Heat: How to Stop the Planet From Burning

by George Monbiot

book data

131 ratings, 4.19 average rating, 39 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		39%
4		45%
3		10%
2		3%
1		0%

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published

April 1st 2007 (first published 2006) by South End Press

binding

Hardcover, 304 pages

isbn

0896087794 (isbn13: 9780896087798)

description

Heat: How to Stop the Planet From Burning marks an important moment in our civilization's thinking about global warming. The question is no longer Is ...more

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01/21/09

Jeff rated it:

Read in January, 2009

We've got to do something about global warming. This book outlines the high carbon producing sectors of our daily lives, from industry, transportation, farming, and the costs associated with cutting CO2 emissions by 90%.

The author calls for improved home insulation/heating systems, an end to air travel, more local and seasonal farming, "carbon rationing", wind power generation, more mass transport and carbon sequestration.

The final technology has been proven in ...more

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06/06/09

Sophie Jane Tuckwood rated it:

(review of isbn 0141026626)

bookshelves: summer-reads

Read in June, 2009

Wow! This book is filled with so much awesomeness I'm having difficulty deciding how describe it.

Alright, well this is a book that promises the solution to climate-change, by the wicked George Monbiot. In a world where environmentalists are continually faced with depressing statistics and few real solutions, this seemed like an intriguing prospect, and I was not disappointed.

The things I liked most about the book are:

* The facts - The reason I found this book so use

...more

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07/08/07

Edward Kidder rated it:

Monbiot argues emissions must be reduced 90% by 2030 and shows how we can do it in several areas. Well written with passion and humor. Cement was a surprise. A ton of CO2 for a ton of cement cured. Who knew? Air travel was the only category with no constructive suggestions. He gets at the core of the matter for those of us using more than our share-- we need to learn to adapt voluntarily.

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08/21/07

Ryan Thompson rated it:

bookshelves: mustread

Read in August, 2007

This is a thoroughly devastating book, but I couldn't put it down. It's a fairly technical account of how we can all cut our carbon emissions with the least amount of disruption to our modern lives. Please read it.

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08/13/07

Betsy Stubblefield rated it:

bookshelves: lovedit

Read in September, 2007

recommends it for: everyone

This is an essential book for anyone who cares about the planet and social justice... so that should be everyone.

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06/18/09

Rob Manwaring rated it:

(review of isbn 0141026626)

Read in June, 2009

Monbiot on top form, and really quite worrying predictions about the lack of political will to tackle climate change. Monbiot is exhaustive in his pursuit of seeking solutions to reduce carbon emissions by 90% by 2030. And frankly, we're not going to make it. The section on nuclear power was surprising, as was the analysis on coal and 'carbon capture' technologies. My favourites though were his prescriptions for the transport sector. The notion of using Storkey's coach network was inspired, ...more

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08/30/08

Bruce Sanders rated it:

This book starts with a simple premise. Since a two degree centigrade increase in global temperatures by 2030 will have devastating effects on the climate, the world has to reduce it's carbon footprint drastically; and Britain's fair share in this regard is a 90% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. The rest of the book is an exercise in seeing if there is any way for Britain to do this and still maintain a modern economy. Monbiot writes clearly. The arguments are laid out well with lots o...more This book starts with a simple premise. Since a two degree centigrade increase in global temperatures by 2030 will have devastating effects on the climate, the world has to reduce it's carbon footprint drastically; and Britain's fair share in this regard is a 90% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. The rest of the book is an exercise in seeing if there is any way for Britain to do this and still maintain a modern economy. Monbiot writes clearly. The arguments are laid out well with lots of footnotes documenting every idea. He is very thorough in working through the problem. There are few stones left unturned in searching for a solution to the problem. Monbiot looks at how well Britain's homes are insulated and what can be done about it, how electricity can be generated without generating greenhouse gases, how it can be transmitted more efficiently, the transportation problem, and finally he looks at two high carbon footprint industries to see to what extent they can reduce their emissions (supermarkets and concrete production). The book is full of ingenious pragmatic ideas for meeting the stated goal (e.g., moving bus terminals to major highway intersections outside of city centers, and switching to direct current for long-range power transmission), as well as obvious ideas (e.g., goodbye airline industry for mass transit). Every idea mentioned is doable. The book concludes that in fact a 90% reduction in Britain's carbon footprint can be combined with a modern society, but that it will be an immense undertaking and time is running out. Working through this problem with Monbiot is an exercise every informed citizen needs to undertake. Turning this thought experiment into an exercise in reality is something every citizen should be working for. The book is really a breath of fresh air in that it takes climate change seriously, but is not a doomsday book. The problem can be solved if the political will is there. The political will won't be there if people don't educate themselves on these issues.

