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| View Larger Image | The Bottomless Well: The Twilight of Fuel, the Virtue of Waste, and Why We Will Never Run Out of Energy
by Peter W. Huber, Mark P. Mills
| | List Price: | $15.95 |  | | 7 New starting at: | $6.10 | | 6 Used starting at: | $6.10 | | | | | Sales Rank: | 988975 | | Studio: | Basic Books | | | Binding: | Paperback | | Number Of Pages: | 214 | | Publication Date: | May 31, 2006 | | Publisher: | Basic Books |
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EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Product Description
The sheer volume of talk about energy, energy prices, and energy policy on both sides of the political aisle suggests that we must know something about energy. But according to Peter Huber and Mark Mills, the things we "know" are mostly myths. In The Bottomless Well, Huber and Mills debunk the myths and show how a better understanding of energy will radically change our views and policies on a number of very controversial issues. They explain why demand will never go down, why most of what we think of as "energy waste" actually benefits us; why greater efficiency will never lead to energy conservation; and why the energy supply is infinite-it's quality of energy that's scarce and expensive. The Bottomless Well will also revolutionize our thinking about the automotive industry (gas prices don't matter and the hybrid engine is irrelevant), coal and uranium, the much-maligned power grid (it's the worst system we could have except for all the others), what energy supplies mean for jobs and GDP, and many other hotly debated subjects. |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 3.0 based on 65 reviews)
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Detailed but not persuasive 
The authors of The bottomless Well are not worried about running out of oil. They are not concerned about peak oil or any of the other resource problems others are concerned about. They have done a lot of research and have made certain to share the results with us. They seem to enjoy pointing out the failures in past attempts to encourage conservation or efficiency.
In particular they devote a chapter to "the efficiency paradox" otherwise knows as "Jevons paradox"; that is the effect of increasing efficiency in energy use results in more energy consumption. There are numerous examples since the industrial revolution, and The Bottomless Well reference a number of them.
Huber and Mills take a long historical view of energy use. They reference James Watt's steam engine frequently and the dawn of agriculture repeatedly. What we learn from this is that there has been relentless improvement in efficiency; there is no reason to think that will end. This happens without admonishments to conserve energy, or government funded efficiency programs.
The authors conclude that we will never run out of energy since we will always use it more efficiently, and will always find better ways to extract it. They dismiss any possible contribution from alternative energy without really bothering to provide much of an argument. They briefly mention the problems of pollution and global warming, but neither insight nor proposals in that regard.
The writing is dense and poorly organized. One of the authors is a fellow of the conservative Manhattan Institute. The book reads like a collection of talking points or debating points that could be used by an advocate of libertarian energy policies. Furthermore it is rather repetitive, the same points are made over and over again with little new information.
While the book is in the a poorly written polemic, I found a number of new ideas and many new facts. It provides a different point of view from most of what I have read on this topic. The combination of perspective and new details made the book worthwhile, if not actually enjoyable.
November 29, 2008 | |
An important book for independent thought
This book suffers from some gushing enthusiasm and at times seems like you are being presented a glorified power point presentation. That said I strongly encourage you to suffer through the initial "rah-rah" because once you get to the substance it is a very thoughtful and thought-inducing read.
We live in a time, perhaps it has always been so, that arguments are usually decided within the first 20 to 30 words that a presenter delivers. Then, once someone has made up their mind on a subject they wont even listen to the first dozen words that are being delivered before they immediately evaluate the validity of the argument.
This book will teach you about energy; what it actually means, its various forms and how we have throughout history increased its effectiveness. I do not mean in a scientific manner, I mean in a practical manner.
Simply stated a ton of coal is less valuable than a tenth of a second of a precise laser burst aimed at a specific target. Yet in terms of energy there is 10,000 times more energy in the coal and in the process of creating the laser burst 99.9% of the energy was lost. But it wasn't lost, it is the necessary cost of creating the laser pulse; not because of inefficiencies or indifference on our part but it is inherent in the physical structure of the universe.
