| Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 G ED-IF AF | |
|
|
|
Terrestrial Energy: How Nuclear Energy Will Lead the Green Revolution and End America's Energy Odyssey | 
 enlarge | Author: William Tucker
Publisher: Bartleby Pr
Category: Book
List Price: $27.50
Buy New: $18.15
You Save: $9.35 (34%)
New (9) Used (2) from $18.15
Rating:  21 reviews
Sales Rank: 14632
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 420
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.6
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.5
ISBN: 0910155763
Dewey Decimal Number: 333.7924
EAN: 9780910155762
ASIN: 0910155763
Publication Date: September 19, 2008
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
| |
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
This is quite possibly the most important book about energy in a generation. For over thirty years Americans have been fed a steady diet of half-truths, misinformation, urban legends and outright fabrications about energy. The small amount of accurate information that does reach us is often obscured by scientific terminology or one-sided political posturing.
When faced with a dramatic increase in energy demand, uncertain supplies and the potentially harmful effects of carbon emissions how are we to make informed choices?
Veteran journalist William Tucker has relied on years of research and investigation to help us
make sense of America s energy predicament without the burdens of political pressures or predetermined outcomes.
It seems odd that nuclear energy has to be reintroduced to America. After all, today, thirty years after we began construction of our last new nuclear reactor, it still supplies nearly 20 percent of our electrical energy needs. And surprisingly, all this output is from plants that were once considered relics, but are now being run with an efficiency and safety record that was hard to envision a decade ago.
Perhaps the misgivings have always been with us. Since dawn of the Atomic era, nuclear power has been inextricably associated with nuclear weapons--each reactor a bomb waiting to go off. The accident at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania and its amazing convergence of timing with the film, The China Syndrome reinforced the idea that a nuclear meltdown is a real, terrifying possibility that could kill thousands of people. The later, catastrophic disaster at Chernobyl in the Ukraine heightened these fears.
And so the use of atomic energy became controversial. Yet as Tucker makes absolutely clear, nuclear is the same process that heats the center of the earth to 7,000oF, hotter than the surface of the sun.
The concentration of power
in the nucleus of the atom is incredible. The disintegration of a single uranium atom produces 2 million times more energy than the breaking of a carbon-hydrogen atom in coal, oil, or natural gas, all with zero carbon emissions and zero greenhouse gases.
In Terrestrial Energy, Tucker is not content to merely give an argument about why nuclear is the best choice for our energy future. Instead he meticulously surveys entire the energy scene that has frustrated Americans for the past 30 years. Is there such a thing as clean coal? Can we expect that onservation will ever reduce our energy consumption?
And what about the renewable energy sources (wind, solar energy, hydropower, and biofuels) and their promise of clean, plentiful power? Each has its place in America s energy mix but each of these sources also has serious problems. The limiting factor of all these technologies will not be the amount of energy radiating from the sun but the
amount of land that will be required to capture and store it.
And what are the real dangers of an increase in the use of nuclear power? We have learned to become fearful of radiation at any dose, when in reality, we are regularly exposed to its effects, it is naturally occurring, often benign and in some cases even beneficial. Then there is the waste that supposedly makes nuclear technology unmanageable. It is much less alarming when you consider that the reason America has a nuclear waste problem is because we fail to recycle our spent fuel rods.
At the same time that world energy demand steadily increases, Americans are also being asked to be better stewards of the environment. Now is the perfect moment to renew our commitment to use the greatest scientific discovery of the 20th century as the forward-thinking solution. Terrestrial energy is without doubt, the only realistic, practical answer to our energy dilemma.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 16 more reviews...
An Absolutely Outstanding Book! October 6, 2008
Kirk Sorensen (Alabama, USA)
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
Several years ago I had a strong desire to write a book that would examine each of current and potential sources of energy and explain its merits and drawbacks. I wanted to have something that would help people understand why nuclear energy is such a promising source of energy for the world. I no longer need to write my book--Mr. Tucker had done it for me, and far better than I would have.
