Review: Excellent Succinct Account of Energy Transformation
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 18, 2013
"Clean Break: The Story of Germany's Energy Transformation and What Americans Can Learn from It" by Osha Gray Davidson"Clean Break" is a collection of brief essays that capture Germany's ambitious transition from fossil fuels and nuclear power to renewable energy sources. It's about a revolutionary movement known as the Energiewende (energy change) and the lessons the United States can learn from it. Writer Osha Gray Davidson provides the reader with a succinct and accessible account of Germany's energy revolution. This insightful 69-page book is composed of the following six essays: 1. Power Shift, 2. FiTs and Starts, 3. Skin in the Game, 4. An Ugly Sort of Energy, 5. 300 Meters, and 6. The Energiewende, American Style.Positives:1. A well-researched and accessible account of Germany's energy transformation.2. Succinct and to the point. Conversational pleasant tone3. Germany's energy policies clearly laid out, "It calls for an end to the use of fossil fuels and nuclear power and embraces clean, renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and biomass. The government has set a target of 80 percent renewable power by 2050."4. Many interesting facts, "In 1999, Germany had an installed solar capacity of 32 megawatts. In 2012, that figure was 30,000 megawatts--a nearly 1,000-fold increase in a nation that gets roughly as much sunlight as Alaska. On a sunny day that's as much electricity as 13 nuclear power plants would produce."5. Lessons learned from Germany and what we can learn from it. "Decentralizing electricity was at the core of the Energiewende, Rainer Baake told me. If utilities had remained in control of electrical generation, renewable power would still be a novelty."6. Many practical examples of the on-going energy transformation. "Today, the Abbey is known as one of Germany's most exquisite Baroque buildings. What isn't widely known is that it's also a vivid example of Germany's recent Energiewende and how the energy revolution was built from the bottom up."7. Understanding German culture as it relates to energy. "The reason Germany is so far ahead of us in renewable power is simple," said DG-advocate John Farrell. "Their policies are designed so that people have skin in the game."8. Understanding price differentials of gas, "Most of the price differential between the U.S. and European nations comes from the higher taxes, which pay for new roads and for maintaining old ones."9. Pillars of the Energiewende: efficiency and energy conservation.10. Policies. "The primary reason for the renewable energy gulf between the United States and Germany can be summed-up in one word: policy."11. German politics as it relates to energy is based on scientific consensus of subject matter experts, "A dozen years of growing public support have driven all major political parties to endorse the Energiewende. If a member of parliament called climate change a hoax or said that its cause is unknown, he or she would be laughed out of office."12. The moral support to reverse climate change. "Renewable energies are nearly carbon-free, and like most Germans he believes humans have a moral obligation to reverse climate change."13. Each chapter ends with recommended resources (books or links).14. Appendix includes three extras.Negatives:1. Poor format. Too much spacing between sentences.2. Drives home the same points almost to a fault.3. It doesn't really address in any significant details the biggest challenges facing Germany in this transitional effort.In summary, what a great Kindle Single. This brief book clearly conveys Germany's successful on-going transition from fossil fuel to renewable energy. It's no longer a matter of whether global warming is a scientific fact or not; it's way past that, it's about the best way to handle the task. Excellent, I highly recommend it!Further recommendations: "The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars: Dispatches from the Front Lines" by Michael E. Mann, "Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming" by Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway, "Energy for Future Presidents: The Science Behind the Headlines" by Richard A. Muller. "Science Under Siege: Defending Science, Exposing Pseudoscience" by Kendrick Frazier, "Idiot America: How Stupidity Became a Virtue in the Land of the Free" by Charles P. Perce, "Fool Me Twice: Fighting the Assault on Science in America" by Shawn Lawrence Otto, "Changing Planet, Changing Health: How the Climate Crisis Threatens Our Health and What We Can Do about It" by Paul R. Epstein, "Storms of My Grandchildren: The Truth About the Coming Climate Catastrophe and Our Last Chance to Save Humanity" by James Hansen, "The Crash Course: The Unsustainable Future Of Our Economy, Energy, And Environment" by Chris Martenson, "Warnings: The True Story of How Science Tamed the Weather" by Mike Smith and "Lies, Damned Lies, and Science: How to Sort Through the Noise Around Global Warming, the Latest Health Claims, and Other Scientific Controversies (FT Press Science)" Sherry Seethaler. I have reviewed all the aforementioned books; look for my tag, "Book Shark Review".