Tom's New Book

Threshold

SCGI’s Thanksgiving week newsletter debuts my current book project, which will be released chapter by chapter as I write it over the next year. The urgency and global importance of energy policies, and energy security, have shaken the world in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In fact, though, the current challenges have been developing for a long time. The problem of inflation that’s being experienced worldwide can be attributed in large part to dramatic rises in energy costs. As Robert Hargraves quite convincingly argued recently in this excellent article, energy is the economy.

The original working title, Moot Point, has been changed. The new title is Threshold – How Energy Abundance Will Transform Our World. We are, literally, at the threshold of a new era that will be made possible by new advanced nuclear power systems that we can expect to see deployed before the end of this decade. At the Threshold will map out some of the most promising systems and explore the many ways in which they can solve some of the thorniest problems associated with the complexity of energy generation and utilization.

My late friend David MacKay inspired me to emulate his example with his book, Sustainable Energy Without the Hot Air, which he distributed for free. So shortly after its publication, I decided to likewise distribute my original book, Prescription for the Planet, for free. More recently, Jim Hansen released his latest book, Sophie’s Planet, chapter-by-chapter as he wrote it. I’d like to acknowledge both David and Jim for their magnanimous example, and for recognizing that if you want to write a book to make a difference in the world, giving it away will tend to get it more widely read, which is the major goal of writing books on policy and technology.

I hope that this work in progress will contribute to a deeper understanding of our challenges, and exciting potential solutions, to the serious issues facing humanity today.

Click here to read the Introduction and download Chapter 1

What role does nuclear power play in the U.S. effort to cut greenhouse gas emissions?

NPR's Leila Fadel speaks with Kathryn Huff, an official at the Department of Energy, about the future of nuclear energy in the United States.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST: President Biden arrives in Egypt this morning to deliver remarks at the U.N. Climate Conference. Here at home, the U.S. is taking action to decrease its dependency on fossil fuels in the energy sector. But is it enough to combat the worst effects of climate change? This is the first of several conversations that we're going to feature on the show about America's climate agenda. Here's my co-host, Leila Fadel, with Kathryn Huff of the U.S. Department of Energy, talking about the role of nuclear power.

KATHRYN HUFF: I think nuclear energy is definitely part of the answer, but it's going to take every low-carbon energy source we have available to us to meet the kinds of challenges that climate change has put in front of us. There's no question that it'll require renewables and carbon capture and sequestration, and it will require nuclear, and quite a lot of all of them.

LEILA FADEL, BYLINE: What about safety? I mean, I think when people who aren't familiar with nuclear energy - everybody will still know Chernobyl and Fukushima.

Click here to listen to the 7-minute audio or read the transcript.