"Terrestrial Energy" is outstanding...this is a book that I would recommend without reservation to all of my friends and colleagues who are concerned about the severe energy crisis that is only beginning. I promise you, no matter how much you know about energy and energy policy (and I don't consider myself a novice in the field) you will learn more, or at the very least have a greater insight into these issues after reading Mr. Tucker's book.
I plan to buy many copies of this book (hope there's a bulk discount!) and distribute them to friends, family, church and work colleagues to help them understand more about how we can actually solve our energy crisis (for thousands of years) using the basic power that has been locked in the nuclei of thorium and uranium for the last five billion years.
Most Important Book of the Year November 10, 2008
Vincent A. Collins (Morgantown, WV)
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
I believe this is the most important book written this year, and perhaps in many years. Why? Because nothing is more critical to our economy and way of life than how we respond to the energy crisis and global warming. So far, we are not off to a good start.
In this thoroughly researched and beautifully written book, Mr. Tucker first acknowledges that global warming is PROBABLY real and PROBABLY at least partly anthropogenic, even though such conclusions are not provable by ordinary scientific hypothesis testing. He then rightly concludes that even if global warming is only very slightly caused by human activity, we cannot continue to pour billions of tons of CO2 and other greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere without suffering consequences.
Mr. Tucker then proceeds to methodically and objectively examine every known source of energy, with respect to the advantages and problems inherent to each. He then concludes that there is only one source that even comes close to satisfying the criteria of no GG emissions, reasonable cost, and minimal environmental impact - nuclear energy.
I would take issue with Mr. Tucker's far too charitable treatment of wind energy. He does correctly point out that because electricity produced by wind is intermittent and effectively can't be stored, it cannot provide base load or peak load. He also mentions that modern grids must have reliable dispatch control over the amount of electricity going into the grid to balance load and avoid brownouts and blackouts, which wind can't provide. However, he inexplicably fails to mention the need for "backup" generation from conventional power plants to cover periods of low or no wind. He concludes, unconvincingly, that wind can provide "spinning reserves" to cover grid demand fluctuations. He does not explain how an unpredictable, constantly fluctuating source can provide reserves which must be instantly available when needed. These criticisms are mere quibbles, however, as Mr. Tucker makes it abundantly clear that wind, solar and other renewables are simply not going to solve our energy problems.
Mr Tucker then gets to his main point, that nuclear energy is the answer. He convincingly deconstructs all of of the popular arguments against nuclear energy, such as the terrorist problem, the nuclear accident problem and the waste disposal problem. He makes it clear that these problems are either non-existent urban myths or a product of bad political decisions made during the last thirty years. He does this by taking us on a tour of the French nuclear industry, which provides 80% of France's electricity needs.
It is painful to listen to the comments of French nuclear industry officials as they describe how cheap, clean, reliable and safe their nuclear industry is, and how grateful they are to us for inventing the nuclear reactor. If only we had done what France did 30 years ago, we wouldn't be having an energy crisis and our GG emissions would be a fraction of what they now are. How frustrating!
This book should be required reading for every public official having anything to do with energy policy, from President-elect Obama to members of congress and governors. The stakes here are huge. We are about to commit over a TRILLION dollars on "renewable" and "alternative" energy that simply does not work and cannot be made to work. We are doing the exact opposite of what we should be doing, and will pay dearly for this fundamental policy mistake. Mr. Tucker makes it clear that the task of replacing coal with nuclear energy can be accomplished, but is not going to happen unless the public becomes educated and the myths and misinformation fed to us during the last 30 years are refuted. This book is a great start. I intend to give copies to my environmentalist friends who "believe in wind" but have no idea what they are talking about.
Must-Read for Anyone Concerned about our Energy Future October 21, 2008
Loren D. Jones (Prior Lake, MN USA)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
William Tucker has created a well-written, thoughtful review of the current state of America's energy situation.
When I first heard about this book, which unabashedly promotes nuclear energy as the only reasonable option we have, I had a negative reaction. The reason had nothing to do with embracing nuclear. That part was easy since it brought me back to my childhood in the 60's when nuclear was widely heralded as the energy source of the future.
Rather, it was his embracing of the theory (yes, it's still only a theory) of man-made global warming as a basis for promoting nuclear energy solutions that gave me pause.
