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Coal
Series: Resources
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Coal
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?
"We use coal because it is cheap: cheap to scrape from the ground, cheap to move in ships and trains, and cheap to burn. Why has it remained the default energy source for much of the world despite the obvious environmental costs? Mark Thurber delves into the politics of energy versus the environment around the world to explore this unique resource"--
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Description
By making available the almost unlimited energy stored in prehistoric plant matter, coal enabled the industrial age – and it still does. Coal today generates more electricity worldwide than any other energy source, helping to drive economic growth in major emerging markets. And yet, continued reliance on this ancient rock carries a high price in smog and greenhouse gases.
We use coal because it is cheap: cheap to scrape from the ground, cheap to move, cheap to burn in power plants with inadequate environmental controls. In Coal, Mark Thurber explains how coal producers, users, financiers, and technology exporters drive this supply chain, while fragmented environmental movements battle for full incorporation of environmental costs into the global calculus of coal. Delving into the politics of energy versus the environment at local, national, and international levels, Thurber paints a vivid picture of the multi-faceted challenges associated with continued coal production and use in the twenty-first century.
Series: Resources
View all-
Coal
By making available the almost unlimited energy stored in prehistoric plant matter, coal enabled the industrial age – and it still does. Coal today generates more electricity worldwide than any other energy source, helping to drive economic growth in major emerging markets. And yet, continued reliance on this ancient rock carries a high price in smog and greenhouse gases. We...Paperback$3599Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
Land
Land is one of the world's most emotionally resonant resources, and control over it is fundamental to almost all human activity. From the local level to the global, we are often in conflict over the ground beneath our feet. But because human relationships to land are so complex, it can be difficult to think them through in a unified way....Paperback$4099Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
Gold
Gold remains a highly prized and impactful resource within the global economy. From the insatiable demand for gold in the electronics that permeate our day-to-day lives to the environmental desolation driven by gold mining in the Amazon, the gold trade continues to touch the lives and livelihoods of people across the world. Bloomfield and Maconachie tell the intriguing story of...Paperback$3799Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
Uranium
Uranium, the most atomically unstable natural element on earth, has a unique place in the global geopolitics of resources. It provides energy to millions of people, and its isotopes are used to power spacecraft and in nuclear medicine. However, it is also at the heart of many of the planet's most deadly threats, including nuclear devastation and radioactive waste. Its...Paperback$3599Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
Cotton
Whether we are out on the streets or between the sheets, cotton is our constant companion. But behind this ubiquitous fibre prized for its softness lies a darker story of exploitation and hardship. In this penetrating analysis, Adam Sneyd explores the power politics that envelop cotton as major corporate players and countries across Africa, Asia and the Americas compete to...Paperback$3599Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
Natural Gas
Is natural gas the ‘bridge’ to our low-carbon future? In power generation, industrial processes, parts of the transportation sector, and for domestic use, natural gas still has the potential to play a greater role in various energy transition pathways around the world. But such a future is by no means certain. In Natural Gas, Michael Bradshaw and Tim Boersma offer...Paperback$3799Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
Bioinformation
From DNA sequences stored on computer databases to archived forensic samples and biomedical records, bioinformation comes in many forms. Its unique provenance – the fact that it is 'mined' from the very fabric of the human body – makes it a mercurial resource; one that no one seemingly owns, but in which many have deeply vested interests. Who has the...Paperback$3599Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
Oil
Oil pulses through our daily lives. It is the plastic we touch, the food we eat, and the way we move. Oil politics in the twentieth century was about the management of abundance, state power, and market growth. The legacy of this age of plenty includes declining conventional oil reserves, volatile prices, climate change, and enduring poverty in many oil-rich...PaperbackSold Out -
Food
We all need food to survive, and forty percent of the world’s population relies on agriculture for their livelihood. Yet control over food is concentrated in relatively few hands. Turmoil in the world food economy in recent decades has highlighted a number of vulnerabilities and contradictions inherent in the way we currently organise this vital sector. Extremes of both undernourishment...PaperbackSold Out
Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?
Coal by Mark C. Thurber is praised for its insightful analysis of coal's historical and present significance, as well as its impact on global warming. The author is commended for balancing historical context with a detailed examination of coal's economic and environmental roles, making it informative for a wide audience.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781509514014
Publisher: John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 29 March 2019
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Polity Press
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 20.0mm
Width: 147.0mm
Height: 208.0mm
Weight: 318g
Pages: 200
About the Author
Mark C. Thurber is Associate Director of the Program on Energy and Sustainable Development at Stanford University.
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