Reviews
Review by
D. Bull (Wellington, New Zealand), from amazon.com
I work for an environmental watchdog in New Zealand. I flicked through the first few pages of "Sustainable Energy - without the hot air" as it sat on a colleague's desk, took it back to my own desk and read it for two hours straight, got online and bought my own copy. It's that good.
For a start, this is how environmental science should be communicated; crystal clear text and honest graphs, with simplified theory and ballpark calculations that anyone can follow, backed up by empirical data as a check on results, real examples, frequent references, and explanations of limitations.
But the thinking behind it is every bit as good. MacKay is entirely pragmatic about energy supply and demand, never preachy, and he is game enough to admit when his results surprise even himself. If he is cautiously optimistic in his conclusions, it is because he has laid out a number of justifiable options.
Buy it. Better still, buy it and read it.
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Mainstream Reviews
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Centre for Alternative Technology Eco Store -
... extraordinary ... ground breaking ... We simply cannot recommend this book highly enough.
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17 Feb 2010
'Five Books'
- review by Prof John Shepherd. [link broken]
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15 Jan 2010
Bill Gates
- Clear Thinking on the Topic of Energy
'If someone wants an overall view of how energy gets used, where it comes from, and the challenges in switching to new sources, this is the book to read.
...
I was thrilled to see a book that is scientific, numeric, broad, open-minded, and well written on a topic where a lot of narrow, obscure, non-numeric writing confuses the public. People need to really understand what is going on and then be part of the process of moving the world to a new energy infrastructure.'
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PLUS magazine
- review by Oli Freke - "...important and engagingly written book"
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12 Oct 2009 - The Register - "Highly visual and with a great use of diagrams ...
it discusses everything from wind and solar to cars, planes and gadgets. It's a common sense approach to a delicate topic."
-
Physics World
- 'a book every budding physicist should
read - and perhaps also ... the one every working physicist would like
to have written.'
'the book would be a good way of introducing teenagers to how real physicists work — all the more so because MacKay's treatment of energy is much more positive and empowering than either the school physics curriculum or most environmental literature.'
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Canadian Business online:
"A fascinating book that carefully evaluates a myriad of energy sources ranging from nuclear generators to windmills. It's down to earth, conversational in tone, and filled with facts, not emotion. While British in focus, it offers insight for everyone."
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"August 2009" - Building Sustainable Design interview with David MacKay by Mark Jansen
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7/7/09 - strategy+business - features an interview with DJCM
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The Ecologist - 101 Resources for a Better World -
Without the Hot Air
An Inconvenient Truth was not an elegant film, but it did help change the world. David MacKay’s critically acclaimed Sustainable Energy – Without the Hot Air may not have the prettiest front cover in the world, but it admirably crunches the numbers on renewable energy devices, electric cars, nuclear power and a host of other innovations, showing which are worth pursuing and which are merely snake oil."
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Review by Robert Butler - The Economist's INTELLIGENT LIFE Magazine, Summer 2009 - "It's geek heaven: full of killer stats that you immediately want to pass on"
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19 June 2009 - Science magazine - "a cold blast of reality ... a must-read analysis ...
I found MacKay's book by turns exhilarating and terrifying. His calculations are always
thought-provoking even when his assumptions had me banging the table in
disagreement. My objections often
faded as his analysis unfolded."
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15 May 2009 - Tim Harford, FT.com - "a remarkable book"
-
30 April 2009 - Guardian:
Power to the people - "How did a Cambridge physics professor come to write this year's must-read book about tackling our future energy needs?"
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16 April 2009 -
centre for journalism 'This book is uses language accessible to the general reader, tackles an extremely complex area of policy with simple clarity, and cuts through the prevailing rhetoric and ignorance about these matters.
What more could you want?'
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14 April 2009 FT.com
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9 April 2009
Sustainable Energy Without the Hot Air: the Freakonomics of conservation, climate and energy by Cory Doctorow, boingboing - "may be the best technical book about the environment that I've ever read" [local copy of review]
-
8 April 2009 The Economist - 'The book is a tour de force... For anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the real problems involved, "Sustainable Energy - Without the Hot Air" is the place to start.'
