Ten Technologies to Save the Planet

"Chris Goodall is a former economist and business consultant. He comes from a business background, which makes him quite a rarity. He stood as a candidate for the Green Party in Oxford [UK] – probably the only person in the Green Party who used to work in McKinsey. So he’s very numbers focused, and very business savvy. What Chris does in Ten Technologies is give an on-the-ground, up-to-date idea of where these technologies are and what role they could play in reducing emissions. Henson gives the overview on climate science. What this book does is address the various ways in which one can actually combat climate change . Take wind power. People in the press like to say that wind is inefficient as a generator, because it’s intermittent. Well that’s true, but what Chris does is say that there’s intermittency at a monthly level, a daily level, or at the level of an hour or minute, and he explains how it’s quite possible to compensate for all of them if you have the right infrastructure in place. So he’s very much a realist. There are others who write about technology who don’t know how business works, who don’t have the experience to make an educated guess about which technologies really do have a chance of being economically viable. For example, the possibility of filling the Sahara desert with solar panels. Yes, he thinks so, with the right technology."