Read more
“An optimistic book that looks at existing technologies and how they can be used now to address the environmental emergency.” Saving our planet is not only possible--it’s possible Look around you. Everything that powers up, gets warm, or moves uses energy. All we have to do is gather it up and put it to work. And that’s the good news: we already have the technology we need to capture the free energy of the sun, wind, ocean waves, and the heat of Earth itself. The bad news isn’t Alternative energy sources such as wind, solar, and geothermal alone may not be enough, but additional power can come from innovative new places: small nuclear reactors the size of an office desk, or space-based solar power satellites that can capture sunlight, convert it to microwaves, and beam it to the ground. Here, Bob McDonald turns his focus to global energy sources to show us that a greener future is achievable.
About the author
BOB MCDONALD has been the host of CBC Radio’s Quirks & Quarks since 1992. He is a regular science commentator on CBC's News Network and a science correspondent for CBC TV’s The National. His book Measuring the Earth with a Stick was shortlisted for the Canadian Science Writers Association Book Award. He has been honoured with the 2001 Michael Smith Award for Science Promotion from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada; the 2002 Sandford Fleming Medal from The Royal Canadian Institute; and the 2005 McNeil Medal for the Public Awareness of Science from the Royal Society of Canada. In November 2011, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.