Product Description

If the US continues with its current policies, the next decades will be marked by war, economic collapse, and environmental catastrophe. Resource depletion and population pressures are about to catch up with us, and no one is prepared. The political elites, especially in the US, are incapable of dealing with the situation and have in mind a punishing game of "Last One Standing."

The alternative is "Powerdown," a strategy that will require tremendous effort and economic sacrifice in order to reduce per-capita resource usage in wealthy countries, develop alternative energy sources, distribute resources more equitably, and reduce the human population humanely but systematically over time. While civil society organizations push for a mild version of this, the vast majority of the world's people are in the dark, not understanding the challenges ahead, nor the options realistically available.

Powerdown speaks frankly to these dilemmas. Avoiding cynicism and despair, it begins with an overview of the likely impacts of oil and natural gas depletion and then outlines four options for industrial societies during the next decades:

Last One Standing: the path of competition for remaining resources;
Powerdown: the path of cooperation, conservation and sharing;
Waiting for a Magic Elixir: wishful thinking, false hopes, and denial;
Building Lifeboats: the path of community solidarity and preservation.

Finally, the book explores how three important groups within global society-the power elites, the opposition to the elites (the antiwar and antiglobalization movements, et al: the "Other Superpower"), and ordinary people-are likely to respond to these four options. Timely, accessible and eloquent, Powerdown is crucial reading for our times.

Richard Heinberg is an award-winning author of five previous books, including The Party's Over: Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies. A member of the Core Faculty of New College of California, he lives in Santa Rosa, California.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #50356 in Books
• Published on: 2004-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

About the Author

Richard Heinberg is widely acknowledged as one of the world's foremost Peak Oil educators. A journalist, educator, editor, lecturer, and a Core Faculty member of New College of California where he teaches a program on "Culture, Ecology and Sustainable Community, he is the author of six previous books including The Party's Over and Powerdown.

Customer Reviews

good
good book, quick read. explains the problems of peak oil and the implications it has for the future of the energy industry.

Power down...
This is another superb contribution on Peak Oil that I had the pleasure of reading by Richard Heinberg. By and large and once again, I would also classify this text as a classic. Other reviews do a wonderful job of summarizing the nuts and bolts of this book. I will not belabor such points.

Suffice it to say that this book is a well done addition to The Party's Over. It forces one to consider in even greater detail, the implications of the Peak Oil in the realm of economics, alternatives (and the latest developments), and some suggested courses of action to deal with the coming changes. Much like his previous books, it is indeed well written and oddly enjoyable (again, given the subject matter). I appreciate how he treats the entire political spectrum in the same manner, i.e. Democrats and Republicans alike, in how all have contributed and sustain the current course of events in one way or another. Heinberg shines in this effort.

[...]

Wanna learn how civilization came all the way to where we are now?
Power Down is a powerful analysis of human modern civilization. The key element that boosted technology, medical advancement, world population and globalization is oil. This cheap source of energy is as Richard Heinberg says a "free ride" that will soon come to an end.
Oil have defined the boundaries of modern civilization and its inevitable depletion is gonna change the course of it, and its gonna happen soon.
Power Down, is a scientific and insightful and analysis of energy, it traces the multiple consequences of oil depletion and the possible solutions to an energetic solution for humanity.
However most importantly, this book rather than describing in depth the critical situation we are facing, it raises awareness of the great value energy has and it makes us think more about saving, having a more moderate lifestyle, and living more in harmony with nature and its valuable resources.