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SuDoBE - Chris Tweed "It's a rare event, but every once in a while a book comes along that is so good, so comprehensive that it becomes 'the bible' for a discipline and a standard reference. I predict David MacKay's book, Sustainable Energy - without the hot air, will be one of those. "
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"The main text of his book is readable (and witty) and its technical appendices bristle with equations. If the planet and its people are the patient, MacKay's book is the the lab results, temperature chart and electrocardiogram." — The New York Review of Books (April 26, 2012)
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"If someone wants an overall view of how energy gets used, where it comes from, and the challenges in switching to new sources, this is the book to read." — Bill Gates, chairman, Microsoft
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"I would choose Sustainable Energy as a text over its competitors because MacKay has moved the energy discussion in the direction where energy alternatives can be considered quantitatively." — American Journal of Physics
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The Economist, August 11th, 2012, in a review of another book, write:
"Sustainable Energy Without the Hot Air", a recent minor classic by a Cambridge don, David MacKay.
Armed only with the laws of physics, reams of publicly available information, a little maths and much wit, Mr MacKay attempted to dispel the fog and special pleading surrounding renewable energy.
His aim was to demonstrate exactly how much power Britain could hope to gain from wind farms, solar panels, nuclear reactors and the like.
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1 March 2009 - Professor Michael J Kelly FRS, Civil Service Network
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Prof John Peacock FRS
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Prof Bob White FRS
- Prof Mike Ashby FRS
- Frank Stajano
- Wolfgang Rindler
Reviews on blogs
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Guy Newey,
Head of policy at Ovo Energy, and former head of energy and environment at Policy Exchange:
"I tend to think the most useful books about climate change are often those which have nothing to do with it, but make general arguments that are applicable to the debate (John Kay's Truth About Markets is the best example).
"But Sustainable Energy - without the hot air by David MacKay is an excellent exception. It drills down into the detail of what a low-carbon UK actually means, challenges woolly thinking on the argument that decarbonisation is easy and makes the reader confront difficult choices. It is a wonk reference work and we use it most weeks in our internal discussions."
(from CarbonBrief)
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This is a terrific book for anyone interested in learning about the shape of our world's energy production. What's unique about the book is how MacKay analyzes the problem of sustainable energy. His calculation is emphatically not the state of the art; it is, in fact, deliberately crude. Any old university, environmental group or coal power trade organization is likely to have more sophisticated energy models and predictions -- with their own assumptions buried deep within. MacKay's book aims to arm his readers with the ability to separate hype and spin from scientific facts. ...
[by Tim Donaghy]
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Amateur Earthling:
As much as anything, this book is a testament to the utility of doing
order of magnitude calculations. ... Approximate numbers are often
enough to tell you whether something is easy, difficult, or
impossible. They can tell you, conclusively, that cities cannot grow
all their own food within their city limits. They can tell you that
the cost of goods you have to transport across oceans in container
ships is not sensitive to the price of oil, but the price of a plane
ticket is. If everyone could do these calculations, or at least abide
by their results, we'd have a much more interesting and nuanced policy
discussion. We'd also have to admit that the scale of what we're
talking about with energy is more like the entire WWII effort (on both
sides) than an Apollo or Manhattan project. But hey, at least it's
not impossible! [August 2012, Zane Selvans]
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Earth Torch:
"... one of the best books on the subject of renewable energy. It is packed full of information, which is both a good and a bad thing. At times it felt like I wasn't going to make it, but I'm glad that I did."
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Sat 23/6/12 - 2nd Green Revolution
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Fri 16/9/11 -
exceptionally clear
...
lifts the problem out of the morass of dubious and subjective argument, into the unambiguous world of science and engineering.
This book is a wonder and an inspiration.
Clive Tomlinson, IPL.com
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Thursday, May 20, 2010 -
Dr. John Ayers - "Simple Science is Sometimes the Best Science"
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23 April 2010 -
Passiiviidentiteetti -
'a fantastically readable book'
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14 April 2010 -
Greener Power - 'amongst the best books I've read on the energy sector'
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10 April 2010 -
Goran's blog - the best book I have read in a decade.
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23 March 2010 -
Wild about Britain
- 'The book is a gem, which ought to be read by everyone.'
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14 March 2010 -
in greece - "The power of numbers" -
a rare example of "true science made simple".
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14 March 2010 -
workgreen
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February 2010 -
Getting Greener - one small step at
a time
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22 Jan 2010
Climate Squad - 'a very important book'
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24 January 2010
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The Streeb-Greebling Diaries
- 'An excellent guide'
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10 Dec 2009 - Nuclear Power industry News, review by Randy Birch -
'MacKay's treatise could likely become the Bible of the entire sustainable energy community.'
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22 Nov 2009 -
Po Ve Sham -
'a masterpiece of environmental information communication'
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21 Nov 2009 - seeker blog - 'This is the book I wish I had written.'
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Bishop Alan: "Global Warming reality checkpoint"
David MacKay's English is fluent and fun. ...
