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Endorsements by American academics
Common sense, technology literacy, and a little
calculation go a long way in helping the reader sort sense from nonsense
in the challenges of developing alternatives to fossil fuels. MacKay
has provided a high priority book on a high priority
problem.
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William W. Hogan
Raymond Plank Professor of Global Energy Policy
John F. Kennedy School of Government
Harvard University
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David MacKay's book on sustainable energy is a complete resource for
assessing the many options for choosing between different energy
options and for using energy more efficiently. Teachers, students,
and any intelligent citizen will find here all the tools needed to
think intelligently about sustainability. Solar, wind, wave, tidal,
and most other proposed technologies are assessed carefully with
numbers making it possible to compare them quantitatively. Whether
you are interested in advocating a sensible energy policy in or in
reducing personal energy waste, this is the place to start. The
book's conclusions are based on fundamental physical principles,
which are clearly explained in a set of technical chapters toward the
end of the book. So "Sustainable energy" is also a great place to
see how fundamental science can be used to inform critical decisions
about energy over the next decades. While the focus is on the UK,
the book's methods can easily be adapted to the situation of other
countries. One of the book's great strengths is its extensive set of
links to hundreds of other sources. This is the most important book
about applying science to important public problems that I have read this
year.
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Jerry Gollub
Professor of Physics, Haverford College and University of Pennsylvania
Member of the US National Academy of Sciences
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MacKay's book is the most practical, solidly analytical, and enjoyable
book on energy that I have seen. Through a grounded yet playfully
quantitative approach, MacKay illuminates the daunting challenges
associated with possible paths to sustainable energy. This heroic work
gets the energy story straight, assessing the constraints imposed by
physical reality that we must work within. In so doing, MacKay delivers
creative and useful tools so that we may quantify, visualize, and
compare our energy options on a personal scale, deciding for ourselves
what adds up. Like cold water on the face, this book snaps us out of our
fossil fuel delirium and makes it clear that we must get to work if we
want to maintain an energy-intensive lifestyle.
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Tom Murphy
Associate Professor of Physics,
UC San Diego
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You don't need to defer to "experts" on scientific issues confronting
our society! MacKay's book shows how, when it comes to energy, you too
can do the simple arithmetic and learn the simple scientific facts
needed to work out what energy you need and where it might come from.
MacKay leavens his book with humor and ingenious estimates of all the
various types of energy that prop up our lives. This book breaks
important new ground, showing the general public that their high school
math and science is all they need to be quantitatively literate and
understand objectively the trade-offs which are the stuff of policy
debates.
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David Mumford
Professor of Applied Mathematics
Brown University
Fields Medalist (1974)
Member of the US National Academy of Sciences
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"Sustainable Energy - Without the Hot Air" makes clear the
science behind the headlines on energy issues. It is a fine guide
for both experts and beginners.
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Professor Daniel Kammen
Co-Director, Berkeley Institute of the Environment
Founding Director, Renewable and Appropriate
Energy Laboratory, UC Berkeley
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Professor MacKay's book presents and demonstrates the
methodology required to perform a total energy balance upon a defined political entity.
From this treatment, a policy planner can draw necessary and sufficient conclusions
concerning energy policy. This book cuts to the core principles of rational planning.
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Kenneth J Bell
Emeritus Professor and heat-exchanger specialist,
Oklahoma State University
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MacKay's book is a breath of fresh air, finally bringing numerical
thinking to bear on today's concerns about energy, climate change, and
sustainability. It is the best energy textbook I have used in my 35
years of university teaching.
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Mel S. Manalis,
Senior Lecturer in Environmental Studies
UCSB
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