Thursday, July 31, 2008

Sustainable Energy :: Without the hot air :: a book by David J.C. Mackay

My prior post referenced a link that MsHedgehog (thanks mshedge!) sent me with regard to someone running the hard numbers on energy/sustainability. The guy who wrote it is David J.D. Mackay, who is also publishing a book titled "Sustainable Energy :: Without the Hot Air". Mr. Mackay is a professor in the Department of Physics at Cambridge University.

The book is actually available free, in rough draft, in the form of PDF files (color and printable black and white versions) that you can download. There is also a four page Executive Summary.

7MB Color Version :: PDF Download

Executive Summary :: 4 pages :: PDF Download

Main Website :: www.withouthotair.com

And, he's got a blog.

5 comments:

AlexTangoFuego said...

I'm reading the Executive Summary for Mackay's book, wherein he proposes the possible necessity of a two pronged approach - a "radical" reduction in consumption (of electricity) combined with "significant" additions of new sources of (renewable) energy.

Like I said in my other post..."tending toward zero..."

AlexTangoFuego said...

Now I'm reading the book. This should be required reading for every Senator and Congressman (in the U.S.) and every government leader in the world.

I'm going to email the links to my people...please do the same to your people...

AlexTangoFuego said...

Here, I'll make it easy for you...

Senators:

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Congresspersons:

https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml

https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml

cindy said...

Don't forget about the water... growing up in western states, it was never very far from our thoughts. This article touches on how limited & dwindling water supplies will impact developing new energy sources-
The Future Is Drying Up
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/21/magazine/21water-t.html?ref=magazine

AlexTangoFuego said...

Here's the hot link to the NYT article in Cindy's comment:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/21/magazine/21water-t.html?ex=1351656000&en=0de30d2eb10e5ecf&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

Thanks Cindy, yes I have been focused on alternative energy primarily, but I haven't forgotten about fresh water issues. I think about it almost every day, waiting for something to gel with regard to a post.

I'll start with this article.

Thanks!