We have an addiction to fossil fuels, and it's not sustainable. How can we replace fossil fuels? How can we ensure security of energy supply? How can we solve climate change?
We're often told that "huge" amounts of renewable power are available - wind, wave, tide, and so forth. But our current power consumption is also huge! To understand our sustainable energy crisis, we need to know how the one "huge" compares with the other. We need numbers, not adjectives.
This book shows how to estimate the numbers, and what those numbers depend on. Taking the United Kingdom as an example, it asks first "could Britain live on renewable energy resources along?" and second "how can a country like Britain make a realistic post-fossil-fuel energy plan that adds up?" It answers these questions in detail, bringing home the size of the changes that society must undergo if sustainable living is to be achieved. It is not going to be easy to make an energy plan that adds up - but it is possible.