I have just finished reading Heat by George Monbiot. In this book he has set out to write a layman’s guide to preventing catastrophic global warming. Overall he has done a pretty good job. It is an easy read despite being jam packed full of information. The book is very well referenced with most claims easily linked to one or more sources. This is important when dealing with subject matter that is still plagued with conflicting claims.
Monbiot presents a number of interesting strategies for reducing our greenhouse emissions. Underpinning it all is the notion that every person on the planet is entitled to a ration of CO2 that they are allowed to produce. Many of his strategies depend on fairly dramatic social change rather than any groundbreaking technology. While this is a sound approach it certainly highlights that the biggest challenges will be socio-economic and political.
There is a more thorough review over at energybulletin but I would certainly recommend the book to anyone taking our course or generally interested in sustainable energy.
I would be interested to hear other people’s views on the strategies that Monbiot puts forward.
Hi Iainat,
I am reading HEAT at the moment (half way through) and also find it is packed with interesting facts and stats.
What were the highlights for you in the book?
Was there any mention of global warming due man made heat? I mean, energy cannot be created or destroyed, only converted into other forms of energy and my understanding is that all energy/matter eventually ends up as heat. So it would be interesting to know how much of our heat production from light bulbs, friction etc gets trapped in our atmosphere.
Jose
Jose’s idea sounds interesting…..I would try come up with the logic to do that..lets c…cheers