Energy and American Society Thirteen Myths

Features

• Cover Type: Hard Cover with 371 pages
• Published by: Springer
• Edition: 1st Edition January 3, 2007
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 1402055633
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-1402055638
• Book Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Weighs: 1.8 pounds

Product Review


From the reviews:

‘This is a brilliant, bold, and fascinating book. It is a work of stunning originality, combining traditional policy analysis with sociology, history, and philosophy to create a rich, textured account of the interactions between energy, culture, and technology. At a period of growing consumption and constrained energy supply in the United States, especially important are chapters assessing the remaining potential, reliability, and profuse benefits of energy efficiency practices and programs. It is a work that should be read by anybody even remotely concerned about energy, the environment, or the future of American society.’

(Art Rosenfeld, Commissioner, California Energy Commission and recipient of the 2006 Enrico Fermi Award)

‘While the diffuse energy challenges facing the country have never been so great, this book sheds important insight into how many of them might be managed and resolved.The myths debunked in this volume continue to complicate energy policy decisions and confound analysts, consumers, and politicians.This work is a must-read for anyone interested in American energy policy.’

(Kateri Callahan, President, Alliance to Save Energy)

‘For too long, U.S. energy policy has been directed by a series of canards so often repeated that they pass for common knowledge. By collecting the best minds to debunk the greatest of these myths, Sovacool and Brown have brought us a step closer to finding a national energy policy based on common sense.’

(Chris Cooper, Executive Director, Network for New Energy Choices)

‘Any thoughtful observer of U.S. energy production and consumption patterns might readily conclude that current energy policy has been driven more by myth and assumption than by even-handed assessment. As we work and build for the future - indeed, if we take seriously our responsibility to the future - our deliberations about smart energy policy must follow from a conscious and informed dialogue. Sovacool and Brown provide a bold and imaginative way forward.’

(John A. "Skip" Laitner, Visiting Fellow and Senior Economist, American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy)

"Considering how crucial solving our energy dilemmas will be to the nation’s future well-being, it would seem troubling how little consensus there is on basic elements in our energy policy. Benjamin K. Sovacool and Marilyn A. Brown take a step to address this matter with Energy and American Society: Thirteen Myths, new from Springer, in which the editors reach out to a broad range of policy experts to explode some of these misconceptions … . it tackles topics on a variety of issues." (The Electricity Journal, Vol. twenty (5), 2007)

"This book offers a valuable debunking of the various controversies surrounding energy policy … . The individual essay authors are experts from various energy-related disciplines and have picked 13 myths to discuss. … Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels." (J. C. Comer, Choice, Vol. 45 (1), 2007)

"The contributing authors, prominent scholars and practitioners succeed in varying degrees in exposing the myths and replacing them with the truths. The effect is rewarding to both technical and non-technical audiences since the book is written in plain English and is easily digested by anyone with a rudimentary background or interest in energy economics." (Fereidoon P. Sioshansi, Energy Policy, Vol. 35 (12), 2007)

"Benjamin K. Sovacool and Marilyn A. Brown, using a similar pedagogic device, have developed a list of thirteen of their own myths … . My wish is that this fine book would be more available to and more appealing to a wider audience. Its messages are too important … . The material on the Thirteen Myths deserves … a wide audience, an audience that is out there, interested, motivated, and—armed with the information in this book—capable of driving change." (Martin J. Pasqualetti, Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Vol. 98 (2), 2008)

For too long, U.S. energy policy has been directed by a series of canards so often repeated that they pass for common knowledge. By collecting the best minds to debunk the greatest of these myths, Sovacool and Brown have brought us a step closer to finding a national energy policy based on common sense. --Chris Cooper, Executive Director, Network for New Energy Choices

This is a brilliant, bold, and fascinating book. It is a work of stunning originality, combining traditional policy analysis with sociology, history, and philosophy to create a rich, textured account of the interactions between energy, culture, and technology. At a period of growing consumption and constrained energy supply in the United States, especially important are chapters assessing the remaining potential, reliability, and profuse benefits of energy efficiency practices and programs. It is a work that should be read by anybody even remotely concerned about energy, the environment, or the future of American society. --Art Rosenfeld, Commissioner, California Energy Commission and recipient of the 2006 Enrico Fermi Award

While the diffuse energy challenges facing the country have never been so great, this book sheds important insight into how many of them might be managed and resolved. The myths debunked in this volume continue to complicate energy policy decisions and confound analysts, consumers, and politicians. This work is a must-read for anyone interested in American energy policy. --Kateri Callahan, President, Alliance to Save Energy

Product Description
Current events related to energy policy skyrocketing gasoline prices, the 2003 Northeast Blackout, the Kyoto Protocol s enactment, passage of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, and the influence of recent Gulf Coast hurricanes on energy supplies and prices demand innovative approaches towards conceptualizing the relationship between energy and American society.

