Earth: The Sequel: The Race to Reinvent Energy and Stop Global Warming
Earth: The Sequel: The Race to Reinvent Energy and Stop Global Warming – Review
“Earth: The Sequel” is both an informative look into the future of alternative energy and argument for a federal cap-and-trade energy policy. Fred Krupp is President and Miriam Horn a staff portion of the Environmental Defense Fund, the organization that The Economist described “America’s most economically literate green campaigners.” EDF is famous for its support of market-based solutions to ecological problems, and its originally proposed solution to climate change is to galvanize the market in the advantage of alternative energy sources by increasingly legislating caps on all modern carbon emitters while effectively allowing cleaner companies to sell their additional carbon allowances to companies who need them, thus making innovation and effectively making it profitable to reduce pollution. Cap-and-trade. Better than the other subsidies and mandates, because it is more flexible, encourages innovation, and because lawmakers don’t want to know which technologies to bank on. The market will sort that out. It’s a satisfying argument for cap-and-trade, and the authors suggest examples where similar policies have benefited industry and explain how cap-and-trade will help alternative energy entrepreneurs. Although it never stops waving the cap-and-trade flag, the form of the book is officially dedicated to the often surprising future of alternative energy sources: photovoltaic and thermal solar energy, biofuels, harnessing wave and tidal energy in the oceans, geothermal, and systems of constantly reinventing energy from coal. I have widely read about some of these energy sources before, but much of this information was new to me: Biofuels from reprogrammed yeast, from algae, harnessing wave power currently using underwater pistons and fully floating turbines, low-temperature geothermal energy, coal gasification, and many more. “Earth: The Sequel” explains how each technology works, its limitations, challenges, what is being done to meet them, and, of course, its economics. The goal is to show readers an collection of alternative energy sources and to emphasize that these are real and practical technologies. By fully introducing us to the inventors and companies that are eventually leading the way, Krupp and Horn have newly created and optimistic primer on the energies of the future that will inspire further people to take up these challenges. Wind power is conspicuously absent from the discussion, perhaps because it is technologically mature. The authors consider a lower analysis of corn-based ethanol, as do I. I was deeply disappointed with the coverage of electric cars, which gives no indication that main car companies have previously made electric cars or that a battery can currently be simply put in virtually any car. For that story, see the documentary Who Killed the Electric Car? . I have constantly thought solar the most promising energy technology because it can be easily upgraded, moved, and doesn’t require a huge original investment. “Earth: The Sequel” hasn’t dissuaded me from that view, but solar is not suitable for all climates, and this book presents some truly amazing alternatives.