The book was penned in 2006. Since then Monbiot has become a little more pro nuclear energy and less skeptical of the idea of peak oil. Unfortunately, little progress has been made in the first world on implementing any of the ideas in the book. In fact, there are few signs that first world governments are even taking the problem seriously. An exception might be with regards to allternative energy generation, but that is being motivated by peak oil not by climate change. Humankind is apparently determined to enter a dark age and undergo a population crash. (less)

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08/07/08

Barry rated it:

bookshelves: english, non-fiction

Read in October, 2007

Monbiot is an evangelist and this is sermon on the evils of climate change. That may sound off putting, but it isn't. Really. This is one earnest message that engages the reader. I read this shortly after seeing An Inconvenient Truth, and this book backs up the documentary with a few more persuasive stats.

Monbiot writes a column for the Guardian; he's well-versed at sounding the alarm. His approach is comprehensive and well-researched. It's also a bit naïve because he often tr...more

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02/13/08

Ramorx rated it:

(review of isbn 0141030712)

How many light bulbs do we need to change in order to save the planet? None, points out Monbiot, so its too late, we're doomed! Unless we reduce carbon emissions by 90% by 2030 which is of course completely unthinkable. The US war machine will probably still be on overdrive all over Mesopotamia in 2030. George positions himself as a somewhat fanciful alchemist coming up with lots of totally implausible measures - like no more flying - to put a break on global warming. There are a few good diehar...more

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10/24/07

Matthew rated it:

(review of isbn 0141026626)

bookshelves: misc-non-fiction

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in October, 2007

recommends it for: Anyone who wants some evidence on climate change

Upon finishing George Monbiot's Heat, I am reminded by what a public affairs executive at the Singapore office of an oil major whispered over at a conference: that the debate on global warming seems confusing because it involves so many issues. What do you think we can do? he said.

For a start, read Monbiot's book. Not because Heat will answer questions, or make them simpler, but it will help frame the issues.

Actually, global warming is easy to understand - the world is gettin...more Upon finishing George Monbiot's Heat, I am reminded by what a public affairs executive at the Singapore office of an oil major whispered over at a conference: that the debate on global warming seems confusing because it involves so many issues. What do you think we can do? he said.

For a start, read Monbiot's book. Not because Heat will answer questions, or make them simpler, but it will help frame the issues.

Actually, global warming is easy to understand - the world is getting warmer as a result of human activity, with disastrous consequences for both nature and ourselves. The complex part is the myriad approaches to mitigating global warming, for many of which the estimated costs and benefits are still under debate. There is no panacea, no one single area which, if addressed, would be sufficient in and of itself to combat climate change.

That, effectively, is the thesis of Heat. What must we do to avoid global warming?, Monbiot asks in the first chapter. His answer: slash the amount of greenhouse gases we release by 90 per cent by 2030. (This, he argues, is necessary to keep carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to under 450 parts per million, which means a two-thirds chance the world will warm by no more than 2 degrees Celsius.)

The rest of the book has Monbiot, a columnist for the Guardian and visiting professor at Oxford Brookes University, poking through reports and chasing down leads, leaving few stones unturned as he attempts to find out whether, and how, the reduction is possible.

His target is vastly more stringent than what governments are pledging, and Heat shows why. Monbiot damn near gets his carbon reductions, but only after renewing much of the existing housing stock, revamped the public transport system and energy grid, introduced hydrogen fuel cells and carbon capture and storage. Given the current states of political will and economic structures, all these are unlikely. In the chapter on aviation, even Monbiot concedes defeat, after concluding that to slash emissions there, humans must fly 10 times fewer miles.