This is the level and kind of information we need to understand our future options and make decisions which are realistic and effective about a subject which has hitherto generated far more heat than light.
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Plain text - "Great Writing" - MacKay is that wonderful and rare combination, an articulate physicist.
... The book is a superb example of the power of clear language, with short, active sentences deftly flinging around some very complex subjects.
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10 November 2009 - Looking for balance
- 'an amazing book'
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9 Nov 2009
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dw2 - 'an exemplary book'
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2 Nov 2009 - Cleantechies.com (Edouard Stenger) "20/20. A must read."
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1 Nov 2009 - School Recycling
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trianglesustainability
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1 Oct 2009 - "time is energy". "David MacKay does an excellent job of relating the enormity/difficulty of decarbonizing our energy system TO EACH INDIVIDUAL PERSON."
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elrst.com - 'A must read'
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Free form dynamics.com (pdf)
review by David Tebbutt of TEblog
- Review by Strategic Sustainability Consulting - "very fun to read" - Emilia Pramova
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Inventive opportunity
"David was successful in taking topics that are complex or seem to be and simplifying it, so the reader can grasp and utilize the information. A great reference tool that I will be re-reading more than a few times. ...
An excellent book and well worth the read."
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"Put carts on the public bus" by Lee M. Followed by a discussion of bus transportation.
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16 July 2009 - Pull the Sky Down
- "an excellent field guide"
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10 July 09 - Devon Fine Fibres
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09 July 09 - Chris Schilling, Saginaw Valley State University - Michigan Business Review
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10 July 09 - worldchanging & Climate Progress
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5 July 2009 -
Trimorphic metanoia
"Why should I care?" - "a really excellent and thoroughly enjoyable (often laugh-out-loud) book"
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3 July 2009 - A sibilant intake of breath
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2 July 2009 - Advanced Home Analysts
a fascinating, immensely readable book
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1 July 2009 - slashdot
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15 June 2009 - The Other I
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15 June 2009 - MapAWatt
- Brilliant!'
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Book Depository
- "because I thought it was so dull-looking, I didn't bother to highlight it. But I really, really should have done. This is an excellent book and one that is fast-becoming a bestseller. ... Whatever you do, don't pass over this book like I did because it looks dull. It isn't dull, it's vitally important."
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1 6 09 - Do it Yourself Renewable Energy - "We strongly recommend the book to anyone involved in renewable energy. It is a refreshing view on the role of renewable energy in our future ... Truly informative".
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29 5 09 - The Write Times
'Writing worth reading'
- "a scientist who writes in plain English."
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19 May 2009 - Design News, Matthew Traum:
- MacKay's "Sustainable Energy — Without the Hot Air" Quantifies Technology Constraints
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19 May 2009 - the big bang to now - "Yes we can! but it's harder than we thought" - "I have just found what I think might be the most brilliant book on climate change on the market for people who care about the environment but might not be physicists, climatologists, or politicians."
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8 May 2009 - barrier-busting.com
- "Very thorough, well-researched, and easy to read."
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6 May 2009
- GoGreen - University
of the Arts London - "this is a terrifically readable book ... greatly entertaining ... A breath of fresh air."
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30 April 2009 - Monkey Mosaic
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29 April 2009 -
The Third Bit - "First response: brilliant. Second response: absolutely brilliant. ... What I like most is that he isn't just trying to lay out the options, he's
trying to show us what kinds of arguments and plans we should be willing to accept. That's why I think SEWTHA would be a great text for a first-year general science course: it does a better job than any book I've read since Epstein's Thinking Physics (now sadly out of print) of showing readers what practical, numerate thinking actually looks like."
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28 April 2009 -
Electronics Weekly - 'It is delightfully informal, full of hard information, very good at putting things in perspective.'
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26 April 2009 -
webswonder
"if you know anyone half interested in the topic of sustainable energy, point them to this book or buy it for them. It's a gem."
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18 April 2009 - dysfunctor - "A must read"
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13 April 2009
MikeM 'What is especially distinctive is that he does the numbers. The UK has huge potential for wind power. Right. But how much is "huge" and how does it compare with existing huge appetite for fossil fuels? (answer: small.)
MacKay systematically works through the major uses of fossil fuel quantifying each one, then the major sources of sustainable energy with similar quantification. Is renewable energy viable to maintain the British way of life?
Conclusion?
Read the book and see.
In clearer and more lucid prose that you could ever imagine coming out of a university physics department, MacKay demands no more than that his readers put aside preconceptions, and that they know how to add, subtract, multiply and divide. (There is plenty of technical stuff and reference data to back up his arguments but it is kept to chapters at the back of the book.)
