When faced with a dramatic increase in energy demand, uncertain supplies and the potentially harmful effects of carbon emissions, how are we to make informed choices?

Veteran journalist William Tucker has relied on years of research and investigation to help us make sense of America's energy predicament without the burdens of political pressures or predetermined outcomes.

In Terrestrial Energy, Tucker is not content to merely give an argument about why nuclear is the best choice for our energy future. Instead he meticulously surveys entire the energy scene that has frustrated Americans for the past 30 years.

At the same time that world energy demand steadily increases, Americans are also being asked to be better stewards of the environment. Now is the perfect moment to renew our commitment to use the greatest scientific discovery of the 20th century as the forward-thinking solution. Terrestrial energy is without doubt, the only realistic, practical answer to our energy dilemma.

Contents:

• Part one: The crisis
• Global warming—hype or crisis?
• Terrestrial energy
• Three Mile Island and Chernobyl
• Part two: The fossil fuels
• Coal: The industrial revolution
• Coal: The environmental era
• Oil: Reaching Hubbert’s Peak
• The energy crisis and the world peak
• Natural gas
• Part Three: Solar and renewables
• Energy conservation
• Hydro
• Wind
• Solar
• Geothermal, waves, and biofuels
• Hydrogen and electric cars
• The California electrical crisis
• The solar utopia
• Part four: Terrestrial energy
• The pioneers
• The road to Los Alamos
• Atoms for peace
• Three Mile Island and its aftermath
• The revival
• Radiation
• Waste and proliferation
• France and the future
• Epilogue
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index