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Environmental Books

Sustainable Energy – Without the Hot Air by David J C MacKay
Buy now

Sustainable Energy – Without the Hot Air

by David J C MacKay

MacKay does very simple sums, back-of-the-envelope sums, as to how much energy could we get from bio-fuels, how much energy could we get from wind power, how much land would it take? And his conclusion is that they can make a very significant contribution but it is basically not going to solve the problem.

Recommendations from our site

“What the late David MacKay did was give us a rigorous understanding of the way that we use and generate energy.” Read more...

The best books on Energy Transitions

Chris Goodall, Environmentalist

“This is a fantastic piece of work to start people thinking about sustainable energy in a wider debate rather than just amongst scientists.” Read more...

The best books on Renewable Energy

Juliet Davenport, Environmentalist

“MacKay does very simple, back-of-the-envelope sums, as to how much energy could we get from bio-fuels, how much energy could we get from wind power, how much land would it take?” Read more...

The best books on Science and Climate Change

John Shepherd, Environmentalist

Our most recommended books

  • The Limits to Growth
    by Dennis L. Meadows, Donella H Meadows & Jorgen Randers

  • Sustainable Energy – Without the Hot Air
    by David J C MacKay

  • The Road
    by Cormac McCarthy

  • Aurora
    by Kim Stanley Robinson

  • Why We Disagree About Climate Change
    by Mike Hulme

  • Fixing Climate
    by Robert Kunzig and Wallace S Broecker

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