The Powers That Be: Global Energy for the Twenty-first Century and Beyond Review

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The Powers That Be: Global Energy for the Twenty-first Century and Beyond ReviewThis is the essential thinking person's guide to global energy, hands down. It covers more material than any energy book I've ever seen, and does so in a truly thoughtful and informed way. I came away feeling it was comprehensive, intelligible, and eloquent, a book I very much wanted to recommend to others.
"Powers that Be" is factual, even densely so in some places, but it's really a book about how both science and ideas rule the energy universe. By "ideas," I mean things like attitudes toward progress and the environment, beliefs about society, philosophies related to nature and the economy, government policies, and the like. Montgomery makes clear how these sorts of realities play a powerful role in determining energy choices, no matter how scientifically naïve they might be. I never appreciated this before; it changed my view on our national, or global, conversations about energy.
There are chapters on every major energy source (their nature, abundance, advantages, limitations, environmental impacts, status, possible futures), including some not yet in use but probably on the way later in the century (hydrogen, fusion). Montgomery also devotes entire chapters to the big issues like energy history; world trends in production, demand, and consumption; geopolitics; climate change; peak oil; and the role of technology. I don't think you'll find this many subjects handled in any other single volume.
The author doesn't preach any one set of solutions. In fact, this wouldn't really make sense. His subject is global, not the U.S. or North America. He wants to inform us to the level where we can judge different versions of a better future on their own merits. He does have his own views, for sure. He believes government must play a part in the energy future, since it can take a long-term view, support research at a high level, and its outlook is not geared to profits but public welfare. This may seem naïve in some ways, but by the end I found it fairly convincing because of the examples discussed.
To me, the author (who has spent many years in the energy industry) is level headed. There's no doomsday stuff and no overriding pessimism. He also doesn't feel that everything can be made green in just a few short years. I'd call the tone of the book an example of sober optimism. After reading his chapters on renewables and technology, I feel I am in a much better position to evaluate some of the claims I see made in the media about these sources, positive and negative.
I also appreciated the style of the writing. It has some literary qualities and a fair amount of humor, too. This made the book enjoyable to read, something I never expected. If you want one volume on energy to tell you about where the world really is today, as a world, this is the one to get.
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