Here are a set of books, reports, and other resources that I’ve been collecting over the years that look at how we can solve climate change. There’s a focus on clean energy technologies since that’s been my focus, so I’d welcome any recommendations on other solutions (water, agriculture, transportation, land use, etc.), or reports focused on policy, finance, and innovation (not in the hype sense but in the practical “how do you support it” sense).
I have read some of these, varying from skimming to front-to-back reading, while I haven’t had a chance to even look at the executive summary or conclusion of others.
Hal Harvey’s book was an optimistic book for me.
Hal Harvey, Robbie Orvis, and Jeffrey Rissman 2018, Designing Climate Solutions: A Policy Guide for Low-Carbon Energy (book)
Project Drawdown
- 2020, The Drawdown Review (free but asks for email)
- 2017, Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming (book)
- https://drawdown.org/solutions/table-of-solutions (some of their info for free)
Saul Griffith, Laura Fraser, and Sam Calisch 2020, Rewiring America (free but asks for email)
Breakthough Energy 2019, Advancing the Landscape of Clean Energy Innovation
Michael B. Gerrard and John C. Dernbach 2019, Legal Pathways to Deep Decarbonization in the United States (book)
- Mobility of the Future (2019)
- Nuclear (2018)
- Utility of the Future (2016)
- Solar (2015)
- and more…
Venture capital, incubator, accelerator, and similar programs’ portfolios/alumni
- The Engine (MIT)
- TomKat Center (Stanford)
- Greentown Labs
- Cyclotron Road & Activate
- Breakthrough Energy Ventures
- PRIME Coalition
- ARPA-e
- Otherlab
- Elemental Excelerator
- … and many more
US Dept of Energy 2019, GeoVision: Harnessing the Heat Beneath Our Feet
Russell Gold 2019, Superpower: One Man’s Quest to Transform American Energy (book)
David MacKay 2009, Sustainable Energy – Without the Hot Air (book. A bit dated but good intro to building a practical mindset)
Here are other resources that don’t necessarily focus on solutions, but provide context to the current system.
UN Environment Programme, Emissions Gap Report 2019 (PDF)
International Energy Agency, World Energy Outlook 2019 (paywall)
Vaclav Smil 2017, Energy and Civilization: A History (book)
Seiji Engelkemier 