After reading the book, however, I have to say he's done a commendable job of fleshing out the science and the arguments on both sides of the global warming debate better than any treatment I've read to date.
Tucker then analyzes every possible energy option currently available to mankind, including coal, natural gas, geothermal, hydro, solar, wind, biofuels, coal gassification, etc. He cuts through much of the rhetoric that swirls around each of these energy options and lays out the history and all the facts, both the good and the bad, for each option.
Tucker does an excellent job of making things understandable for the layperson, despite being someone with a much more technical understanding of the science underlying these energy alternatives.
This book is informative and very engaging, and I would highly recommend it to anyone serious about understanding the reality of our energy choices.
An Overdue Discussion October 7, 2008
Neil Rosekrans (Cave Creek, AZ)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Mr. Tucker provides what has long been lacking from the energy debate - practicality. This well-researched book is a good starting point for anyone wanting to understand our current energy profile as well as the less-than-obvious constraints to current policy proposals aimed at substituting carbon-based energy with renewable energy.
Our current generation assets effectively meet specific needs and energy consumption patterns. Nuclear, coal and hydro sources meet our base load electricity demand that exists day and night. Natural gas plants, as well as some coal plants, are fired up during the day as electric demand spikes.
Since electricity generally cannot be stored for later use, grid operators must feed electricity onto the grid as it is demanded - all within a five percent variance. The challenge to wind power, as Mr. Tucker outlines, is that it is highly unpredictable and would be a disaster if it were to replace the current role of natural gas peaking plants. In fact, the Danes have refused adding anymore wind to their mix for this exact reason.
Solar, on the other hand, could act as a peaking source since its production spikes at the same time as demand on hot summer afternoons. But the challenge with solar, as with wind, is that both sources are highly dilute (and expensive!).
We would need an inordinate amount of land to replace a traditional nuclear, coal or gas power plant with solar or wind. If we covered, as Mr. Tucker explains, every rooftop in the country with solar panels, we would be able to provide the equivalent of our daytime indoor lighting needs. (This is less than 5 percent of our total electricity demand).
Terrestrial energy (nuclear), by contrast, is far more concentrated than solar energy - by a factor of about two million. Much of the rest of Mr. Tucker's book is spent explaining how nuclear energy works and how nuclear plants are, despite some public sentiment, very safe and environmentally compatible.
As ratepayers we need to understand that utilities merely pass through their costs of purchasing power and that federal and state mandates for renewable energy come with a price tag. If our national priority is clean, safe and inexpensive power then policymakers owe us a long overdue discussion on nuclear energy.
Clear thinking and balanced October 20, 2008
Harold R. Beaver (Nashville,TN)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Ever since William Tucker wrote "Progress and Privilege" in 1982, I have been an admirer of his writing ability. The arguments advanced in the 1982 work are still valid today and that book really straightened out my thinking about the dark side of the green movement.
Now comes a new book on terrestrial energy that is full of data. I am an engineer and welcome the data and I know from past experience I can trust Tucker's research. So I could read this book with little or no fact checking on my own. This made the reading go ever so smoothly when numerical data was presented.
I thought the choice of the subject matter for chapter one was perfect.Lets talk about global warming. If he had not opened that dialog early , it would have put lots of readers on the defensive. But he handled the subject in a balanced way and even if readers disagree with his conclusion, most will agree it was handled fairly.
The first one third of the book includes a review of past energy sources that are now in their old age stage of development. This included hydro,coal and petroleum. His analysis of where we have been and where we have left to go was on target based on my own understanding of the technical arguments involved.
Later chapters discuss alternative energy sources such as solar and renewables. You have got to admire a writer that will use the First and Second Laws of thermodynamics in a popular book to advance arguments for and against renewables.
Finally in the last 140 pages the big bear sitting silently in the background is introduced.Nuclear energy. Be prepared to read a really comprehensive and technically muscular discussion of this subject. The French solution presented in detail is really uplifting, particularly the issue of nuclear waste reprocessing.
When I read the book I made a few notes. I am going to re-read it and make lots of notes because I plan to use it as my data base in discussions with my friends.
|
|
|
| |
