The Citizen-Powered Energy Handbook: Community Solutions to a Global Crisis

by Greg Pahl

Global warming is for real, and getting worse faster than previously expected. The oil peak looms, and cheap petrol is a thing of the past. We face an energy crisis. This book tells you what you need... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1933392126
• ISBN13: 9781933392127
• Release Date: March 2007
• Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing Company
• Length: 347 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.1" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

The Citizen Powered Energy Handbook

This is a great book and should be in everyones library. Greg Pahl gives and great detailed over view of promising new and old technologies that could save Mankind. Buy it read it and pass it on! Rich

"It's time to return to the community, make amends, clean up the mess and get back on the right path

This quote from Pat Murphy, Executive Director of Community Service Inc. and found on page 260 of "The Citizen-Powered Energy Guide: Community Solutions To A Global Crisis" seems to neatly sum up the overall theme of author Greg Pahl's terrific new book. It seems that the more I read about the problem of peak oil and the upcoming energy crunch the more convinced I become that these matters will need to be addressed and solved at the local level. The bad news is that our illustrious leaders in Washington D.C. in both the Executive and Legislative branches of government just don't seem to get it and are content to stay the course with the same failed energy policies that have cost this nation dearly over the past quarter century. The good news is that civic-minded individuals, community groups and enlightened entreprenuers all over this land have decided to take matters into their own hands and are going about the business of tackling these extremely difficult issues at the grass-roots level. It is at once a very scary and an extremely exciting time! In "The Citizen-Powered Energy Handbook" author Greg Pahl explains why the energy challenges facing the United States in the coming decades are not likely to be solved by the big multi-national energy companies. It seems that there is no one technology out there capable of acting as the "magic wand" to solve all of our energy problems. Of course conservation is clearly a major part of the solution. Did you know that about 6% of the electricity generated in this country is used to dry clothes? If only we had leadership that would encourage us to conserve. That would be a great start! It is clear that our future lies in the development of alternative fuels like solar, wind, water, geothermal, biomass and liquid biofuels. Greg Pahl devotes a chapter to each of these technologies and explains the exciting new developments and limitations of each of them. He introduces us to people and companies who are at the forefront of these new cutting-edge technologies. And he explains why different regions will have to customize strategies based on the available resources in their particular area. This is information that is absolutely vital for anyone interested in becoming involved in the push for alternative fuels and in lobbying for changes in governmental policies that would favor such pursuits. I am very pleased to report that "The Citizen-Powered Energy Handbook: Community Solutions To A Global Crisis" is written in clear, easy to understand language. As another reviewer has indicated this is "must" reading for activists all over the country. As far as I am concerned this book is "must" reading for any citizen who is interested in getting up to speed on these promising new techologies. At the same time it is extremely important for people to understand that there are advantages and disadvantages to each one of these strategies. Yes, it would appear that the ultimate solution to our energy dil

It covers what communities can do!

Rather than being a pie in the sky, the book shows what communities around the world are already doing to produce energy locally, rather than just getting it from the big utilities. Rather than coal, nuclear or other environmentally damaging methods, the books covers the how, whys, problems and opportunities of communities producing their own power. With global warming and peak oil looming, this book couldnot have been published at a better time.