Absolutely recommended.
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16 April 2009 matthew henry john bartlett 'Recommended book'
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14 April 2009 Cleanventures (Tim Chapman) 'I'd strongly recommend the book to anyone involved in sustainable energy, whether as technology developer, investor or policy-maker; and whether your main interest is in renewables, nuclear or clean(er) fossil fuels, or in energy efficiency. ...
The basic message is that the necessary reformation of our energy system requires major action. Perhaps most importantly, it also demands more realism in facing the challenges than is often encountered on any side of the debate.
...
In all, it's a remarkably provocative and eye-opening analysis. No less remarkably, it's also very accessible - clearly and entertainingly written with diagrams and doodles aplenty, but with exhaustive footnotes and references and the more technical bits rounded up at the end. Highly recommended.'
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14 April 2009 An Inconvenient Truthiness
- 'Maybe the ardor of the radicals and the reason of centrists like MacKay will marry, and we'll end up with some genuinely practical solutions for our environmental problems.'
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14 April 2009 foonyor barzane -
'I recommend it to everybody, but beware that it might cost you many lost hours'
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April 2009: Peter Braden:
If you only read one book about energy this year, make it this one.
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James Alexander reviews SEWTHA
alongside 'Now is the time - 3 years to save the world, by J-M Jancovici and A.Grandjean' - The similarities in MacKay and Jancovici's thinking and approaches are quite uncanny.("Great minds think alike"?)'
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April 10 2009 -
Kang's blog
- The Clay Review - "...a refreshing take on the role of renewable energy in our future ... I really enjoyed zipping through this book. It is truly informative rather than polemical, and best of all it's free."
- Jonathan Friedman - "Read this free on-line book... David MacKay simplifies the issue, yet gives hard data to support his arguments. It is what IPCC and other climate change organizations should be doing."
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"A crystal-clear and quantitative view of the road towards a low-carbon economy"
Bruno De Wachter, Leonardo Energy 2009-01-22
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Johnny Rook: "Brilliant New Book Teaches You How to Evaluate Sustainable Energy Claims"
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24 Feb 2009
energy from thorium.com
(Robert Hargraves)
- "Great new book"
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network.nature.com - "Read this book" (Brian Derby)
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Fri 16/1/09 AshdenAwards: Review by Dave Howey of Imperial College
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democratic underground `This is a must-read for anyone who is interested in energy issues. I can't heap enough praise on this book.'
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19 Dec 2008:
futerra review by Ed Gillespie.
'Sustainable Energy - without the hot air' is a quite brilliant piece of work
...
It's a quite incredible, revelatory experience reading it as it confirms many things we suspect might be true and dispels many of the commonly perceived myths. I would recommend it as compulsory reading!
- laborview
-
Best Foot Forward
Fri 12 Dec 2008:
'When setting out to write The ZEDBook: solutions for a shrinking world (recent winner of a RIBA Presidents Award for Research) in 2005, we could find no credible, detailed studies which set out a comprehensive sustainable energy policy for the UK (or indeed anywhere else). We were somewhat surprised by this. Surely, without an understanding of how much renewable energy we potentially have, how can the Government set standards, targets and guidelines for industry, new buildings, vehicles, material supply chains, existing housing stock and so on?
'So, somewhat reluctantly given the enormity of the task, we set about devising our own strategy which ended up being shoehorned into Chapter 3 of The ZEDBook. Others have since addressed this gaping hole in the UK's energy policy and collected together their own thoughts. George Monbiot set out his views in Heat; CAT put together Zero Carbon Britain; and, most recently, David MacKay has published Sustainable Energy - Without the Hot Air.
'The latter is, without doubt, the most detailed analysis to date and sets out clear options for moving forward - including one alternative which is close to own our thinking in The ZEDbook. Of course, there is no one right answer to providing secure, green energy - there are inevitably uncertainties and choices that can be made; technical, political and social. That said, Without the Hot Air is a great read; informative, technically competent and well structured. Go and buy it or read it (for free) online at www.withouthotair.com.'
- Bill Harris, USA - "clearly, cogently, and interestingly put"
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meteoLCD (fmassen)
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Brian Karpuk, Newsburglar (reviewing pre-publication draft, July 2nd 2008): 'Its an absolutely incredible read.'
part 1
part 2
part 3 (useful data!)
part 4
part 5
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Review of pre-publication draft, Artvoice, August 31, 2008
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Book review from 'The Razor'
23 June 2008 (a review of the draft book, pre-publication)
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Review, Paul Waring, UK Unix Users' Group
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More reviews from goodreads.com
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26/4/2014 -
Simoleonsense:
As I started reading the book it reminded me of Richard Feynman’s physics lectures...
