How The World Really Works

This book solicits an interesting response from the reader: a sobering, almost melancholy feeling regarding our actual progress in conquering emissions, but simultaneously a sense of confidence that we can focus on the correct solutions and set things right. Vaclav pulls no punches; he deftly argues that our current use of green energy is in no way capable of providing for the four key energy-intensive resources we require: concrete, fertilizer, steel and plastics, and —more importantly— that our projected production of green energy in the future will not match our estimated needs. All of this is backed by data and leaves little room for argument.

The only place where I would say I disagree with Vaclav is his rather pessimistic view on innovation. In one way, his view is safe since it promotes a more aggressive response to curbing emissions, but it also feels a bit too cynical. Humans are fantastic at adapting and history has shown time and time again that we avert disaster (usually at the last moment) by coming up with clever solutions.

I learned a great deal from this book. In particular, the staggering statistics of China’s rise and creation of a massive middle-class and the fact that all the green energy in the world is irrelevant if we cannot invent the means of storing it in large volumes.