The Grand Energy Transition: The Rise of Energy Gases, Sustainable Life and Growth, and the Next Great Economic Expansion - Hardcover

Hefner III, Robert A.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0470527560 ISBN 13: 9780470527566

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, 2009

Synopsis

A groundbreaking book on solving our growing energy problems In this visionary book, leading energy industry executive Robert Hefner puts forth a convincing case about how the world can move beyond its current dependence on oil and toward a new era of clean, renewable energy. Written with the knowledge and authority of a major player in this industry, Hefner relates how misguided government policies and vested industry interests have contributed to our current energy problems and proposes a variety of measures that could encourage the use of natural gas, solar, wind, and hydrogen.* Convincingly makes the case that natural gas is the essential bridge fuel to a new era of clean, renewable energy sources* Details how natural gas can help break our oil and coal dependency* Offers a sweeping, historic picture of the world energy situation* Presents a compelling and provocative case that natural gas is key to our short-term energy problems A well-written and engaging book that mixes personal anecdotes and experiences with insightful analysis, The Grand Energy Transition is a powerful argument about how we can best solve our toughest energy problems.

About this title

About the Author

Robert A. Hefner III is founder and owner of GHK Exploration (www.ghkco.com), a private natural gas exploration and production firm. He pioneered ultradeep natural gas exploration and production, led the development of innovative technology needed to successfully drill and produce many of the world's deepest and highest pressure natural gas wells, and was a leader in the industry's successful efforts to deregulate the price of natural gas. Hefner is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society of London, a Fellow National of the Explorers Club, a member of Singapore's International Advisory Panel on Energy, and a member of the International Council at the Belfer Center at Harvard University. He is an Advisory Director of the Center for a New American Security. Hefner and his wife, MeiLi, initiated and support the Hefner China Fund, which has brought rising young Chinese government officials to study in the fields of energy, culture, and foreign policy at the National University of Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. Hefner holds a petroleum geology degree from the University of Oklahoma.

From the Back Cover

Today, humanity is in an energy and climate crisis of our own making. While we are all now aware of how American banks and financial institutions overleveraged our financial system, few people are aware that since the 1970s, we have also been leveraging our economic growth by consuming energy at less than the full-cycle cost. We have altered and placed in grave danger our economy, environment, and the security of our societies by the energy we use. The magnitude of the crisis—even the crisis itself—has been hidden from our view. It will be the awareness of this economic, environmental, and societal crisis that will become the driving force of civilization's next evolutionary step, the one taking us to sustainable life and growth on Earth.

This book describes our ongoing Grand Energy Transition—the GET: a one-time, evolutionary step for humankind. The GET is the transition between the unsustainable solid energy sources of our past and the virtually limitless, clean sustainable energy sources of our future.

The Grand Energy Transition tells how the GET is creating a clear and irrevocable energy path forward, and how the GET itself reveals the most likely energy winners and losers. Energy industry insider Robert Hefner makes the case that America is blessed with abundant, affordable supplies of natural gas that can be scaled up in the near term to become the bridge fuel to our energy sustainable future and that these supplies—supplemented by Alaskan natural gas and the world's liquefied natural gas—are adequate to fuel at least half of our vehicle fleet for decades to come, and to replace our oldest, inefficient coal-fired electric power generation, as well as all new electric power needs not met by wind, solar, and nuclear.

This timely book is not intended to answer the millions of good questions about energy use and our energy future that need answering, nor is it a text about the details of energy production and consumption. Rather, it introduces a new way to look at the evolution of energy within civilization and, with this understanding, forecast the best possible comprehensive solution to today's formidable energy problems and our path forward to a new era.

This book describes our ongoing Grand Energy Transition—the GET: a one-time, evolutionary step for humankind. The GET is the transition between the unsustainable solid energy sources of our past and the virtually limitless, clean sustainable energy sources of our future.

The Grand Energy Transition tells how the GET is creating a clear and irrevocable energy path forward, and how the GET itself reveals the most likely energy winners and losers. Energy industry insider Robert Hefner makes the case that America is blessed with abundant, affordable supplies of natural gas that can be scaled up in the near term to become the bridge fuel to our energy sustainable future and that these supplies—supplemented by Alaskan natural gas and the world's liquefied natural gas—are adequate to fuel at least half of our vehicle fleet for decades to come, and to replace our oldest, inefficient coal-fired electric power generation, as well as all new electric power needs not met by wind, solar, and nuclear.

This timely book is not intended to answer the millions of good questions about energy use and our energy future that need answering, nor is it a text about the details of energy production and consumption. Rather, it introduces a new way to look at the evolution of energy within civilization and, with this understanding, forecast the best possible comprehensive solution to today's formidable energy problems and our path forward to a new era.

Edition details

• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0470527560
• ISBN 13: 9780470527566
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 288