5 comments about The Hype About Hydrogen: Fact and Fiction in the Race to Save the Climate.

1. There are many well-intentioned people who advocate a quick switch to a hydrogen economy. This book is a must-read for them. While this book is pessimistic about the potential for a hydrogen solution to the energy issues we face, for me it is optimistic in that it allows us to get past a potential dead end and start thinking about other options that are more realistic at present. Before reading this book I thought of hybrids as a bait and switch to deflect attention from hydrogen cars. After reading this book, I realize that just the opposite is true. Hybrids are probably our best hope for now while hydrogen is a much hyped dream.



2. This book explains in clear no-uncertain terms why Hydrogen Cars will not happen in our lifetime, and explains what the realistic alternatives are -- namely biofuel plug-in hybrids. The author is an administration hydrogen insider and one who HAS made positive changes in other areas to help reduce the USA's global warming footprint.



3. The good; this book educated me on the promise and reality of hydrogen. Hydrogen (used for automobiles and even to power homes and businesses) hast the potential to seriously curb America's appetite for oil and to reduce carbon emmisions, but getting the technology affordable and scalable enough to distribute throughout the country is at least 20 and probably more like 30+ years away. Even then, the cost may still be higher than $3.00 gas is today, but that remains to be seen based on a number of known and unknown things about the future...
   
   The not so good: a bit repetitive, and at times too deep technologically (of which the author warns about in the prologue)
   
   If you are interested in alternative energy and its related issues like the United States' dependence on oil including the geopolitical impacts thereof, I would suggest reading a book that covers all energy alternatives (wind, solar, biofuels, nuclear, hydrogen, hybrid vehicles, etc.) and what the prospects for each are. Two books come to mind:
   
   1. The Party's Over: Oil, War And The Fate Of Industrial Societies, and
   2. The Long Emergency: Surviving the End of Oil, Climate Change, and Other Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century
   
   These books are easier to read, more interesting and enable the reader to better understand how all technologies may or may not be the panacea for improving our dependence on foreign oil and improving the impact that carbon emissions have had on our environment. Another book that is fairly new but which I have not read, is ZOOM: The Global Race to Fuel the Car of the Future, which speaks directly about alternative energy as it pertains to cars and the automobile of the future. I plan on reading this one sometime in 2008.



4. How can you write a book on the promise of hydrogen fuel and leave out the true heroes - the international group of water fuel device inventors who patiently and skillfully developed, patented and publicly demonstrated their devices over the past 100+ years? What kind of cover-up is this? And to see all the positive reviews praising this work of apparent obfuscation! What a shame! It just goes to show that we have been very-well hoodwinked with regard to our alternative energy possibilities. We don't even know what they are! How else could it be that so many intelligent people, who seem to be "in the know", have never heard of:
   
   Herman P. Anderson
   Archie Blue
   Bob Boyce
   Yul Brown
   Francois Cornish
   C.H. and Henry "Dad" Garrett
   Roy McAllister
   Stanley Meyer
   Francisco Pacheco
   Andrijah Puharich
   William Rhodes
   Cliff Ricketts
   Isaac de Rivaz
   Ruggero Santilli
   ...and a host of others?
   
   Isn't it about time we faced reality and admitted that the most abundant element in the universe, hydrogen, is most readily available to us in our most abundant resource, namely, water? Let's stop denying the history of the successful use of this resource. See Water Car - How to Turn Water Into Hydrogen Fuel!



5. I liked this book very much. I was ignorant about Hydrogen and I enjoyed Mr. Romm's book. Hydrogen is hype. I wanted to learn something about hydrogen and fuel cells and now I know enough that when I see these talking heads on CNN, FOX, ABC, CBS, NBC and CNBC talking about fuel cells and hydrogen this and hydrogen that and a hydrogen economy, I know they are full of prunes and they've never read a book. I enjoyed the book and it was well written. But I can tell Mr. Romm, I am not worried about climate change. The lack of oil, natural gas and fresh water will kill us long before we have to worry about climate change. Regards, Keith Renick, Peachtree City, Ga.

2 comments about Securing Utility and Energy Infrastructures.

1. Larry Ness, PhD discusses at a high-level the scenarios and potential outcomes of attacks that could be committed by terrorists or malicious individuals against our nation's energy/utility infrastructures. Many of the scenarios and vulnerabilities mentioned in the book are examples I had already heard on the news or read in the newspaper. I enjoyed reading chapter 7 regarding cyber-security and security technology. The book is 340 pages long, but the last 150 pages are appendices.



2. The good: Ness digests a variety of actual and potential infrastructure, economic, and safety problems associated with the disruption of the electricity grid. For the reader who knows little about electric power or terrorism, this will introduce some useful information, such as the circumstances that cause blackouts, and the importance and vulnerability of Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems.
   The bad: The author presents terrorism as a subset of Islam, describing the recent history of terrorist activities affecting the US. He makes no mention of the 1995 Murrah Federal Building bombing in Oklahoma City, the FBI's Operation Backfire (an ongoing program aimed at eco-terrorism) nor any other form of terrorism.
   The book periodically reads like something recycled from a consulting firm's marketing literature and high level presentations. Other portions of the book seem rushed with respect to grammar and style. Rather than a broad survey, the book dwells on a few aspects of the subject, though without a detailed treatment of anything.
   The list price of around $85 is extremely high for such a short book, especially considering the fact that more than a third of it is appendices. If you must buy it, find a used copy.
   The ugly: Most of the photos in the book not only do little to support or expand the authors points, but are useless or non-sequitur to the point of being funny. For example, one grainy black and white photo of a man's face is labeled "Computer hacker" (no hacker or incident in particular, just some guy), while another photo of a camera mounted to a wall is tagged "Security camera". Most readers are likely familiar with both without the benefit of pictures.

No comments about Hybrid Vehicles: and the Future of Personal Transportation.

No comments about Modeling and Forecasting Electricity Loads and Prices: A Statistical Approach (The Wiley Finance Series).

No comments about Powering Our Future: An Energy Sourcebook for Sustainable Living.

2 comments about Ocean Wave Energy Conversion.

1. This book, although quite dated (1982), gives a broad view on wave energy conversion and the basic techniques used. The math is easy to follow and the examples appear to have correct solutions. I enjoyed reading it.



2. This book, albeit somewhat outdated, provides an excellent overview on Ocean Wave Energy conversion. The mathematics is quite easy to follow. The patent overview in the appendix is very instructive. Highly recommended as an introductory book on wave energy conversion

No comments about Hydrogen & Fuel Cells: Advances in Transportation and Power.

No comments about Energy, Risk & Competitive Advantage: The Information Imperative.

No comments about Optimal Control of Wind Energy Systems: Towards a Global Approach (Advances in Industrial Control) (Advances in Industrial Control).

No comments about The Biomass Assessment Handbook: Bioenergy for a Sustainable Environment.