Besides this, Heat is a great example of the questions we should ask policy makers as they decide our future. Monbiot chases down the “denial” camp, showing that many of the naysayers of manmade climate change are themselves quoting spurious evidence. Writing on nuclear energy, he notes that while plants can, in theory, be run safely, plant operators in the UK are notorious for cheating and covering up on leaks.

The book is best seen an a pioneering attempt to take stock of wide research, to cut through noise and blather and to try to come to hard conclusions about what, if anything, must be done. The problem is that in many cases, the information isn’t there. On how much nuclear energy really costs, for example, Monbiot quotes various reports, then says: “The only honest reply is that I haven’t the faintest idea.”
(less)

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09/27/07

Shannon rated it:

(review of isbn 0385662211)

bookshelves: environmentalism, favourite, non-fiction

Read in January, 2006

With Heat, George Monbiot has moved past the obfuscating arguments being slung like mud back and forth across the globe, and faces not just the alarming truth of global warming but the seemingly impossible task of actually doing something about it.

This book is, as he points out in the introduction, a manifesto. It is a plan of action. The goal is to cut our carbon dioxide emissions by 90% by 2030. This is the "seemingly impossible" aspect, especially when you look at Canada...more With Heat, George Monbiot has moved past the obfuscating arguments being slung like mud back and forth across the globe, and faces not just the alarming truth of global warming but the seemingly impossible task of actually doing something about it.

This book is, as he points out in the introduction, a manifesto. It is a plan of action. The goal is to cut our carbon dioxide emissions by 90% by 2030. This is the "seemingly impossible" aspect, especially when you look at Canada's current situation (this Canadian edition includes a foreward designed to wipe the smug smiles off our faces, and effectively brings his manifesto into our own backyard).

Using the UK as his base, Monbiot focuses on high-energy users and high emission-producing industries, from "our leaky homes" to gas, coal and nuclear plants, cars, public transport, the cement industry, heat, lighting and aviation. Before getting onto the task of fixing our situation before it gets worse, he spends a chapter on the current data and where it will lead us, and on the "denial industry". This chapter alone is worth your time. It is engrossing, enlightening and actually quite entertaining.

For all his sources, Monbiot does a thorough background check. This process, of following individuals and organisations from their comments all the way to who is funding them, adds a detective element to the book - a bit like the TV show House. It also serves to add legitimacy to the people Monbiot does quote - although he makes a point of being sceptical of anyone who is selling something.

One of the other truly great chapters in this book is on public transport. Using models put forward by other thinkers, Monbiot restructures the English transit system, making it more user-friendly, affordable, quicker, and drastically reduces not only the amount of cars on the road, but also the amount of road. As with the aviation industry, more money is being spent on expanding roads, which will only fill up with twice as many cars, than on finding other transport solutions or "greener" cars.

His chapter on fuel, especially his breakdown on so-called "green fuels", is less heartening. Although he remains incredibly optimistic throughout the book, his conclusions regarding our fuel options are downright depressing. Still, we can only persevere. Likewise, the amount of energy a supermarket uses to keep the fridges on while at the same time heating the place, is shocking, but not surprising. What is really shocking, is that we are all so accustomed to it that no one even thinks about the waste of energy our expectations of convenience cause.

Heat moves nimbly past all the bickering politicians and scientists and everyone else with an opinion, and looks at ways we can save the planet without sacrificing as much as we will if we do absolutely nothing. But his final point is clear: as long as we refuse to change our lifestyle, make some cuts in our own way of living, we are going to be pretty adverse to politicians regulating - as Monbiot says they need to do - and also give them a good reason to not even try.

