Richard Heinberg appears in episode 160 of the C-Realm Podcast.

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Product Description

"Blackout is an important and timely book. In the form of this compact volume, one of the best and most productive peak oil authors working today has turned his customary scholarhsip, wisdom, wit and writing prowess to some of the most ciritical issues now unfolding on our planet. "- Frank Kaminski, Energy Bulletin

Coal fuels about 50% of US electricity production and provides a quarter of the country’s total energy. China and India’s ferocious economic growth is based on coal-generated electricity.

Coal currently looks like a solution to many of our fast-growing energy problems. However, while coal advocates are urging full steam ahead, increasing reliance on the dirtiest of all fossil fuels has crucial implications for climate science, energy policy, the world economy, and geopolitics.

Drawbacks to a coal-based energy strategy include:

• Scarcity—new studies prove that the peak of usable coal production may actually be less than two decades away.
• Cost—the quality of produced coal is declining, while the expense of transport is rising, leading to spiralling costs and potential shortages.
• Climate impacts—our ability to deal with the historic challenge of climate change may hinge on reducing our coal consumption in future years.

Blackout goes to the heart of the tough energy questions that will dominate every sphere of public policy throughout the first half of this century, and it is a must-read for planners, educators, and anyone concerned about energy consumption, peak oil, and climate change.

Richard Heinberg is a journalist, editor, lecturer, and senior fellow of the Post Carbon Institute. He is one of the world’s foremost peak oil educators and the award-winning author of seven previous books, including Peak Everything and The Party’s Over.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #30533 in Books
• Published on: 2009-07-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 208 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780865716568
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

About the Author
Richard Heinberg is widely acknowledged as one of the world's foremost Peak Oil educators. A journalist, editor, lecturer, and Senior Fellow of the Post Carbon Institute, he is the award-winning author of seven previous books including Peak Everything, The Party's Over, and Powerdown. Richard has appeared in many documentaries (including The 11th Hour) and national radio and television programs.

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Customer Reviews

A new side to the coal debate
Typically, coal is seen as an insufficient energy source to solve the energy crisis because it is too dirty. In this compact and thorough addition to the coal debate, Richard Heinberg argues what may be the true limit of coal-- finite reserves. Heinberg covers the disaster global warming may become-- melting glaciers and thawing tundra could unleash positive feedbacks; melt the ice, less light reflects out, melt the tundra, the potent greenhouse gas methane could be released. But most of the book gives an excellent analysis of coal reserves in key regions: the U.S., China, Russia, India, South Africa, Australia, and several other regions around the world. The conclusion: global coal extraction may peak within two decades. China may peak in coal production as early as 2015.
Heinberg argues that humans are more likely to react to peak oil (see Heinberg's "The Party's Over" for more info on that) by using more coal, rather than choosing to use less due to global warming, unless alternatives can be found to replace coal. Most notable as alternatives are natural gas, hydro and nuclear, as briefly discussed. All three share unique challenges, notably finite uranium 235 for light water reactor-type nuclear plants if fast reactors aren't used, finite gas, and geographic and drought limits to hydro. Heinberg discusses alternatives more thoroughly in "The Party's Over." He feels coal will be ramped up in spite of alternatives and global warming concerns, and may well be right.
As a result, a Hubbert peaking analysis is applied to all major coal producing regions extremely thoroughly, based on numerous studies, giving an extremely thorough account of just how much coal the world has. China is in a precarious situation since it uses so much coal so fast, and may soon peak. All aspects are discussed: different grades of coal, regional transport issues, and ease of mining a seam. For example, Russia has a reserves to production ratio indicating a 500 year supply, but most of the high-quality, european coal deposits near cities are near peak. It is only massive reserves of low-grade coal in distant Asian Siberia that keep the reserve count high. Extracting this would be more expensive, dirtier, and have major transport bottlenecks.
The book concludes with a discussion of new coal technologies like IGCC (Integrated Gassification Combined Cycle) and CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage). While these new technologies may make coal burn more efficiently, they add to cost and are unlikely to allow capture and storage of carbon long-term. Basically, nothing can be done to prevent major coal shortages a few decades from now, so a transition to a lower-energy society may be needed if alternatives don't materialize. This book provides one of the most thorough, up-to-date accounts of the coal situation to date. And the picture isn't very pretty. Although, we'll probably run out of the stuff before global warming becomes extreme, so perhaps a "blackout" is preferable to "die-off." In that sense, peak coal is a positive.

A tremendously important book
Subtitled Coal, Climate and the Last Energy Crisis,the author presents every bit of information we need in order to understand the policy and life conduct decisions we will make in the very near future concerning decline in available energy resources, and then details three scenarios, and shows us, again based on facts, where each choice will lead us. Two out of three scenarios lead inexorably to the title of the book, Blackout, in all its finality. The third leads to a much leaner society, but one in which greater human values take precedence over the crass materialism of our age,a scenario in which humankind survives and flourishes.

Compared to his previous, wonderful book Peak Everything, Blackout is not an easy read. The extreme seriousness of our predicament in coming to the end of the age of fossil fuels makes it a very solemn read, but urgently necessary if we care at all how our grandchildren will live out their lives.

A fairly complete and comprehensive volume on the subject
Coal is a major provider of much of America's energy, but like oil, it is finite. "Blackout: Coal, Climate, and the Last Energy Crisis" discusses the serious issue that could go ignored in the face of other issues - the problem of peak coal production and the reliance the world has on it. With chapters on coal use throughout the world, 'clean' coal, and more, "Blackout" is a fairly complete and comprehensive volume on the subject.