Summary

Chapter 23, “Nonsolutions,” contains six subsections. In each one, Muller describes why he thinks that a certain proposed solution to the problem of climate change and CO2 emissions is ineffective. One of the main issues, he says, is that coal is so much cheaper than any other source of fuel, and that it is the countries that are currently growing the fastest that have the greatest need for cheap energy.

“Hydrogen Hype,” points out that hydrogen has often been described as the most efficient fuel source, because pound-for-pound, it delivers 2.6 times as much energy as gasoline. There’s just one problem. Hydrogen weighs next to nothing, so it takes huge amounts of it to add up to a pound. It makes no sense to measure hydrogen in pounds. Measured by volume, it delivers far less bang for the buck. Hydrogen also has to be...