This is a cross-post from John Thackara’s Doors of Perception newsletter – one well worth signing up to:
LOOK AT THE BIG NUMBERS, NOT AT THE SMALL NUMBERS (BOOK)
[…] I’m reading a fantastically useful new book:
Sustainable energy – without the hot air. Its author, David McKay, Professor of
Natural Philosophy at Cambridge University, has responded to an urgent global
challenge: how to make sense of the conflicting claims and information bandied
about on all matters eco. The book is filled with insights like this one:
“Leaving mobile phone chargers plugged in is often held up as an example of a
behavioural eco-crime. The truth is that the amount of energy saved by switching
off a phone charger is exactly the same as the energy used by driving an average
car for one secondâ€. Prof McKay desevres a Nobel Prize for Usefulness. I boughbt
the hardcopy, but you can download the book free:
http://www.withouthotair.com/
Don’t be put off by the vileness of McKay’s site design, though.