Sustainable Energy - without the hot air: 2

For those who are looking for brief, summarised research into climate change and all related matters, this is not the book for you. It is a medium format book with 12pt text and very detailed. It is a scholarly text which will satisfy the most demanding readers.There are very few areas into which it does not look closely relating to the on-going climate change debate and, as the sub-title suggests, it a serious, scientific document. I am sure every reader will learn from it.Highly recommended.PS Out of curiosity I put the title in ChatGTP, a facility Professor MacKay, did not have at time of writing. I could not have put it better myself. 😳“A phrase often associated with the book written by David MacKay. It is a comprehensive guide that explores realistic solutions for achieving sustainable energy without relying on misleading or emotionally charged rhetoric. The book emphasises the importance of data-driven discussions in addressing energy challenges.”PS I forgot to mention that (as a Scot interested in sustainability) I bought a used copy 😇😂 from an online bookshop listed in Amazon*. My text is covered in what look like a student’s or a passionate readers highlighting and annotations. Next to the current consumption per person 125kWh/d is MacKay’s prediction of our best 18kWh/d per person. In the margin next to a large asterisk is “Merde!” [my translation).* While Amazon is great, we also need to support bookshops.

I cannot praise this book highly enough. With admirable clarity, honesty and lack of bias, David MacKay sets out the facts surrounding energy consumption and renewable energy generation. He explains, with the help of clear and not overly complicated mathematics, how much energy our different activities consume. He also explains, in a similar way, the capacity of different sustainable and non-carbon energy sources to meet that consumption. He enables the reader to understand the facts and make comparisons and informed moral choices.The result is quite sobering reading. For example, after reading and understanding this book you will realise that at present rates of individual consumption (flying abroad, driving around a lot, buying lots of consumer goods and turning up the thermostat) there is no way we can meet our energy needs from renewables without also including nuclear power in the mix and/or completely industrialising our landscape (assuming we want to stop using fossil fuels). However MacKay is NOT a doom-and-gloom merchant. The facts speak for themselves. While 'climate change denial' is not logically justifiable after reading this book, MacKay's view is: okay we've got a problem, so let's look at the facts and see what can be done. But let's not obfuscate and cover it up with platitudes like "we've got a huge amount of wind in Britain" ' - as he shows, 'huge' is relative, and it turns out that our consumption is a whole lot huger.The book is beautifully designed and illustrated with clear diagrams expressing all the information you need to understand this topic; all of it useful, and some of it alarming and/or surprising.It should be compulsory reading for students of Year 11 upwards, and should be tax deductable for the rest of us! Having said that, it is also in the public domain so you don't have to buy the book; you can find it online and download the PDF.

Excellent information about where we are with sustainable energy in all its forms, however the stress Government place on wind, in priority to all other forms, means much of the information is academic. It demonstrates that we are a lot of research and development away from any sort of sustainable energy, as a major contributor to electricity production.The amounts of energy per capita is interesting, but it would be more practical if a suggestion of space per capita were available, as well. It is often forgotten that the UK is the worst placed member state in Europe in relation to space per capita, and a great deal of that space is in Scotland, with only 5,000,000 people. If the independence vote is for a parting of the ways, then England Wales and Northern Ireland will be half the size of any major European state.The online version of the book is very helpful, I understand the Kindle version is not operable at the moment. This is a pity as Kindle is operator friendly with Technical Publications, and while the web site is easy to use, it is not as flexible as Kindle has become.