Those concerned about climate change might feel like they are stuck in a bad dream. Like being chased in the forest at 3am and unable to break free. The threat is obvious, yet little is being done. What is happening? Below is a brief summary.
- Decarbonization to zero emissions will not occur unless required by law, and this law does not exist.
- Moving this law forward would require a political coalition that benefits. For example, states that import carbon-based fuels benefit from decarbonization in two ways: (a) they gain local green jobs while carbon jobs are lost elsewhere, and (b) they save money when decarbonization causes fuel price to drop, due to less consumption.
- Past decarbonization efforts have been mild. Alternatively, to get to zero over several decades, the world would need to do massive construction at unprecedented scales. This might sound expensive; however, infrastructure is typically paid for with borrowed money. And loans are repaid with revenue generated by the infrastructure.
- Individuals, companies, cities and states are often encouraged to reduce CO2. However, they rarely have the physical ability to do so at low cost. This is mostly due to overhead costs at each ‘small’ project.
- Power companies can decarbonize electricity at massive scales and at low costs. However, this will not occur unless required by law.
- The fossil fuel industries and their friends oppose decarbonization legislation by spending money on lobbyists and donations. However, the largest obstacle seems to be the failure of government leaders to realize they are led by domestic manufacturers who are focused on their own financial interests, not getting to zero at the lowest cost.
- To fix this, we need: (a) websites that calculate the cost and impact of proposed decarbonization law, (b) more resources that explain how to tackle climate change at the lowest cost, and (c) multiple R&D moonshots.
To read this book for free or watch a 10 minute TEDx video summary, visit APlan To Save The Planet.org
Table of Content
Part I – The Climate Solution
1. The Climate Solution
2. A Quickly Changing Planet is a Bad Planet
3. Climate is a 100 Trillion Dollar Problem
4. Everyone’s CO2 Is Your CO2
5. Tackling Climate the Right Way
6. Tackling Climate the Wrong Way
7. Decarbonize Electricity First
8. Do We Need a Decarbonization R&D Laboratory?
9. Are We Ready for a Fusion Moonshot?
10. Are We Ready for a Fission Moonshot?
11. Save the Planet with a Website
12. Save the Planet with Money
Part II – The Climate War
13. The Climate War
14. Carbon is Fighting for Their Lives
15. Fight Carbon with Regions That Do Not Produce It
16. Fight Carbon with Better Friends
17. Fight Carbon with Food
18. Fight Carbon with Better Information
19. China is at Climate’s Center
Part III – Climate Economics
20. Green Electricity in the U.S.
21. The Economics of Green Electricity
22. The Economics of Green Heat
23. The Economics of Green Fuel
Part IV – 15 R&D Moonshots
24. Develop Next Generation Industrial Processing Systems
25. Develop Cheap Green Cars
26. Develop a National Solar Farm
27. Carbon, Capture and Sequestration (CCS)
28. Cover Buildings with Solar Skin
29. Automate Solar on Buildings
30. Mechanize Solar on Soil
31. Automate the Construction of Power Transmission Towers
32. Decarbonize the Heating of Buildings
33. Develop Next Generation Buildings
Epilogue
Final Note from Author
Author Biography
About the author
Glenn Weinreb is the Director of the Manhattan 2 Project, a think tank that studies how to resolve climate change at the lowest cost. He is also author of climate book ‘A Plan to Save the Planet’. To read for FREE, visit www.APlan To Save The Planet.org Weinreb founded GW Instruments in the 1980’s while a student at MIT. This company designs and manufactures products that automate factories and research laboratories. And over forty years, almost every day, he interacted with manufacturing engineers and research scientists at thousands of different organizations. One morning in 2019 Weinreb awoke with an epiphany. He felt his job was meaningless, and he wanted to do something different. He was tired of chasing money as an entrepreneur, and he instead wanted to help the planet. He thought about how his background was unique and gave him a different perspective on energy, manufacturing and R&D. So he formed The Manhattan 2 Project with some friends. And between 2019 and 2022 he sponsored and managed 25 university R&D students, and published 30 articles on climate change solutions. For a 10 minute TEDx video by Weinreb, see www.You Tube.com/watch?v=KIJsu2n5j1w