the non-green Ireland.
anyway here goes http://www.ul.ie/lowcarbonfutures
regards
vincent carragher
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Gar Lipow Posted 1:22 am
30 Jan 2008
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stopgreenpath Posted 9:38 am
30 Jan 2008
you seriously do not even mention it, as though it's no biggie, while you ramble on and on about lengthy transmission and how you can't generate power near cities. it's called rooftop PV, you may have heard of it? it could power 100% of any city in the west during daylight hours, and once storage R & D improves, 100% during all hours, especially when paired with effective CONSERVATION (which is bigger and more effective than "efficiency" alone).
urban turbines are also easy to do. it does not have to be "hot" or even "clear" for PV to work, just "light." PV panels also GREATLY reduce "thermal heat island effects" resulting from paving over too much area (like in cities), which will greatly reduce power needs in the form of A/C.
man, you gotta dig a lot deeper. check out rocky mountain institute if you want some smart people doing some righteous projects and advocating for clean, profitable, and feasible energy policies - you will see how the big boys rock this topic. keep fighting the good fight, just please think through all the consequences...
the greenest energy is that which you needn't ever produce.
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Gar Lipow Posted 4:17 pm
31 Jan 2008
PV is still extremely expensive. And, as I pointed out in the book, total land area to produce all our power from solar thermal and wind farms would be a great deal less than is consumed by hydro and by coal. Not to mention that especially wind, but also solar thermal rest on the land a lot less heavily than coal.
As to urban wind turbines. Look at the actual cost per kWh of the things. (Not the manufacturers claims, but actual costs and actual production per turbine.)
Look I love the idea of urban turbines. I love the idea of deployment of solar cells on every unshaded rooftop, south wall, and perhaps shading parking lots and roads as well. And I have some real hopes they will be ready soon. But they are not ready on same scale as industrial wind or solar thermal today.
Note that when "big boy" Amory Lovins talks about making hydrogen for his absurd hydrogen path from renewables instead of natural gas, he cites industrial wind from the Midwest as the immediate potential source.
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