Every negative review I have read of this book stated that they did not understand the basic premise of the authors, that they did not spend sufficient time and struggle to grasp what was said, but because the results of their argument did not support the preconception of the reviewer that the book was flawed.
This is a thought provoking work and will change your perspectives. I strongly encourage everyone to read the book.
July 15, 2008 | |
Claims are made that are not substantiated anywhere in the book 
Huber and Mills's argument in this book is basically summarized on p. 43:"...technologies of digital power...will redefine,yet again,how much energy we want and how much we can get.We will want more-much more.And we will get it easily.Unless,somehow,our optimism,drive,courage,and will give way to lethargy and fear ".
This translates as the assertion that there are immense new scientific breakthroughs, just around the bend ,with respect to the generation and use of energy,in technology that will completely revolutionize the world.Unfortunately,these claims appear to be similar to the " cold fussion " claims made about 15 years ago and the claims made by Gary Winnick(Global Crossing) about the limitless,future growth of fiber optic cable applications.
The claim that these solutions will be spontaneously generated in the near future are essentially based on nothing but additional claims and assertions.The best existing solution is the one offered at the turn of the century by Theodore Roosevelt-conservation and reduced energy consumption.
June 27, 2008 | |
A fascinating and important story
Peter W. Huber and Mark P. Mills have written a powerful book about subtle concepts: heat, energy, power, and order. The book is a story of people's use of energy in increasingly clever, useful, and efficient ways to make life better for themselves and all who have followed and will follow them. The authors also make bold predictions. For example, they say that internal combustion engines will not disappear and, indeed, will actually multiply in coming decades.... Regarding these changes, which are already under way in the market, Huber and Mills declare, "The best thing U.S. policy makers can do is step out of the way and let the market find its own way to the extraordinary future that now beckons" (p. 76).
The book offers many policy-relevant facts. For example, when a dilute form of energy, such as wind power or the solar energy striking rooftops, is made into better-ordered, more useful energy, the capital items needed for the transformation are often expensive. The total cost of the resulting energy supply reflects in part the costs of the energy inputs into making, transporting, installing, and repairing the equipment, as well as the cost of transporting power to where it is used (for example, constructing and maintaining power lines). When the raw energy is concentrated, these costs are usually much lower than when more machinery must be used to gather, convert, and transport the purer, better-ordered power to users. Forcing or subsidizing the use of more dispersed, more costly energy sources is neither energy efficient nor cost effective....
A more energy-efficient method can reduce the energy consumption in a particular instance, but central planners often fail to recognize the even more efficient methods that might be employed in those circumstances. Those who bear the cost of energy (and energy-using devices), however, have an incentive to find better ways. Of course, more efficiency itself breeds innovative uses of the more efficient energy technology, and total energy use, summed over all uses, grows. More and better energy use, the authors point out in chapter after chapter, is making us more powerful and improving our environment in almost every way, and we are better off as a result....
In "Saving the Planet with Coal and Uranium" (chapter 10), Huber and Mills argue cogently that the United States is leading the way back toward carbon balance by using and promoting land-efficient, fossil-fuel-using farming techniques that allow farm land to revert to forest, which sequesters carbon and becomes a carbon sink. They cite (controversial) evidence that expanding forests in North America are sequestering more carbon each year than is emitted here. They also observe: "Over the long term, societies that expand and improve their energy supplies overwhelm those that don't.... Civilization, like life, is a Sisyphean flight from chaos. The chaos will prevail in the end, but it is our mission to postpone that day for as long as we can and to push things in the opposite direction.... Energy isn't the problem. Energy is the solution" (p. xxvi).
January 22, 2008 | |
Inconsistent at best 
I thought Hard Green was a good enviro contrarian take. This one is not nearly as good.
January 20, 2008 | |
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