Power Trip - The Story of Energy

For centuries, human activity has been dominated by the need to fuel human civilization. Energy is unique: no other physical resource in society has had such a wide-ranging impact on our ecosystems, economy, public health, and personal liberties. And as the era of fossil fuels stumbles to a close in the West, much of the rest of the world is still just waking up to coal. We have found ourselves on the cusp of a transition in how we get energy that is both obvious and profoundly uncertain. We must decide our next steps quickly. How can we invest responsibly now in a way that will ensure our access to clean, affordable, and reliable energy for the decades to come?

In Power Trip, energy expert Michael E. Webber takes readers on a global tour of energy''s role in society across many regions and several hundred years. Starting with energy''s end-uses and outcomes--water, food, wealth, cities, transportation, and war--Webber uncovers the complicated relationship our civiliza