Energy for Future Presidents

The Science Behind the Headlines

By: Richard A. Muller

Narrated by: Pete Larkin

Length: 9 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

The near-meltdown of Fukushima, the upheavals in the Middle East, the BP oil rig explosion, and the looming reality of global warming have reminded the president and all U.S. citizens that nothing has more impact on our lives than the supply of and demand for energy. Its procurement dominates our economy and foreign policy more than any other factor. But the "energy question" is more confusing, contentious, and complicated than ever before. We need to know if nuclear power will ever really be safe. We need to know if solar and wind power will ever really be viable. And we desperately need to know if the natural gas deposits in Pennsylvania are a windfall of historic proportions or a false hope that will create more problems than solutions.

Richard A. Muller provides all the answers in this must-listen guide to our energy priorities now and in the coming years.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

©2012 Richard A. Muller (P)2012 Tantor

Critic reviews

"An informative, comprehensive discussion of important economic and environmental issues." ( Kirkus)

good book

This is a good book with scientific research behind it. It dettails the future energy requirements.

Objective summary of current energy science topics

Any additional comments?

This is a very accessible collection of executive summaries of current energy technologies and science. From coal to solar, algae ethanol to fuel cells, and all the other current energy technologies/resources, he provides objective and very interesting analyses of each technology from the viewpoints of science, economics, and the environmental ramifications of each.

The author includes a very well documented section on global warming that will please neither right wing nor left wing partisans, but which is very enlightening.

He approaches each topic as a comparative cost benefit analysis, first from a current state of the science standpoint, followed by a global economic analysis.

What I really appreciate is that he states very clearly his sources for every piece of data in his calculations. So anyone can go and evaluate the data and repeat the same calculations independently.

I found the level of detail just perfect. It was just enough to keep me very interested and focused, but not so much as to bog down. A high school graduate with basic chemistry and physics classes in his background could easily follow most of the science and everyone can gain great insights into the economic and environmental/political aspects of each topic.

I highly recommend this to everyone who wants a solid objective understanding of the energy issues that are in our headlines and affecting our lives every day.

One sided energy advise

A one sided look at the options available for future energy sources and policies that covers everything from why fracking isn't as bad as some believe, to why bio fuels and full electric cars are not the angels of carbon footprint reduction they are made out to be. Certainly seems to error on the side of wait and see rather than taking action against global warming and seemed to be right in the camp of the FUD slingers Conway warned about in his book "Merchants do Doubt". Still some interesting advise on how to save money though by investing in home insulation and hybrid technologies that do make since according to the author.

Fracking Shale Gas

Look Mom I Did it.
I almost want to pat myself on the back, or Muller's back for getting through this. I love science, but I am not that knowledgeable (although I know more then most in the Media). This review is directed at those like myself who just want to know the basics without all the scare tactics.
The Media and Scare Tactics
I felt Muller gave a level and mostly unbiased look at Global Warming, man made disasters and our future in energy. Most of the material, I as a normal layman could understand. There were some parts especially toward the end which went over my head, but overall I stayed a float. I first read Muller when he wrote a book several years ago on the Theory of Nemesis, a possible companion star to Sol, which is responsible for the regular cycle of extinctions on our planet. I devoured that book and was glad to see he had something else out. In the past few years I have become more and more angry as the teleprompt readers on the nightly news keep spouting death and destruction for sensationalism. I felt Muller was even tempered, giving the pros and cons on each subject, leaving the conclusions up to us.
Natural Gas
In the book Muller warns us against theories that are the end all for all problems, then he keeps slamming Natural Gas in our faces. Every time I turned around he was telling me how great natural gas was and how it was the answer to all our problems. I have a bigger respect for natural gas, but I still have to be skeptical.

The narrator
Pete Larkin sounds exactly like the guy who narrated all the science films I watched in high school, or like the guy who does the safety films I listen to at work. Well, that might not be a good comparison as those put me to sleep. I guess I am trying to say he sounds professional. Plus they put me to sleep because I have watched them a million times.

Some wrong assumptions

It is as the title aimed at an American audience, but there is a lot of past rhetoric about energy rather than future energy.
Also some of the assumptions especially around electric car batteries are wrong and dangerously so. 500 times rechargeable and then discarded, that is old and wrong thinking.
It has some good work but should be redone with up to date information even though it is only a few years old.

Amazing book

If you are biased against electric vehicles and the future of renewables please read this book and bare in mind this is a book from 12 years ago, see how wrong one can be if you analisys based only on pure data and dont take human ingenuity into account.

Abandon book after 4 minutes

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

I Abandon the book after 4 minutes when I realized it was an obvious argument for the fossil fuel industry.

What could Richard A. Muller have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Not sounding like a lobbyist for the current energy industry. He could quit blaming the media for over hyping the Gulf Oil Spill and Fukeshima environmental Disasters. He kept pointing out that shale, nuclear and natural gas are the way forward. Then he may have been believable to me.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Pete Larkin?

Yes

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

No.