Clean Disruption of Energy and Transportation: How Silicon Valley Will Make Oil, Nuclear, Natural Gas, Coal, Electric Utilities and Conventional Cars Obsolete by 2030

I’ve read this book twice, and on the second reading was quite amazed by the fact that quite a few of Tony Seba’s predictions are coming true faster than he forecast despite my initial skepticism. Political influences are looking somewhat akin to King Canute.

The recent drop in oil price is a sign not just of how things are at the moment but a clear reflection of the foresight of investors. There is storm coming and the oil industry can do little to save their large profits. Tony Seba makes a convincing argument that Tesla motors and the ingenuity of Google et al et al will - and are - changing the transport industry.The book itself is not entirely one to delight the literary senses but rather bombards them with fact after fact about dwindling "green" costs and increasing hydrocarbon costs (not quite with the recent drop but his argument stands). Tony Seba picks apart the economics of the oil, gas, biofuel and nuclear sources of energy while plugging a case for solar (predominantly) and wind. Furthermore he provides the latest insights into autonomous vehicles which may be hired Uber style at the touch of a button. And so on and so forth.But - like any book on energy - there is an opposing argument which he does not address. Electric cars may certainly change our road bound transport but planes are many many years away from being powered by anything other than hydrocarbons. It would require a total redesign of the jet engine. Not to mention the may other uses for oil such as plastics etc. But equally so there is major trouble on the horizon which he grazes in the book. The use of solar panels for personal use has had a significant impact on the value of the utility companies in Germany. Who is to pay for the upkeep of a central grid and gas network? (Gas saves lives in cold winters and is needed to cover wind energy). The governments cannot afford the upkeep alone and - with a loss in revenue from petrol/diesel sales - will be forced to tax solar panels heavily. One could argue endlessly and this is a book review I guess.The book itself is what one expects from a low key publisher - looks a bit like a pdf printed from a normal printer. But all the images are clear and I have no complaints about the publishing - apart from the blatant repetition of a few lines on succeeding pages. This makes me think that this book amy just be an amalgamation of blogs. Convincing and well researched blogs nonetheless.Worth the money.

Well written book on what the future of transport (it's autonomous electric) and energy production will be. Since buying the book I have been following the author on Youtube and the graphs he uses are actually falling behind the cost reduction in batteries.

This book is now 6 years old - and its predictions appear to have been spot on; perhaps even a little conservative.A real Eye-opener!!

The good news is this book is incredibly positive about the future of solar. The bad news is this book is incredibly positive about the future of solar. The discussion of learning curves, cost curves and relative costs are all very instructive as is the idea that solar is the first energy source that will have an improving cost basis over time. On the other hand, there is only the slightest acknowledgement of the challenges that solar, EVs and autonomous vehicles will face. Maybe as an entrepreneur (as Tony is) this is the attitude you need to push these things through. Regardless, would have like to have seen a touch more balance.

Good book that while now a little dated has stood the test of time. Easy to read and very clear in hypothesis and conclusion

Interesting read, some very interesting facts and figures

Tony Seba brings an amazing insight into the fundamentals of the energy industry that underpins everything we do. Great news - big centralised utilities and dirty power generators are going down - sooner than we all can imagine !

Written in 2014, read in 2024… most of what was predicted bu the book has become reality. Unfortunately Big Oil still has a strong grip on world politicians. Hope that sheer economics will end oil age soon.

Absolute Kaufempfehlung

Must read it!

Produto de acordo com as especificações.

Cosas positivas, la gran mayoría de escenarios que propone son posibles, aunque no olvidemos que a veces las decisiones en sectores estratégicos como son energía y transporte a veces tiene más peso la política que la técnica. A pesar de eso es un hecho que la energía solar no para crecer y no parará los próximos 20 o 30 años. Pero de ahí a que dejemos de utilizar petróleo en 10 años me parece algo excesivo.Igualmente recomiendo su lectura a todos aquellos que trabajen en estas industrias porque es un punto de vista muy interesante el que se muestra en el libro.