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This book puts the debates about the energy-climate continuum on a scientific ground!
It is a must-read for everyone, who wants to understand how intimately the energy and climate debates are linked to each other, and who wants to participate in these omnipresent discussions. Antoine Bret explains in his book how fossil fuels became indispensable for our society. He carefully explains how and why this impacts the earth's climate. And he points out that all available fossil fuels will sooner or later be used up. Therefore, he introduces and discusses the alternatives, which are currently considered.
The book is divided into three parts. The first part explains the problem and where we stand today, the second part critically discusses possible elements of solution. The third part illustrates historic case studies, containing both warning as well as encouraging examples of societies at turning points.
This book is a careful introduction to these topics. The basic science behind the problem and the debates are introduced in an understandable and nicely readable fashion. Facts are illustrated with simple back-on-the-envelope calculations, providing a good feeling for orders of magnitudes. A rich appendix provides additional background information for the interested readers. In this way, the book can even be a valuable resource for introductory university courses in physics, climate science, natural science and many more subjects.
This book is a real conversation starter and can be recommended to everyone, specialist or non-specialist, who wants to understand the actual energy-climate debates and maybe even involve.
List of contents
Part I The Problem: What is the problem? Men and Joules.- A few Must-Know.- Fossil Fuels.- ABC of Climate Science.- Part II Elements of Solution: Energy Storage, Carbon Sequestration and Geo-Engineering.- Non-Fossil Energy Sources.- Constraints and Hazards.- A Toy Model.- Part III History: Why Societies are Fragile.- When Things went wrong.- When Things went right.- Appendices.
Report
"This book is a thoughtfully laid-out guide to help the reader grasp the immensity and intimacy of the energy and climate connection: a conversation starter and igniter. ... you will be invited to draw your own conclusions about the issues presented as you gain basic insight into the energy and climate relationship. ... As a specialist in energy education, I have read and digested countless energy and climate change articles, books, and classroom lessons. ... The Energy-Climate Continuum is refreshingly different." (Cynthia Howell, Reports of the National Center for Science Education, September-October, 2015)
"This book addresses the threats and opportunities facing the global energy systems, explaining in a readable way how strongly the energy and climate debates are interconnected. ... The book, which is very much worth reading by everyone who wants to understand the present energy-climate debate, shows that we need the development of all potentially viable options for low-carbon energy, promoting research and favouring innovation without jeopardising the security of energy supply." (Carlos Hidalgo, Europhysics News, Vol. 46 (5-6), 2015)