Reviews in other languages
Mentions on blogs
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12 March 2011 -
Open Energy Monitor discuss their energy visualisation web application, emoncms
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Wed 9/3/11
James Smith from REEEP writes about the my2050 tool from DECC and Delib
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Wed 9/3/11
Citizen Action Monitor names DJCM a "Right Honourable Citizen Activist"
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4/3/11 -
Open Energy Monitor mentions SEWTHA and Saul Griffith
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Sept 2010 -
Bill Gates mentions that he is, "like David MacKay, pro-math"
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August 22, 2010 -
"The Book Bill Gates Sent Me"
- Lib Gibson blogs about SEWTHA: Bill Gates has sent a copy to
every TED-conference-attender.
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August 2010 -
Going beyond "green" hype - by Jim Childress
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July 2010 -
Happpy solar explorations - 'One of the best uses of my time at REC was reading a book called "Sustainable Energy Without the Hot Air" by David MacKay.'
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June 2010 -
TED debate -
Stewart Brand refers to SEWTHA at about minute 6 of this TED debate:
'Does the world need nuclear energy?'
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Sun 18/7/10 - Inergy UK Blog
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29 June 2010 - Booming Back discusses flying versus driving
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June 2010 -
Archipelagoes ...
'he delivers a refreshing take on sustainability and energy consumption, and gives an insight that is mostly left out of the equation.'
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ABC Carbon -
Australia Needs to Wake Up to It Renewable Resources (discussing
Peter Seligman's “Australian Sustainable Energy — by the numbers”)
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May 2010 - Prof Sir John Cadogan - Click on Wales - discussing contributions of Science to society.
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Sun 6/6/10 -
Sunn's World - 'a reflection on my oil dependence'
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SEWTHA is featured as
'Book of the Month' at Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
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3 May 2010 -
Green Tech
discusses 'how to boil water'.
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The Epoch Times
- 'Nuclear Power: How Green is it?'
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26 April 2010 - Andart - 'A sense of proportion'
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21 April 2010 - Coffee Break Science
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Tue 20 April 2010 -
NextGenHeating - 'Highly recommended'
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15 April 2010 -
It's getting hot in here
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14 April 2010 -
Yale Daily News
[a slightly inaccurate summary of my lecture at Yale!]
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'Whole Earth Discipline' by Stewart Brand mentions SEWTHA in Chapter 1, Page 13, online annotated version.
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5 April 2010 - Harvard News - 'An addiction to fossil fuels'
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Michael Mitzenmacher's Harvard blog
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3 April 2010 -
sciencenet.cn
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22 March 2010 -
Brave new climate, discussing the RAE 2050 report,
'Generating the Future: UK energy systems fit for 2050'
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11 March 2010 -
Univ of Toronto - Crowd-Sourced Carbon Calculators (inspired by David MacKay)
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8 March 2010 -
BetterGeneration - Green Energy Blog's views
on The Guardian Feed-in Tariff debate
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15 Feb 2010 - BillGross.com
TED 2010
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Steven Ford - 'Easy reading. No messing. Plain language.'
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28 Jan 2010 -
Ash Denizen on the Top 50 Sustainability Books
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20 Jan 2010 -
Wall Street Journal 'Digits' blog about Bill Gates' Notes
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17 jan 2010 -
Ben Laurie blathering
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10 Jan 2010 - ZeroChampion
Refurb update (by Phil Clark)
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8 Jan 2010 -
Energy Collective, an article about Peter Lang's energy roadmaps from Australia.
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5 Jan 2010 -
Seeker blog - "This is the book I wish I had written."
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12 Dec 2009 - State of the Planet:
Peter deMenocal, in conversation with Kim Martineau
"Do you have a favorite book about climate change?
Sustainable Energy — Without the Hot Air, by David MacKay. It focuses on solutions."
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November 30, 2009 -
hot topic, NZ - Phil Scadden presents a New-Zealand version of SEWTHA
(see also the wiki page).
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21 Nov 2009 -
Fitzrovian Tuesdays
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20 Nov 2009 -
NEI Nuclear Notes An interview with Stewart Brand -
recommends SEWTHA
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Leonardo Energy
on back-of-envelope calculations
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8 Nov 2009 - Envirojean 'Where to for energy
...
David MacKay gives us real food for thought.'
