Table of Contents

Preface; List of units; List of conversion factors; List of abbreviations; 1. Introduction; Part I. Climate: 2. Greenhouse Earth; 3. Climate modelling; 4. The past as proxy for the future; 5. Predicting the future; Part II. Energy: 6. Taking up arms against this sea of troubles; 7. How fast to move: a physicist's look at the economists; 8. Energy, emissions and action; 9. Fossil fuels: how much is there?; 10. Electricity, emission and pricing carbon; 11. Efficiency: the first priority; 12. Nuclear energy; 13. Renewables; 14. Biofuels: is there anything there?; 15. An energy summary; Part III. Policy: 16. US policy: new things, bad things, good things; 17. World policy action; 18. Coda; References; Index.

Promotional Information

This book is a Nobel Prize-winning scientist's assessment of options for switching to sustainable energy provision to avert potentially disastrous consequences of climate change.

About the Author

Burton Richter is the Paul Pigott Professor in the Physical Sciences, Stanford University and Director Emeritus at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. He is a Nobel Prize-winning physicist for his pioneering work in the discovery of a heavy elementary particle.

Reviews

Review of previous edition: '… a wonderfully balanced overview. It opens with a fine summary of the science linking carbon to climate … provides a concise primer on the economics of long-term climate policy, and concludes with a short, sensible, and well-argued set of opinions and policy recommendations.' Physics Today