Book Review: Earth The Sequel

Overall, Fred Krupp and Miriam Horn's book "Earth: The Sequel" is exactly what I have been craving for a long time: a survey of the most promising new technologies that could, if implemented on a grand scale, make the world a better place.

The end of the book acknowledges a list of two dozen or so "green" blogs which served as resources for much of the information contained within. As a regular reader of quite a few of those mentioned (climatebiz, worldchaning, and - my favorite - ecogeek) I can describe the book itself as a compilation of the most exciting and promising stories to have graced these blogs over the last couple years. Like the blogs themselves, the authors of "Earth: The Sequel" give you thorough, yet to-the-point descriptions of the various new and developing technologies out there.

After an introduction, each chapter summarizes a different sector: photovoltaics, thermal solar, algae/cellulosic ethanol (2 chapters), ocean, geothermal, and coal gasification. The last two chapters of the book are a hodgepodge of different companies and individuals who have either made significant green accomplishments or have some kind of idea that's so-crazy-it-just-might-work.

In a nutshell, here's my summary of the aforementioned categories:

Solar: I would say that the thermal solar stuff sounds more exciting than the photovoltaics. PV is cool in principle, and even cooler developments are in the works, like PV paint (holding tiny nanoscale PV units in solution) that could literally just be painted onto a roof. Thing is, most of these prototypes are only getting a fraction of the energy efficiency they are shooting for. Let me know when that improves. Till then, thermal solar plants are actually being built and this book at least seems to label them a success. Another cool aspect mentioned in the solar part of the book (though this could really apply to any new technology) is the concept of building new ultra-high efficiency DC transmission lines so that states like New Mexico could distribute their excess solar energy to other parts of the country efficiently.

Biofuel: Naturally, I found this part the most interesting. Algae seems like the way to go, if only because the stuff can easily be tweaked to our liking, and grows like wildfire. The book mostly talks about the various challenges in growing the algae - controlling light, nutrients, growth, etc. I'm curious as to how they refine the fuel out of it, and would like to know more about that. He briefly mentions cellulosic ethanol, but doesn't dwell on it for very long. Ethanol is turning into a dirty word in this whole biz, so maybe it's better that he leaves it out. Or maybe it's just that no one has made any real breakthroughs in terms of actually making cellulosic ethanol a viable option.

Ocean/Geothermal: Two very promising energy sources due to the fact that they are producing energy nearly 100% of the time. For some reason, it seems like ocean energy engineers have trouble getting their system to work. I've been following the attempts to put turbines in the East River (which is mentioned in this book), and have often wondered what is so hard about putting a turbine in the water... It seems that the answer is - not much, really, we just need a little practice. No radically new technologies here; the main drawback seems to be the mounds of legal red tape that stands between the people who want to build the power plants and successful implementation of said plants.

Coal: Here there was some really interesting stuff. I have always been very skeptical about technologies that remove carbon dioxide from coal before it gets into the atmosphere. Such practices always struck me as the kind of thing that would require more energy than they are worth. But apparently it could be economical, at least in the near term. Also, it might be possible to burn coal while it is still in the ground - an idea that sounds dangerous (think raging mine fires in Centralia) but, if mastered, really smart.

One topic that was noticeably absent: wind. I'm not sure why they left it out, especially since wind is such a fast growing part of the alternative energy sector. It remains a mystery to me.

The authors' endorsement of a carbon cap-and-trade program was repeated many times throughout the book. I was somewhat disappointed - not because I'm against cap-and-trade per se; I think the jury is still out on it. I was disappointed because unlike the other elements of the book, which gave me an exciting new spin on something I thought I already knew about, the carbon market stuff seemed to just repeat things I had heard before. But the book does make a passionate argument, and I respect it for that.

I highly recommend this book to anyone, even an avid blog reader. Although you may well have heard of some of these companies, this book transcends the blogosphere in its personal accounts of the individuals behind them. There are the savvy businessmen and women, the brilliant MIT grads, the eccentrics living out in the middle of nowhere, and more. Getting a firsthand look at these pioneers reveals their shared passion for making the world a better place. It makes me, more than ever, want to join their ranks.