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Another smartly contrarian assessment of America’s energy situation—and the gulf between the goals of the green movement and our vast need for power—by the author of Gusher of Lies
Journalist Bryce, author of Gusher of Lies and managing editor of online industry newsmagazine Energy Tribune, is nothing if not polemical. While his swings are sometimes familiar ("The essence of protecting the environment can be distilled to a single phrase: Small is beautiful") and sometimes bizarre ("The world isn't using too much oil. It's not using enough"), the points he raises merit serious consideration. In this informed, opinionated state-of-the-industry overview, Bryce contends that energy policy must be based upon four imperatives: "power density, energy density, cost and scale." Wind and solar power, he says, fail those standards due to storage problems and the vagaries of weather; Denmark, the poster child for renewable energy, nevertheless imports hydroelectric power from Norway and Sweden, relies heavily upon North Sea oil and coal, and increased its greenhouse gas emissions by 2.1 percent between 1990 and 2006. Pointing to the environmental cost of hydropower ("ruining habitats for aquatic life"), oil spills, and coal mining, Bryce makes a strong case for heavier reliance upon natural gas, a relatively clean and readily available carbon fuel, as a bridge technology: "The smartest, most forward-looking U.S. energy policy can be summed up in one acronym: 'N2N'," for "natural gas to nuclear power."
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Renson De Castro
reviewed Power Hungry: The Myths of "Green" Energy and the Real Fuels of the Future on May 26, 2011
Power Hungry: The Myths of "Green" Energy and the Real Fuels of the Future
An excellent book that gives the facts on our dependency on coal and oil. Bryce recommends natural gas as an interim solution that leads to nuclear.
In the light of Fukashima, I doubt that any democratically-elected government is brave enough to launch nuclear power plant construction, and in most countries, the population will be highly sceptical of shale gas extraction, which involves pumping water, sand and chemicals into the area where there might be aquifers.
I did not agree with him on two points: He talks about the power density of nuclear. Yes, the power plant and waste occupy small spaces, but the uranium mines involve vast areas of strip-mined land. He says that wind power needs lots of land, but the only part connected to the ground is the tower - a very small amount of real estate. And does it matter in the ocean?
He says that renewables cannot be used for base-line electricity production, but the introduction of the smart/super grid will address this problem.
If Thorium-based nuclear plants are sanctioned now, we will have to wait 20-30 years for the electricity. A huge amount of pollution and C02 will be released in the meantime, plus the "life-cycle cost and CO2 released in construction and fuelling/reprocessing. Building wind farms offshore will not take near as long.
Bryce does not mention tidal or wave power. The potential for tidal power is immense, and a good dollop of research investment will solve the technical problems.
Perhaps energy is proportional to prosperity, but I think the world has to redefine what prosperity really is and stop measuring in terms of GDP growth.
A great book, all the same - everyone should read it!
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