Reviews for Winning Our Energy Independence: An Energy Insider Shows How

The average rating for Winning Our Energy Independence: An Energy Insider Shows How based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2007-12-17 00:00:00 Luis Velasquez I love that Freeman actually provides calculations and source citations to back up all his numbers. He shows that either solar power alone or wind power alone could provide all of America's energy needs. So it's not at all unreasonable to expect that a combination of solar, wind, biomass, and geothermal (plus the hydroelectric dams we've already built) could eventually cover all of our energy needs. The price of renewables continues to fall closer to being competitive with fossil fuels, but it will still take a while to get there unless the government steps in to help. He would like to see the government demonstrate the feasibility of large centralized solar power plants (Big Solar) by building pilot plants, just as several decades ago it was the government who proved the feasibility of nuclear power. He argues not only against oil and coal, but also against nuclear power. He has a good point: if we want to achieve security through our energy policy, it would be wise not to dig up, transport, and stockpile the raw materials for nuclear weapons. No matter how careful we are with it, the more nuclear material moves around, the more danger there is of it being used by terrorists and whatnot. Freeman does claim that natural gas, as the least polluting (and also readily available in North America) of the big 3 fossil fuels, should be what we use during the transition to renewable energy and as a backup/supplement when necessary; but he argues that no new coal or nuclear plants should be built. Eventually, he'd like to see hydrogen (generated cleanly by renewable energy sources) as the fuel of choice, but he recognizes that it'll take a while to get there, while the technology for plug-in hybrid cars is available right now and they would require no new infrastructure. So he recommends that the government provide strong incentives (such as large rebates) for the development and mass production of plug-in hybrids, which have the potential to heavily reduce our need for oil imports (and which can result in less pollution even now, since it's easier to control pollution at a central electric plant than on the tailpipe of each individual car). Plug-ins with flex-fuel engines (that can run on biofuels too) would also be a good step towards all-electric cars, helping the battery technology develop further. And of course, if Big Solar etc becomes the norm, plug-ins or all-electric cars will be even better for the environment and for our energy security. He presents some good examples of places that are already going on this path. Iceland, for example, is already using geothermal and hydroelectric energy to provide almost all the heat and power they need; they still import oil for cars, but they've started a transition to hydrogen and plan to complete it by 2050. Even in the states, some cities like LA and Austin are working hard on becoming green; and the more that do, the bigger the market will be and thus the cheaper this technology will get. Inspiring stuff!

Review # 2 was written on 2009-04-12 00:00:00 John Locallo This is a good basic overview about ways the US government and people can rethink our current energy and climate change crisis. Since David Freeman's been behind-the-scenes since the Johnson administration, he has a lot of experience with energy issues and gives a more reputable sense. I met him yesterday to talk about the book and he is quite the spitfire man with a progressive attitude. Definitely a good book to get those conspiracy theories about the government going...