Book Notes : Powerdown

Notes on Powerdown: Options and Actions for a Post-Carbon World
Richard Heinberg, 2004
Read November 2006

After a while, all these peak oik doomster books start to run together. They all quote the same few sources, they all say pretty much the same thing, and they all tend to be insufficiently self-critical. This book looms large in the Peak Oil doomster canon, but honestly, I kind of snoozed through it. Admittedly, that was partly because I was sleep-deprived when I read it. It covers the same ground as The Long Emergency, but was not as hysterical, and therefore, not as entertaining as that text, which so far is turning out to be the ne plus ultra of doomster books.

So this book is the same old story – energy needs are increasing; we’re running out of oil; the alternatives aren’t going to be adequaate. All this leads up to some meandering thoughts about preserving our technical knowledge and limiting growth (or actually, reducing population). But it’s all very vague.

Here’s one point the book made that I liked. Individual energy conservation is a good thing. But if you practice it, it takes, well, personal energy to do, and in a sense reduces your power to change the world. Which isn’t good.

Part of the book is marred by the insistence that Bush and cronies engineered the 9-11 terrorist attacks. Doesn’t have much to do with the rest of the book, but maybe it’s meant to filter out any critical readers early on.

Ok, that’s a little harsh. I’m generally sympathetic to the concerns of oil depletion and overpopulation. But it was hard for me to take this book seriously.

A more detailed review of this book can be found at http://peakoildebunked.blogspot.com/2006_07_09_peakoildebunked_archive.html. Good site, by the way.