The Citizen-Powered Energy Handbook

Community Solutions to a Global Crisis

Greg Pahl; Foreword by Richard Heinberg

Every day, more people finally “get it.” Global warming is for real and getting worse faster than previously expected. M. King Hubbert’s oil peak looms, and cheap petroleum is a thing of the past. We face an energy crisis. This book tells you what you need to do to meet the challenge.

The Citizen-Powered Energy Handbook provides a clear-eyed view of the current energy situation and points toward a sustainable path forward. Greg Pahl examines renewable energy technologies currently available and homes in on strategies that can be adopted by individuals and, especially, communities. Such cooperative initiatives have been common in Europe for years and are beginning to gain a foothold in the U.S. because these medium-scale projects successfully bring people together to create collective energy security for a neighborhood, town, or region while strengthening the local economy.

Each chapter focuses on a different renewable energy sector—solar, wind, water, biomass, liquid biofuels, and geothermal—then reviews their advantages and disadvantages and describes numerous examples of proven local initiatives. The Citizen-Powered Energy Handbook is an eloquent appeal and a practical handbook for community and regional action to deal head-on with environmental challenges and to take responsibility for energy supplies now controlled by large, distant utilities and consortiums. This is the book for anyone ready to take meaningful steps toward a more sustainable future.

About the Author

Greg Pahl, author of Biodiesel: Growing the New Economyand Natural Home Heating: The Complete Guide to Renewable Energy Options (both Chelsea Green), has been following renewable energy issues for more than 25 years. He is a founding member of the Vermont Biofuels Association and lives in Weybridge, Vermont. A selection of his articles are at www.gregpahl.com

Richard Heinberg is a research fellow at the Post Carbon Institute. He is the award-winning author of seven books including Powerdown and The Oil Depletion Protocol. His monthly “MuseLetter” is available at www.richardheinberg.com

.

Get Your Free Biodiesel Bumper Sticker

Click image for details