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8 Nov 2009 - 'lowercase text' - 'up from the ground come a bubblin' crude...'
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Geoffrey Heal (economist) - 'Can renewable energy save the world?'
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John Naughton
from the Open University writes about "Professor Mackay's Illuminations"
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15 Oct 2009 -
"The future of
sustainable energy" by Martin Nicholson
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16 Oct 2009 - "Sustainable development and much more" on heat pumps.
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Hacker News
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"Straight talking" - Roger Helmer MEP
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Seed Magazine - Jennifer Jacquet on meat
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23 Sept 2009 - Toonclimateaction
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Sept 18 2009 -
Contents Will Be Hot After Heating
- I'm particularly impressed by the graphs and diagrams in the book, both for the laboriously-collected data they represent and for their power to convey important points quickly and clearly.
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Sept 14 2009 -
WindEnergyPlanning
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2 Sept 2009 - Cambridge Sustainability -
SEWTHA is the number-one selling book at Heffers, this year!
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1 Sept 2009 - Scarce Whales
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27 Aug 2009 - Mark Avery, Conservation Director, RSPB - "the book is an absolute model of clarity - a real tour de force"
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2 Aug 2009 - People and resources discusses
my graph emphasizing power per unit area.
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7 aug 09
give me wisdom - "Solve the right problem"
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12 Aug 09
gardenvisit.com -
Windpower and sustainable landscape planning
-
09-08-09
derekbrower.com - "Separating climate fact from factoid"
- 2009 08 07 - MapAWatt "Top Energy Saving Tips" - all very agreeable, except:
"Stop flying ... I don't like this recommendation, mainly because I love to travel. When people start recommending we [not] do things that we love, then energy savings isn't fun anymore."
- 5 Aug 2009 -
Wadler's blog -
"Three resources on climate change"
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businessGreen blog
discussion of Nimbys
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3 Aug 2009 - Machine Learning (Theory), John Langford
"Carbon in Computer Science Research"
- 2 Aug 2009 -
TransformationPowerTools
- 31 July 2009 -
elemental (Mel Starrs)
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30 July 2009 -
heliophage - The scale of the fossil-fuel-free challenge
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30 July 2009 -
Labourlist
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28 July 2009 -
Changing your world
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20 July 2009 - With both hands
- "Highly recommended."
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12 July 2009 - uvdiv discusses wind variability, discussing a press release by Greenpeace.
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Sliabh discusses Irish wind power.
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18 July 2009 - onlineopinion.com.au discuss "Mythbuster publication"
-
17 July 2009 -
Rasmus Broennum (Danish blog) - Det er en super bog der er bredt anerkendt for at
perspektivere energi og klima på samme måde som Freakonomics gør
for økonomien. Og den er spækket med billeder og forklarende diagrammer — ikke et dårligt udgangspunkt!.
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16 July 2009 - Soggy Day Gardener
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13 July 2009 - Peckham power
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12 July 2009 - Code Monk
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7 July 2009 - research recap
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ravica
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6 July 2009 -
Avatar Briefs
- "Jaunty environmental book"
-
5 July 2009 - mohoyt.com
- "I had been planning to read the eBook version for a while as it is free, but as the actual book is so beautifully typeset I might have to get it."
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5 July 2009 - MT Space - "A Bright Idea for Energy?" (discussing how Obama's energy announcement makes small numbers appear bigger
by using (now-traditional) presentation tricks).
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More energy numbers from Michael Muno
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zikipediq
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27 June 2009 -
Rowan Adams - "the best book I've ever seen on renewable energy"
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23 June 2009 - Clueless Fundatma
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23 June 2009 - Transition culture
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June 19 2009 permanent revolution
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June 18 2009 Breakthrough generation "Fighting gadget electricity waste"
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June 17 2009 a thousand tomorrows - 'check out David JC MacKay's astonishing book'
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June 16 2009 A sibilant intake of breath - "A renewable energy plan for the UK"
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June 12 2009 Path of water
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June 11 2009. Natalie Voican - 'Make me greener please'
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10 June 09 - 'Je mange donc je pollue' - a French blog
-
9 jun 2009
Jo Abbess ('yelling truth to climate chaos')
mentions Rebecca Willis citing SEWTHA.
-
3 June 2009 - Open Democracy - Tony Curzon-Price on CHP
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Marx Clan
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Physics Forums
-
7 June 2009 - Red Pepper - Avoiding a green bad deal
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copied, 10 June 09,
on STWR (Share the World's Resources)
-
7 June 2009 - What's Your Ecotype?
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6 June 2009 - environmental research web, IoP
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1 6 09
World Health Statistics..... - Transport costs of Petaluma milk
-
31 5 09
Turbulence ahead
on the Spirit of Ireland initiative.
