Mar 3 2008
A groundbreaking new book, Earth: The Sequel - The Race to Reinvent Energy and Stop Global Warming, unveils an attainable vision for solving the greatest crisis of our time. In sharp contrast to books offering little beyond dire warnings and grim statistics about global warming, Earth: The Sequel maps the path to recovery.
The book spotlights the innovators and risk-takers who are pushing technology to the limit to find new ways to create clean energy, increase efficiency and cut carbon pollution. It offers a behind-the-scenes tour of the dynamic transformation of today's multi-trillion-dollar energy sector.
Written by Fred Krupp, president of Environmental Defense Fund, and journalist Miriam Horn, Earth: The Sequel will be available in bookstores across the country on March 10, as Congressional debate on global warming legislation nears a critical stage.
"The moment that America's political leaders act to limit global warming pollution, we'll see private investors rush to get behind these bold new inventions and bring them to market," said Krupp. "New fortunes will be made that will dwarf the megafortunes of the information technology revolution."
Earth: The Sequel introduces a group of dynamic young companies and entrepreneurs working to find the newest, cleanest and most abundant ways to power the globe:
- Scientists at California-based Innovalight have found a cheap substitute for costly solar panels: they dissolve silicon nanocrystals in ink that can be printed onto any surface to harvest solar energy.
- The founders of Amyris are reengineering yeast so it can ferment sugar into pure hydrocarbon fuels, virtually identical to jet fuel, diesel and gasoline.
- Cambridge-based GreenFuel feeds carbon dioxide from power plant smokestacks to algae and then turns the algae into biodiesel, aiming to clean up pollution and beat oil at $60 per barrel.
- A tribe of Native Americans, fishermen for 2,000 years in the roughest waters of the North Pacific, are now working to harvest the fierce power of the waves themselves.
- A New Jersey neurobiologist is developing a scrubber for coal plant smokestacks using the same enzyme that removes carbon dioxide from the human bloodstream.
- An MIT bioengineer redesigns viruses so that they grab conductive metals and assemble themselves into the most powerful batteries ever seen.
"By pairing the power of markets with the ingenuity and innovation found on every page of this book, we can reverse global warming before it is too late," said Krupp. "It's a race for the future of our planet, and Congress will fire the starting gun by putting a cap on global warming pollution."
Congressional action on global warming is expected in the coming months. The Senate soon will vote on the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act, a cap-and-trade bill approved by the Environment and Public Works Committee last December. In the House, Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell has said he will introduce legislation this year with the support of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who calls passage of comprehensive climate legislation a top priority.