I just read “beyond oil” and it was good… outlined a lot of petrol/chemical based energy alternatives but it was still kind of low tech. I was thinking of reading something with very current technology trends? non-oil & gas?
Most alternative/renewable sources (ethanol, solar, wind, capturing energy spent pressing keys to post to AF) aren’t economic (yet), so they currently are either R&D projects or rely on government subsidies – and so face considerable political risk. Perhaps not the best topic for book-type treatments.
Yeah, I’d be curious hearing more about the Coal-to-Liquid fuel industry. They take coal and some waste-products and convert it into jet fuel and clean diesel. Invented by the Nazis during the world wars when they were subject to an oil embargo, and then the process was improved by the South Africans. It seems promising considering the alt energy wave and the U.S.'s huge reserves of coal. But obviously there are some downsides. SSL seems to be the only company that has figured this out, but there are a few American upstarts like RTK.