- 29 5 09
Chris Marteson.com
-
28 5 09
political scientist discussing the Nobel Laureates' symposium in London
-
25,27 5 09
sindark.com,
sindark.com - Canadian discussion group
- 25 5 09
Greenprint, TrinityHaus
-
24 5 09 James Alexander on concrete and emissions
-
25 5 09
behind the plug
-
andybox
-
political scientist
-
Heresy corner
-
20 May 2009 -
The Register discusses the Whitelee windfarm and the definition of the "home"
as a measure of power consumption.
-
19 May 2009 -
geek up
-
19 May 2009- Wall Street Journal - "Environmental Capital"
-
Building Sustainable Design (on high altitude kites)
-
huffingtonpost.com
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18 May 2009 -
Bad Astronomy - "Alternative Energy Reality - It's A Numbers Game"
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17 May 2009 -
Notes from Spain -
"Many myths exploded and plenty of food for thought in this 380-page book (free download) by David MacKay"
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16 May 2009 -
design-impact
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15 May 2009 -
integrity block - 'Getting the Most out of Green Energy Means Playing by the Numbers'
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15 May 2009 - Tim Harford, FT.com - "Switch to renewable energy? If only it were that simple"
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15 May 2009 - car news articles: the energy debate
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15 May 2009 -
clean mpg . com
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14 May 2009 - Diana McNary, Detroit News
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14 May 2009 -
Trucks at work
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13 May 2009 - The English Blog (discussing Energy and the Internet)
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13 May 2009 - Lightbucket discusses the More Or Less interviews 'David MacKay, energy star'
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12 May 2009 -
windturbinesyndrome.com
- 'a no nonsense, easily read, luxuriously illustrated book'
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11 May 2009
- Jeremy Warner MD - Basic Eating: A Foodie's Manifesto.
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7 May 2009
- Emily [bookish]
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7 May 2009 - Seriously Angry [seriouschange.org.uk]
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7 May 2009 - Climate Change in Physics Class?
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6 May 2009 Elemental
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freesteel - "Serious Change and serious tactics".
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4 May 2009 - torrs hydro new mills "A Good Read - I am very impressed".
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1 May 2009 - Wall Street Journal blogs, Keith Johnson -
"the unlikeliest beach book of the year"
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1 May 2009 -
NEI Nuclear Notes 'Sustainable Energy can be downloaded for free ..., though the quality of this remarkable book really deserves remuneration.'
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reegle - "written in an engaging and easily readable style."
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29 April 2009 The Exception Magazine - 'where have all the Greenies gone?' | Telegraph link to the light bulb video
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28 April 2009 Daily Sound
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April 27 2009 -
Design and Behaviour (RSA blogs), Jamie Young
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27 April 2009 greenbang
- 23 April 2009 daDamotive - 'A Herculean job, a must read'
- 24 April 2009 - Heather Burns-DeMelo, CT Green Scene
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24 April 2009 -
Physics World,
Hamish Johnston
- 22 April 2009 - be more eco like the 'lightbulb' video. So does
dulabab.
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22 April 2009 - guardian.co.uk review the youtube 'lightbulb' video
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22 April 2009 - globalisation and the environment
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22 April 2009 - ft.com review the youtube 'lightbulb' video
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22 April 2009 - disinfo.com
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21 April 2009 things are good
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Chris Jenkinson
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18 April 2009 envirocation - "Energy plans out the wazoo"
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16 April 2009 -
Liberal Democrat Voice discussion on nuclear power mentions SEWTHA.
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10 April 2009 - Rachel - The gasman cometh
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April 2009 - Rose George
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9 April 2009
Policy Economist: "Accessible Numbers on Energy"
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9 April 2009
Sustainable energy - do the math
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April 4 2009: Green building forum
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April 5 2009:
Nerd's eye view
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April 4 2009: William Shaw 'Prof MacKay deserves a Nobel Prize for Usefulness.'
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SEWTHA gets mentioned in the comments on this blog, discussing
Howard Hayden's "The Solar Fraud - Why Solar Energy won't run the world".
One commentator, critical of my assessment of the potential
of wind in Britain, seems to have thoroughly misunderstood my
discussion of NIMBYism - thinking that my joke map showing
where you can build windfarms [nowhere at all] was expressing
my serious opinion!
