The End of Energy Obesity: Breaking Today's Energy Addiction for a Prosperous and Secure Tomorrow [Hardcover]

Solutions for ending America′s energy consumption crisis

Most of the discussion among experts, policymakers, and concerned citizens is about changing the nature of our energy diet–substituting traditional energy sources with new or improved alternatives–or on getting "more" out of our energy resources through improvements in efficiency. Although these are necessary advances worthy of scientific and entrepreneurial endeavor, and an undeniable part of a successful overall strategy, turning to alternative sources and improving the efficiency of the energy we consume will not solve the problems we are facing. In The End of Energy Obesity, energy expert and bestselling author Peter Tertzakian takes the energy discussion a step further by examining habits, lifestyles, mindsets, and technologies that might seem futuristic now, but will soon become part of the way we live. Throughout the book, Tertzakian identifies the causes and solutions to the world′s energy addiction. He also emphasizes that to have a successful impact on reducing our energy appetite, the changes we make to our lifestyle, habits, and mindset will need to be so appealing that they are widely adopted, much as the automobile or the light bulb was a century ago. Filled with in–depth insights and practical advice, The End of Energy Obesity puts the world′s energy problem in perspective and reveals the steps we can take to slow the upward trend of global energy consumption while still growing our economy and improving our standard of living.

Peter Tertzakian (Calgary, AL, Canada) is Chief Energy Economist of ARC Financial Corporation and bestselling author of A Thousand Barrels a Second: The Coming Oil Break Point and the Challenges Facing an Energy Dependent World (978–0–07–149260–7). Constantly analyzing energy trends for investors, Tertzakian writes a weekly journal, is often quoted or seen in the media (including a guest appearance on The Daily Show with John Stewart), and is a sought–after keynote speaker at events around the world. Keith Hollihan (St. Paul, MN) is a freelance writer who collaborated on the recently published healthcare book, Skin in the Game by John Hammergren (978–0–470–26278–8). He is also the coauthor of the Wall Street Journal business bestseller, Everybody Wins: The Story and Lessons Behind RE/MAX (978–0–471–71024–0).

Over the years, we′ve made our devices more efficient, only to find, ironically, that it′s made us consume even more energy. We′ve periodically cut back our energy use only to revert back to bad habits. We′ve added more renewables only to find that fossil fuels still dominate. Now we are energy obese. How can the world reduce its energy appetite and change its diet of fuels for a prosperous and secure tomorrow?

In The End of Energy Obesity, energy expert and bestselling author Peter Tertzakian explores solutions to this question by analyzing the role of technology and circumstance on our energy use. Throughout the book, Tertzakian focuses on the most practical options that provide the highest leverage for resolving our energy problems and reveals how evolving habits, lifestyles, mind–sets, and innovations—that might seem improbable now—will help curb our insatiable energy appetite.

Divided into three comprehensive parts—The Making of Our Energy Appetite, Elusive Solutions, and Thinking Out of the Box—The End of Energy Obesity:

• Examines what Tertzakian calls the First Principle of Energy Consumption, the powerful 6,000–year–old connection between increases in wealth, standard of living, and energy use. Can this principle be broken?
• Explains why conventional strategies and policies for resolving our energy problems are lacking, and discusses how societies are vulnerable to three harmful effects of energy obesity. Should we be treating the symptoms or the cause?
• Probes into where the greatest leverage lies for mitigating society′s energy–related problems, and shows how surprisingly powerful technological trends will reshape our energy appetite and diet—sooner than you may think!

Filled with in–depth insights and practical advice, The End of Energy Obesity puts the world′s serious energy issues in perspective, exposes misconceptions, and introduces us to the new technologies that, in the next ten years, will reshape our lifestyles and, for the very first time, make it possible to decrease our overall energy consumption while increasing wealth and the standard of living. The future of energy is likely to surprise you.