This book takes on a central quandary in the study of energy and environmental policy: What myths continue to exist in American culture concerning energy, the environment, and society? It enrolls twenty-four of the nation s top experts working on energy policy in industry, government laboratories, utilities, nonprofit organizations, and universities to debunk and contextualize thirteen energy myths relating to electric power, renewable energy, energy efficiency, transportation, and climate change.

While the book focuses on the American experience, it will be of interest to those working in the fields of energy policy, energy and the environment, and technology assessment worldwide.

Reader Reviews
This is an excellent introduction to real energy issues, written by experts, with many useful references for further study. Energy mythinformation (inadvertent or otherwise) propagates all too easily, and this book does a good job of debunking the common myths. Anyone involved in policies regarding energy&climate change should be familiar with this material, and that includes ordinary citizens, especially those who might care about the US economy and environment seen by any grandchildren. I'd summarize the book as saying: a) We face serious problems, as we *will* run out cheap oil, and then cheap gas [look up "Peak Oil" in Wikipedia], and if we keep burning coal without sequestering CO2, we will push the planet into a much hotter state with serious economic downsides. Right now, the US economy depends on cheap oil, and of course, it might be better not to be selling off big chunks of the US economy to other countries to feed our oil habit forever. b) However, we actually have pretty good solutions for many of the problems, mostly without requiring magic technology leaps. There is no one silver bullet, but a myriad of small actions to be taken to stop wasting energy, many of which actually save money right away. c) Most of the actions required are actually policy choices, with help from widespread use of existing technologies, plus rational R&D investments. Low electicity-per-capita use in some states has been achieved with no obvious economic catastrophes. [Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, and California are not usually considered poor places.] Of course, we have much further to go, but in many cases, it really is a matter of choosing to do the right things. The editors provide an introduction and summary bookending 13 myth discussions by (mostly) other authors. Following is a list of the 13 myths, with comments on a few of the chapters: 1. Today's Energy Crisis is "Hype" 2. The Public is Well Informed About Energy 3. High Land Requirements and an Unfavorable Energy Balance Preclude Biomass Ethanol from Playing a Large Role in Providing Energy Services - This is an especially important chapter, as the topic engenders much confusion. Not all biofuels need be from corn, and there is more land available than many think. 4. The Hydrogen Economy is A Panacea - Dr. Joseph Romm shows why hydrogen (especially for vehicles) is a long way off, if ever, compared to PHEV/FF (plug-in-electric-vehicles with flex-fuels). He shows why research is appropriate, but not spending huge $$ for premature deployment, especially to the detriment of truly useful steps doable much sooner. I also his recommend Joe's website http://climateprogress.org/, and his book Hell and High Water: Global Warming--the Solution and the Politics--and What We Should Do. 5. Price Signals are Insufficient to Induce Efficient Energy Investments 6. The Barriers to New and Innovative Energy Technologies are Primarily Technical: - The Case for Distributed Generation - In many ways, distributed generation of electricity would be more efficient, but power companies are geared for centralized generation, even with expensive long-distance distribution. 7. Renewable Energy Systems Could Never meet Growing Electricity Demand in America 8. Worldwide Power Systems are Economically and Environmentally Optimal - Tom Casten and Robert Ayres show how far off we are, illustrating the efficiencies gotten with waste-energy recycling / cogeneration ... that are strongly inhibited by regulatory issues and market distortions, compared with places like Denmark or The Netherlands, etc. See Casten's website: http://www.recycled-energy.com/index.html 9. Energy Efficiency Improvements have Already Reached Their Potential - Amory Lovins shows why not, why "negawatts" are really cost-effective, and why nuclear plants don't seem very cost-effective compared to other options. I especially liked his description of his Rocky Mountain house that lacks a conventional heating system, but whose design cuts heat losses to within 1% of various free heat gains. "The last 1% can come from a 50-watt dog, adjustable to 100W by throwing a ball..." 10. Energy Efficiency Measures are Unreliable, Unpredictable, and Unenforceable 11. Energy R&D Investment Takes Decades to Reach the Market 12. Climate Policy will Bankrupt the US Economy - California is pretty aggressive on this, because we have to be, as all the impacts of global warming will cost us money. Nevertheless, California is hardly poor, and we expect that reworking our infrastructure for energy efficiency, and heading towards minimal use of fossil fuels as early as we can, will only make us more competitive in the face of increasing oil costs. 13. Developing Countries are Not Doing Their Part in Responding to Concerns about Climate Change ===== This is a very useful book. I expect to study many chapters in further depth and chase down references.