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Many politicians, industry leaders, and even some scientists advocate replacing carbon-based energy carriers with other elements and mineral-based solutions. But in
The Decarbonization Delusion, Andrew Moore argues that we should instead look to the biological Earth as a model for how humans can use carbon sustainably. Moore challenges the idea that the race to decarbonize is good for the planet. In fact, he argues that doing so could lead us further down the road to environmental disaster. Heavily researched,
The Decarbonization Delusion uses sound reasoning and solid data to demonstrate why carbon should continue to play a critical role in our energy economies.
List of contents
- Acknowledgments
- Foreword
- Chapter 1: What carbon "does" in the universe - From the first stars to life on Earth
- Chapter 2: The carbon economy of nutrition and food production - Getting out of control in most respects
- Chapter 3: Sources and sinks - Where carbon compounds accumulate on Earth, and what they do there
- Chapter 4: Fuels, efficiency, and emissions - Understanding carbon-based energy carriers in the larger picture of sustainability
- Chapter 5: The call to "decarbonize" - Public perception, hard-to-abate carbon-positives, and hard-to-achieve carbon-negatives
- Chapter 6: Decarbonizing the car - Trading off CO2 against larger environmental problems?
- Chapter 7: A carbonaceous, biology-inspired recipe for sensible and environmentally-conscious energy economies
- List of figures
- References
- Index of topics
About the author
Andrew Moore is a freelance science writer and communications advisor. Dr. Moore earned his PhD in biochemistry, molecular biology, and protein structural studies through a joint program between the University of Cambridge and the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology, UK. He was Editor-in-Chief of the peer-reviewed journal
BioEssays for 13 years (2008 to 2021), and before that, a programme manager and editor at the European Molecular Biology Organization (1999 to 2008).
Summary
Could the race to de-carbonize our energy systems be leading us closer to environmental disaster?
Why did biology choose carbon, in a variety of compounds, as its energy carrier and storage substance? From the smallest life forms, through multicellular organisms, and up to whole ecosystems, this economy of carbon compounds is fundamentally sustainable. Yet today, many are working to expunge carbon-based energy carriers from human economies, replacing them with solutions based on other elements and minerals. In The Decarbonization Delusion, independent scientist and writer Andrew Moore shows that the race to decarbonize is leading us further down the road to environmental degradation. Instead of banishing carbon, Moore argues that we should look to life on Earth, which has used carbon in highly sustainable ways for 3.5 billion years, as a model for how humans can use carbon sustainably.
The Decarbonization Delusion begins by discussing carbon's role in the inception of the universe and its critical importance in biology. Moore identifies many intriguing features of biology's use of carbon that are crucial to creating sustainable human economies on Earth. Throughout, Moore draws on extensive research and original calculations to disprove common fallacies about carbon-based energy carriers and their alternatives. For example, he shows that the widely perceived superiority of battery technology over carbon-based fuels is, in most regards, a serious misconception that, if not corrected, could have grave environmental consequences.
Politicians, industrial leaders, and even some scientists have contributed to the widespread belief that carbon should have no place in our energy economies. In The Decarbonization Delusion, Moore argues against this idea, asking us to re-think our assumptions and approach sustainable energy development in a more scientific and dispassionate fashion.
Additional text
Why Do I Consider the Book of Such Importance? Because it contains a deep and thorough analysis of the unfolding climate crisis and its implicit ecological impacts. Of even greater importance, it comes up with superior policy recommendations that should inform all of our debates about safeguarding any kind of future. One of its many strengths is its "non-ideological" perspective: Moore consistently follows where the best scientific analysis leads, both in his examination and in his recommendations for the future.
