Global energy innovation : why America must lead

The world is entering the Third Industrial Revolution, an era of remarkable progress in science and technology that will require a global shift away from reliance on fossil-fuel and carbon-based energy. This book explains how America can lead the effort to reverse global warming and become the world leader in global energy innovation. America is trailing other parts of the developed world in terms of its development of--and commitment to--renewable energy. In Europe and Asia, sustainable communities, smart green grids, and emerging environmentally sound technologies are becoming common. The United States must move beyond the lethargy and defeatism of the 9/11 era, rediscover its ability to lead in technological inventiveness, and revitalize its economy via the creation of green jobs and sustainable, carbon-neutral communities. Because the lives of America's children and grandchildren are at stake, America must act quickly. Global Energy Innovation: Why America Must Lead explains why the emerging Third Industrial Revolution will become the largest social and economic megatrend of the post-modern era. With its comprehensive, up-to-date examination of renewable energy systems and related green technologies, this book represents a call-to-action that will benefit any reader, regardless of their status as a lay person, scholar, or scientist.

Author Notes

Woodrow W. Clark II , MA3, PhD, is a co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his work on the UN IPCC. He is an author, serial entrepreneur, and consultant on sustainable communities who teaches at universities in the United States, the EU, and China. Grant Cooke , MJ, is an award-winning journalist, college administrator, and a pioneer businessman in California's energy efficiency and energy renewable industries.

Reviews 2

Choice Review

By equating global energy innovation to a third Industrial Revolution (3IR) as Jeremy Rifkin describes in The European Dream (2004), Clark, a corecipient of the 2007 Nobel Prize for his contributions to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and Cooke, a journalist and energy industry professional, arbitrarily define the "Green Industrial Revolution" (GIR) as the third Industrial Revolution. The first Industrial Revolution began around 1760 when James Watt invented the steam engine and the second Industrial Revolution (2IR) resulted from improvements of the internal combustion engine and the beginning of commercial drilling and oil production in the 1850s. Now, GIR encourages a shift away from fossil fuels to renewable forms of energy. This book clearly outlines the environmental and future economic problems resulting from 2IR practices along with examples of GIR progress in Europe, China, and Japan. Although sweeping generalities create a unifying theme, erroneously stating that the release of ammonia is a significant source of acid rain and suggesting that biomass is not a carbon-based fuel weaken the entire thesis. The strident dismissal of huge global supplies of coal and gas without consideration of carbon capture or other innovative technologies reflects a lack of confidence in future scientific advances. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students and above; general readers. R. M. Ferguson emeritus, Eastern Connecticut State University

Library Journal Review

In 11 chapters covering various countries and regions as well as topics such as "Smart Green Grids" and "Sustainable Communities," Clark (UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) and journalist Cooke facilitate an understanding of the present status of world initiatives to mitigate global warming. The book is almost unique in its genre because it encompasses technologies, business plans, government initiatives, and major impediments to the Green Industrial Revolution (GIR). This is done broadly but clearly, with enough to interest the lay reader, and without resort to scare exhortations. The authors cite cases such as the Prius's regenerative braking technology, where technology developed in the United States was licensed to other countries already committed to fossil fuel conversion and then later licensed back to the United States. Other information adds to what readers may think they know-while China is notorious as a major polluter, for example, the book also describes it as the global leader in solar energy generation and manufacturing. VERDICT This hopeful book provides clear exposition, with lots of facts and figures, of the status of the Third, or Green, Industrial Revolution and illustrates potential alternatives to the disastrous energy path the United States is following.-J. Dunham, John Jay Coll. Lib., CUNY (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Introduction	p. 1
1 A New Carbonless and Sustainable Era Is at America's Doorstep	p. 7
2 The Problem: Climate Change and Its Global Impact	p. 23
3 Asia Leads the GIR: Japan and South Korea	p. 41
4 Europe Joins the GIR	p. 53
5 China Leapfrogs into the GIR	p. 63
6 Sustainable Communities	p. 77
7 Renewable Energy Integrated Systems	p. 97
8 Smart Green Grids in the GIR	p. 117
9 Emerging Commercial Technologies Empower the GIR	p. 129
10 The Next Economics	p. 149
11 The Race for Global Energy Innovation Has Begun: Where Is America?	p. 167
References	p. 179
Index	p. 189

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