Discusses alternative energy sources, including solar power, wind power, and biofuels, and the importance of developing such sustainable sources of energy.

Textbook on the science and methods behind a global transition to 100% clean, renewable energy for science, engineering, and social science students.

The global focus on reducing emissions must be ethical instead of supporting environmental degradation. But too often, we see abuses carried out in the name of "clean" energy. Whether it be mining for exotic minerals and metals to support the world's passion for electric-vehicle batteries or tapping into the intermittent electricity generated from wind and solar power, Ronald Stein and Todd Royal reveal the costs and benefits of such efforts. They also emphasize the global nature of the problem, noting that the United States of America could cease to exist and we'd see environmental problems get worse. In this book, they answer questions such as: Would the Green New Deal cut worldwide emissions? What toll is energy racism and inequality taking on the world? How effective are renewable forms of energy in meeting our needs? Whose duty is it to reduce harmful pollution? Green advocates often say they support sustainable and ethical coffee, sneakers, handbags, and diamonds-and they claim they won't tolerate unsafe conditions. But when it comes to green energy and battery energy storage systems for electrical grids and electric vehicles, the authors say it is a different story.

An optimistic--but realistic and feasible--action plan for fighting climate change while creating new jobs and a healthier environment: electrify everything. Climate change is a planetary emergency. We have to do something now—but what? Saul Griffith has a plan. In Electrify, Griffith lays out a detailed blueprint—optimistic but feasible—for fighting climate change while creating millions of new jobs and a healthier environment. Griffith’s plan can be summed up simply: electrify everything. He explains exactly what it would take to transform our infrastructure, update our grid, and adapt our households to make this possible. Billionaires may contemplate escaping our worn-out planet on a private rocket ship to Mars, but the rest of us, Griffith says, will stay and fight for the future. Griffith, an engineer and inventor, calls for grid neutrality, ensuring that households, businesses, and utilities operate as equals; we will have to rewrite regulations that were created for a fossil-fueled world, mobilize industry as we did in World War II, and offer low-interest “climate loans.” Griffith’s plan doesn’t rely on big, not-yet-invented innovations, but on thousands of little inventions and cost reductions. We can still have our cars and our houses—but the cars will be electric and solar panels will cover our roofs. For a world trying to bounce back from a pandemic and economic crisis, there is no other project that would create as many jobs—up to twenty-five million, according to one economic analysis. Is this politically possible? We can change politics along with everything else.

We don’t have an energy crisis. We have a consumption crisis. And this book, which takes aim at cherished assumptions regarding energy, offers refreshingly straight talk about what’s wrong with the way we think and talk about the problem. Though we generally believe we can solve environmental problems with more energy—more solar cells, wind turbines, and biofuels—alternative technologies come with their own side effects and limitations. How, for instance, do solar cells cause harm? Why can’t engineers solve wind power’s biggest obstacle? Why won’t contraception solve the problem of overpopulation lying at the heart of our concerns about energy, and what will? This practical, environmentally informed, and lucid book persuasively argues for a change of perspective. If consumption is the problem, as Ozzie Zehner suggests, then we need to shift our focus from suspect alternative energies to improving social and political fundamentals: walkable communities, improved consumption, enlightened governance, and, most notably, women’s rights. The dozens of first steps he offers are surprisingly straightforward. For instance, he introduces a simple sticker that promises a greater impact than all of the nation’s solar cells. He uncovers why carbon taxes won’t solve our energy challenges (and presents two taxes that could). Finally, he explores how future environmentalists will focus on similarly fresh alternatives that are affordable, clean, and can actually improve our well-being. Watch a book trailer.

The near-unanimous consensus among climate scientists is that the massive burning of gas, oil, and coal is having cataclysmic impacts on our atmosphere and climate. These climate and environmental impacts are particularly magnified and debilitating for low-income communities and communities of color. Energy democracy tenders a response and joins the environmental and climate movement with broader movements for social and economic change in this country and around the world. Energy Democracy brings together racial, cultural, and generational perspectives to show what an alternative, democratized energy future can look like. The book will inspire others to take up the struggle to build the energy democracy movement.

Increasing energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy are the most important actions that can be taken to combat climate changes. As a result, the growth of clean energy will likely be one of the major economic engines of the coming decade.