Another contrarian assessment of America's energy situation--and the gulf between the goals of the green movement and our vast need for power--by the author of Gusher of Lies. Armed with fully footnoted facts and revealing graphics, Bryce explains why most of the hype about renewable energy and "green" technology is just that--hype. He shows why renewable sources like wind and solar are not "green" and why they cannot provide the scale of energy that the world demands. He negates the notion that the US wastes huge amounts of energy. Indeed, the facts show that over the past three decades the US has been among the world's best at reducing its energy intensity, carbon intensity, and per-capita energy use. He goes on to skewer electric cars, T. Boone Pickens, and Denmark as an "energy smart" model, and explains what will really be needed to transform the global energy sector.--From publisher description.

List of figures, tables, and photos -- Author's note -- Introduction. The Cardinal Mine : a point of beginning -- pt. I. Our quest for power -- 1. Power tripping 101 -- 2. Happy talk -- 3. Watt's the big deal? (Power tripping 102) -- Sidebar. Power equivalencies of various engines, motors, and appliances, in horsepower (and watts) -- 1. Wood to coal to oil : the slow pace of energy transitions -- 5. Coal hard facts -- Sidebar. From Pearl Street to EveryGenerator.com : a story of rising power density and falling costs -- 6. If oil didn't exist, we'd have to invent it -- 7. Twenty-seven Saudi Arabias per day -- pt. II. The myths of "green" energy -- 8. Myth : wind and solar are "green" -- Sidebar. All about power density : a comparison of various energy sources in horsepower (and watts) -- 9. Myth : wind power reduces COb2 semissions -- 10. Myth : Denmark provides an energy model for the United States -- 11. Myth : T. Boone Pickens has a plan (or a clue) -- Sidebar. Bird Kills? What bird kills? -- 12. Myth : wind power reduces the need for natural gas -- 13. Myth : going "green" will reduce imports of strategic commodities and create "green" jobs -- 14. Myth : the United States lags in energy efficiency -- 15. Myth : the United States can cut COb2 semissions by 80 percent by 2050, and carbon capture and sequestration can help achieve that goal -- 16. Myth : taxing carbon dioxide will work -- 17. Myth : oil is dirty -- 18. Myth : cellulosic ethanol can scale up and cut U.S. oil imports -- 19. Myth : electric cars are the next big thing -- 20. Myth : we can replace coal with wood -- pt. III. The power of N2N -- 21. Why N2N? And why now? (the megatrends favoring natural gas and nuclear) -- 22. A very short history of American natural gas and regulatory stupidity -- Sidebar. Stripper power! -- 23. It's a gas, gas, gas : welcome to the "gas factory" -- Sidebar. Elephant hunting : comparing the Barnett Shale and the East Texas Field -- 24. America's secret Goggle -- 25. Gas pains -- 26. Nuclear goes beyond green -- Sidebar. The real story on subsidies -- 27. A smashing idea for nuclear waste -- 28. Future nukes -- pt. IV. Moving forward -- 29. Rethinking "green" and a few other suggestions -- 30. Toward cheap, abundant energy -- Appendix A. Units and equivalents -- Appendix B. SI numerical designations -- Appendix C. America's convoluted energy regulatory structure -- Appendix D. Countries ranked by primary energy consumption, 2007 -- Appendix E. U.S. and world primary energy consumption, by source, 1973 and 2008 -- Notes -- Glossary -- Bibliography -- Index.