Energy: A Guidebook

How much energy do you consume each day? Is the answer different if you live in Britain, Switzerland, India or the USA? Where does the energy come from, and where does it all go? Could we live equally well on half as much? Fully revised and updated, this accessible guide describes the world of energy as we approach the end of the century, and asks some pertinent questions about the next fifty years. If the oil wells run dry and the `dash for gas' exhausts that resource, what are the alternatives? Nuclear power? Coal? The `biofuels'? And what about the environment? How good is the evidence for global warming? Janet Ramage takes the reader from basic ideas to detailed accounts of energy systems, present and future. She describes the options, but supplies no simple answers. She writes, "Like many guidebooks, it includes warnings against hazards and doesn't entirely resist the temptation to award stars, but the choice of destination must be made by the traveller. Only you can decide where you want to go."