Books discovered

This month, Sally Campbell reviews a book by Mike Berners-Lee and Duncan Clark called The Burning Question :We can’t burn half the world’s oil, coal and gas. So how do we QUIT?

Energy production has been the subject of many recent discussions on Arran, whether it is about wind farms, biomass or hydro power. Yet we all realise how dependent we are on energy for our modern lifestyles, brought home starkly in the recent breakdown of supply.
Scientists warn us that the planet has now reached a grim climate milestone not seen for two or three million years. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says the amount of heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has topped 400 parts per million.

Climate change is the most fascinating scientific, political and social puzzle in history. Great minds, enthusiastic leaders and green warriors have all tried to tackle the problem, but so far the world’s efforts at reducing global warming have failed. We do our best to save energy but the simple fact is that carbon emissions are still accelerating upwards, following an exponential curve that goes back centuries. Like squeezing a balloon, reductions in one place lead to increases elsewhere.

The real barrier to action is that the world has far more fossil fuel in its reserves than it can safely burn – at least twice as much and perhaps ten times as much. These reserves are worth trillions of dollars, and solving the problem means persuading the world to abandon them. The Burning Question asks whether that’s possible and what the side effects might be. Would the global economy sink and oil companies crash as the ‘carbon bubble’ bursts? Or could we move smoothly to a green future? Looking at the whole issue with much-needed fresh eyes, The Burning Question argues that global warming can still be tackled, but only if humankind wakes up to the threat and demands that the fuels stay in the ground.

Mike Berners-Lee is a leading carbon consultant and honorary researcher at Lancaster University. He is also the author of How Bad Are Bananas?, one of the best-selling ‘green’ books of recent years. Duncan Clark is a visiting researcher at the UCL Energy Institute. He helped set up and run the 10:10 climate campaign and is a consultant editor on the Guardian environment desk.

 ‘Fascinating, important and highly recommended’ – Al Gore
 ‘An essential contribution to our thinking about climate change’ – George Monbiot

Published by Profile Books (2013) ISBN 978-1781250457 £9.99