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March 22 2009
- Look at the big numbers, not at the small numbers by John Thackara
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18 March 2009 - "My Energy Executive Choices 2008-2009" by James Alexander
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Tuesday, 17 February 2009 - climatephilosopher:
Is a 'Renewables Only' View US-Centric?
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Feb 10 2009: hiperesfera.wordpress.com [Espanol|Spanish]
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Anders Emretsson: "Själv håller jag på att läsa den fantastiska boken Sustainable Energy - Without the Hot Air"
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"Do the Math"
Oliver Morton
January 22, 2009
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Forcefield, 1 Dec 2008
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the sustainable building association
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Sustainability blog: 'Numbers matter' (Sun 25/1/09)
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6/12/2008: Nuclear power - yes please
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25 June 2008
statsblog - "The Carbon Cost of Bathing"
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kauaian
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moreman
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NWF
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eclectic green
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nabble
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friam
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zzgavin
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kwoff
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9.2008 Stephen Luttrell
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26.6.2008 Luke Weston, PhysicalInsights
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Abeytu: "It's full of real numbers, facts and solutions. Exactly what we need to proactively tackle the issue of sustainable energy."
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4 Feb 09 - In it for the gold: "Excellent pop science book online"
Discussion sites
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opendemocracy has a webpage discussing the book.
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In this Greenpeace blog, a few people discuss the book and the similarities and differences between my "Plan G" and Greenpeace suggestions.
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Review By Nick on amazon.co.uk -
Sustainable Energy - Without the Hot Air (Paperback)
I was interested in a good objective assessment about the potential role of sustainable energy in meeting total energy demand. The book did this in a fascinating way and I lost a weekend as I couldn't put it down! Excellent.
Critical sites
Someone suggested that I should include pointers to all
websites that are critical of my book.
So here we go... [I will include any that appear to be written by
people who have read the book.]
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Andrew Gelman likes the book ("MacKay has lots of beautiful graphs in his book--he did a great job presenting lots of information in an accessible way"), but has two or three criticisms.
Here's an email from him, and a link to his blog.
Just in case I didn't make it clear in my blog entry, I think your book
is great. In addition to the graphs, I really like the way you explain
the energy balance at a level of detail that lots of educated people
(including science journalists, I hope) should be able to follow. I was
hoping to see more of a discussion of Lomborg et al. because I'd hope
that, if you make it clear where you and Lomborg differ and where you
agree, maybe people could have a better sense of how to move forward.
In any case, you've done a great service to the world by writing the
book and I hope it does its part to shift the debate. Good luck with
the book promotion, as well as with finding the time to do your machine
learning research as well.
Andrew Gelman's blog with the criticisms
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On this forum, some people assert that I don't
pay sufficient attention to efficiency measures.
(I thought that the 50% reductions in primary energy
consumption
sketched in my book's zero-carbon Britain plans
would count as fairly ambitious
efficiencies! Oh well.)
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"Brad Ideas"
has written a brief review of SEWTHA which
says "I only have a few faults to pick with the book,
and he's not unaware of them."
read Brad's quibbles...
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11.3.2010 Mark Brinkley:
Is David MacKay becoming part of the problem?
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David Mackay plays 'Brutus' to the Sun's 'Caesar'
Here is a webpage that is critical of SEWTHA, asserting
that "MacKay
has a secret pro-nuclear bias",
that I am anti-solar and that
I am just parroting pro-nuclear inaccuracies.
Is this the same anti-solar MacKay-Brutus who wrote
As long as we can build peaceful international collaborations,
solar power in other people's deserts certainly has the technical
potential to provide us, them, and everyone with 125 kWh per day per
person.?
Two minor comments from me on this 'review':
(1)
The author, Jim Hickey, seems to get most of his facts about SEWTHA's
contents, and its alleged inaccuracies (eg, alleging that I misstated
British energy consumption in part I of the book),
from reading what other people wrote about it on the internet,
rather than from actually reading the book.
(2) Possible evidence of Jim Hickey's lack of effort
to research his topic: he says, in his complimentary opening paragraphs, that I am
a Professor at Oxford!
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Laurent Franckx wrote a review (13 March 2011) that is largely positive - "this is probably the most transparent book I have ever read, and it sets a very high standard for any future work in this field" - but it does
contain three criticisms (concerning public transport; my discussion of markets; and
resource costs) - Laurent's final paragraph says: Of course, within the larger picture, these are minor comments. On the whole, this book is an impressive intellectual achievement.
[copy of Laurent's review]
- Achieve fame and fortune... your criticisms
could be displayed here!
Other mentions of the book
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