Power to the People: How the Coming Energy Revolution Will Transform an Industry, Change Our Lives, and Maybe Even Save the Planet

by Vijay V. Vaitheeswaran

Book Overview

A guided tour of a revolution in the making that promises to change our lives Global warming, rolling black outs, massive tanker spills, oil dependence: our profligate ways have doomed us to suffer such tragedies, right? Perhaps, but Vijay Vaitheeswaran, the energy and environment correspondent for The Economist, sees great opportunity in the energy realm today, and Power to the People is his fiercely independent and irresistibly entertaining look...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0374236755
• ISBN13: 9780374236755
• Release Date: October 2003
• Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
• Length: 358 Pages
• Weight: 1.34 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.4" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Excellent analysis

It is quite frightening to think of a world without energy. During the mid 70's, as a school kid, I remember the big campaign launched by oil companies in India -" Save that drop of oil, or walk to your destination 20 years from now". Thanks to the crisis in the middle-east, the rest of the world was starving for oil. Economies slowed down, inflation rose and unemployment hurt. One commodity that we rely on to drive down to our destinations, whose availability is unfortunately skewed could virtually halt the rest of the world. OPEC continues to control the valve through which most of the world's oil flows. This is a political issue that affects economies globally.If we assume that oil is abundantly available, then we are faced the problem of the resulting pollution and global warming that our machines create. We then need to think of an alternate energy source that is free from political and environmental sensitivities.This book is an excellent analysis of the global energy scene from the perspectives of deregulation, environmental issues and the research on new technologies that are capable of providing cheap, clean and reliable sources of energy.Vijay has brought to the table his extensive and in-depth knowledge of the subject and also the views of key people in the field. The book has been divided into logical chapters and each one is a topic of discussion by itself. His comparison of energy sources, consumption patterns and technology access across the developed and the developing worlds is superb. The rich nations have a role and an obligation to help the poorer nations to access nonpolluting technologies. At many places the book provides the latest figures on pollution rates, energy consumption and economic indicators that support the analysis.Hydrogen is the winner in the race and search for the fuel of the future. If the internet connects millions of computes that share information, soon we will have an energy internet that shares and trades clean energy. Maybe, energy might become even free. After all hydrogen is abundantly available on earth.Fuel cells seem to be emerging as a disruptive technology. Imagine devices like laptops, palmtops and mobile phones powered by small fuel cells that can be run on alcohol. Just give them a small drink and they will keep running for days. I am looking for a sign that will assure our children - "Twenty years from now, your cars will need only water to drive you to your destinations"A must read for all who care for energy, environment and economics.

The triumph of market environmentalism

Debates about the environment, more so than other topics, tend to be hijacked by political agendas and ideological entrenchments, leaving laymen with no clear understanding of where we are or where we are headed. "Power to the People" is an exception to that rule. Vijay Vaitheeswaran, a mechanical engineer and the energy and environment correspondent for The Economist, brings a sensible and interdisciplinary perspective and looks clearly into the future of energy.According to Mr. Vaitheeswaran, there are two trends that are transforming the energy world: the decentralization of supply and the liberalization of markets. The former signals the move away from the grid and other economies-of-scale type power generators that place a premium on big size. The future of energy will be towards micropower, which is flexible and produced as close to the point of consumption as possible.Even more important is the liberalization of the energy market. Carbon taxes, for example, are necessary to account for the environmental effects of carbon-based energy sources. But this liberalization cannot be half-hearted as it was in California, Mr. Vaitheeswaran warns; not only is it important to "get prices right," but it is also vital to dispel the notion that energy is too important to be left to the markets.Once these two conditions are in place, it is very likely that we can reach some zero emissions utopia. Mr. Vaitheeswaran places his money on hydrogen and for good reason. But there is no hope, he cautions, of getting there unless we understand that the energy market behaves just like any other market, where correct pricing and innovation are the only way to provide people with the kind of energy they want.

Best Environmental Book in a Decade

Power to the People is the best and most important book on global environmental issues since The Ecology of Commerce. Here at Aspen Skiing Company, we're making it mandatory reading for all senior executives. It's balanced but hits the crucial issue of our time--energy use--dead on; it provides a grounded, sensible perspective on climate change that few could disagree with; and it's a major service to people and organizations trying to get the corporate world, government, and individuals moving towards action on climate change and cleaner energy sources. This landmark book will become part of the sustainable business canon, along with the Ecology of Commerce, Natural Capitalism, Cradle to Cradle, and Cool Companies.

the next wave

i'm not an energy junkie, but i LOVED this book!!! the author takes on a very important subject--the juice on which our society runs and the future of our planet, and creates a terrific and absorbing book. he takes a broad perspective, looking at energy in terms of markets and the environment and technology, and this is the only book that i know of that looks at all three. i liked the relish that he has he seems to enjoy poking holes in conventional wisdom coming from all parties, whether its old energy oil industry dinosaurs or environmentalist-sky-is-falling pessimists. i also liked the previews of what's coming down the pipe. like his columns in the Economist, he's sure to piss a lot of people off, but his arguments seem, to this general reader, to be well grounded. its a fun read, as he's a good writer, and i particularly enjoyed the fun stuff about the futuristic hydrogen economy. very highly recommended.

Energy is more interesting than you think.

Energy is one of those subjects that you don't think about until you have to. Until that lousy day last summer.As a technology guy, I've always been somewhat intrigued with the idea of networks (like Distributed / grid computing). So I was intrigued when I heard the author this summer speak about his "energy grid" (which he calls it the Energy Internet). Granted his terminology seemed a little....1990s, but his point made sense: if we were all sharing off the same energy grid, the market would reward those who used less energy and extract from those who use more. And like the internet, the "energy internet" can reroute itself around a problem. (Take that, Ohio!)What I loved most about this book is that it's not aimed at granola crunchy people. It's also not aimed at the NPR / anti-SUV crowd. I think It's written for the "armchair skeptic" like myself. I'm not stupid enough to think that BP wants to save the world. But I think those ads are meant to influence how we think about energy providers. We all know that many of the real energy costs aren't being addressed in today's pump prices-- the environment, Enron, Iraq, etc. But the author explains that it's because the real market price ISN'T being represented that we're in such a sorry state. Well, lots of right-wing books contain the "market will solve all of our problems" premise and I would have expected as much from someone who writes for the Economist. But this book doesn't always give the answers that you'd expect. In fact, it was pretty harsh on a few companies who would have probably liked to use him as a poster boy.Granted, his book title makes it seem like Energy will solve many of the world's problems-- that's just the title. But i'm pretty impressed how well he supported his "save the planet" / environmental stance-- it seemed a bit far-fetched at first. But what he's really talking about is pollution credits and developed / developing world stuff. With India and China's rapid economic growth, the environment took a big hit and it affects all of us. If I have a small complaint about the book, it's that the author sometimes seems a little too "rah rah" about the "new revolution". (the book title alone makes me cringe a bit). I don't disagree that cheap and efficient hydrogen energy may change the world, I just think that real revolutions are fairly incremental intially and we only realize how incredible they are after we start to reap the benefits. Proclaiming the energy "revolution" and talking about the "energy internet" may have gotten people excited in the New Economy, but we're in the Old New Economy now. I give this book 5 stars because I'm not the kind of person who would read books on energy and I actually enjoyed it.