Earth: The Sequel by Fred Krupp and Miriam Horn
new book, co-authored by Environmental
Defense Fund's (EDF) Fred Krupp and Miriam Horn, brings
a fresh and well researched perspective on “the race
to reinvent energy and stop global warming.” With it's
focus on technology, innovation and all encompassing speculation,
It's only fitting that the first interview to promote Earth:
The Sequel was published in Wired magazine. On the other hand
Red Herring might have been a likely candidate as well.
Earth: The Sequel is not only a primer on the various new
technologies being developed to produce clean energy, reduce
pollution and increase efficient energy use, but also a celebration
of the spirit of entrepreneurship around these developments;
a spirit embraced and promoted by EDF for several decades
since its founding in 1967. Neither a textbook nor a scientific
investigation, Earth: The Sequel is more than anything a journalistic
journey that follows the unfolding saga of various energy
start-ups and technologies through the shifting sands of venture
capital, big $$$, crazy R&D dreams and policy nightmares.
Take for example Amyris Biotechnologies, a hot little California
start-up with $70 million in recent round B funding in the
bank, and a new CEO promising to “grow it into a $10
billion company in five years.” Building on a platform
developed as post-grads in UC Berkeley, the leading scientist-founders
of Amyris are developing a large scale yeast-based fermentation
process that turns sugar into gasoline and diesel substitutes
that contain more energy than ethanol. The promise? With the
current controversy over the production of ethanol from food
sources, Amyris' sugar cane based process will not only help
keep food prices down, but will also bring about net carbon
emission reduction, which is seven times that of corn ethanol.
The process is not without potential controversy though as
it is based on DNA manipulation, in which yeasts are programmed
to ferment the fuels.
Thinking dot coms? The comparison is valid up to a point.
As far as location, when it comes to bio-tech and solar it
seems that California in general, and Silicon Valley in particular,
are definitely the places to be. But while a dot com can arguably
get to scale and market with an investment in the tens of
millions, an energy start-up requires at least ten times that
amount. Building a power plant based on totally new tech is
often times the challenge.
That is where more traditional and conservative entities
such as banks and utilities come into the picture. According
to the authors, in order to enable the market to take the
right course, that will enable investments, lending and collaboration
on that scale for new energy technologies, policy must be
put in place. They know exactly what that policy should be
– carbon cap-and-trade, a system whereby emission levels
are limited and regulated, and companies that achieve emission
levels that are lower than the limit can sell their credits
to companies which do not meet their quota. Such a system
should put a tangible market price on carbon emissions and
encourage innovation and investment in new processes and technologies.
They cite the Clean Air Act of 1990 as a similar system that
helped to decrease sulfur dioxide (the cause of acid rain)
significantly:
“Within five years, U.S utilities cut emissions
30 percent more than the law required, even while increasing
electric generation from coal by 6.8 percent, and the U.S
economy grew by a healthy 5.4 percent. Dire predictions that
the program would eventually cost more than $6 billion a year
proved wildly off base.”
I have to say I learned a lot reading this book. Never before
did I find such a concise and simple guide to the vast maze
of terms and technologies of clean energy. If you read this
book you'll get a better understanding of the basic science,
challenges, and achievements behind wave energy, geothermal
energy, biofuel, clean coal, solar thermal and solar photovoltaic
technologies. You will also get to meet a wide and wild array
of characters, the most memorable of these being Bernie Karl
of Chena Hot Springs Resort in Alaska.
Bernie Karl was crowned both as the mastermind of the dumbest
business idea of the year (Forbes, 2004) for trying to build
an ice palace that remains frozen year round (he succeeded
on the third attempt), and is the person who single handedly
reorganized and revitalized the geothermal industry. In Chena,
56 miles northeast of Fairbanks, Alaska’s first geothermal
plant is producing electricity from lower temperature water
than any other plant in the world. Karl also plans a light
show based on the Aurora Borealis but that's another story.
Another story waiting to be told is a global version of
Earth: The Sequel, that will describe not only US based companies
and policy points, but will also bring a wider perspective
to international technological developments and companies,
which are sometimes way ahead of their American counterparts.
Title: Earth: The Sequel
Authors: Fred Krupp and Miriam Horn
Publisher: W.W. Norton
& Company
Publication Date: March 12, 2008
Pages: 256
Official Website: http://earththesequel.edf.org/book
This green
book review was original posted at the Eco-Libris blog.
More resources:
1. The book on Amazon.com
2. Earth: The Sequel on the Los
Angeles Times
3. Interview with the authors on treehugger.com
ger.com
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