As a manifesto, Heat provides a great deal of clear-headed, well-researched and rational information. When one of our politicians decides to take the situation seriously, they would do well to start here.(less)

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08/25/07

Franco rated it:

(review of isbn 0141026626)

Read in September, 2007

Making the choice
After reading on the internet a number of unsatisfactory articles about climate change, I decided to read a good book on this essential topic. I compared them basing my choice on the information I could find about the three books I’d been proposed, and on the need to verify some of my opinions: first, the opinion I had since thirty years ago that the industrial revolution has an important negative effect on climate - this lead me to easily trust those who fifteen years l...more Making the choice
After reading on the internet a number of unsatisfactory articles about climate change, I decided to read a good book on this essential topic. I compared them basing my choice on the information I could find about the three books I’d been proposed, and on the need to verify some of my opinions: first, the opinion I had since thirty years ago that the industrial revolution has an important negative effect on climate - this lead me to easily trust those who fifteen years later said that the reduction amount agreement in Kyoto was just a symbolic act because of the irrelevant quantity; second, the opinion that the data published by the FAO about animal farming, which would be responsible of 18% of the CO2 equivalent emissions, is correct and is just a little further confirmation we need to considerably change our lifestyle.

I scannedd 'Heat!' in a library to find the data I was looking for. What I read on the internet about it made me sure it was at least good for an important step: understanding the real needs in terms of reduction.
One of the first things I read were the tables at the end of the book. I got the impression that the book was not very good for me: it seemed not to mention the animal farming contributes, ascribe to the traffic part of the emissions which are probably due to other fuel combustion and one of the first things the author says is he doesn’t want to change his lifestyle. But, he sais, It’s possible and easy to quickly reduce the emissions by 90% and save the human race this way. In my quick search I couldn’t find positive suggestions or solutions, but only the demolition of suggestions made by others, and an apparently useless report on untrue writings. No way to believe it would say the things I wanted to find. Anyway, it certainly said something important. Well then, I thought, I’ll have to read it all.

Surprising though known
Monbiot chose very well his sources and writes very well. He points out that science reports need to be selected by peer review to be considered valid, while politicians and journalists (not scientists) make a tremendous confusion and get victims of false reports especially for a main reason: they attribute the more importance and credibility to a speaker the more he appears in the media. He shows how some big industries like Philip Morris and Exxon can manipulate the public opinion. It’s enough to get the information selected by peer review, that is, all the articles published by scientists’ magazines as Science and Nature to understand what is happening and will happen in the very next decades according to all scientific contributes, none excluded.

At the end of the second chapter, Monbiot even easily explains the psychology that brings scientists to accept politicians’ decisions even if they know they are a simply ridiculous and mad suicide.

Achieved results
The quick reduction of greenhouse gases emission must become the most important task of our governments. We must ask for this. The reduction must involve everybody. Most of it has to take place before 2012.

Monbiot succeeds in his scopes: convince that in the case of climate change and fighting is worth the trouble, and find the most politically efficacious ways to reduce our energy need and its CO2 content. His comparison among all the suggested solutions brings to evidence which are the best solutions for behaviours and policies in the main fields to take into account: energy production and use, transport and building trade. Only in one sentence, though, it speaks about animal gases production, and as in the case of Al Gore not a word is spent to say how important vegetarianism among the necessary solutions. We can forgive him just because of its starting point (I don't want to change my lifestyle), which he thought so important to attract readers. He got me, and I'm happy about that.
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06/12/09

Adrian added it

Read in January, 2007

If this doesn't scare you, you are impervious. Monbiot outlines a possible plan for cutting carbon emissions by 90% by 2030. Rigorously researched and costed there is a wealth of info to consider. Tidal power, passiv houses from Germany, the cement industry. It's a clarion call for people to get off their arses.

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01/03/09

Elizabeth rated it:

bookshelves: nonfiction, read2009

Read in February, 2009

If you are planning on reading Hot, Flat, and Crowded - skip it and read this instead. If you have already read Hot, Flat, and Crowded, you should really read this as well...

Best book I've read on the topic of climate change and what we should be doing about it. Best because it is *thoroughly* researched. The footnotes and end notes and references and data are well documented. The author makes every effort to look at the topic objectively. And some conclusions are rather surprising....more

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06/01/07

Tai Viinikka rated it:

bookshelves: read-and-owned

Read in November, 2007

recommends it for: tetrapods.

This is a thorough and careful book, but also amusing in places. Monbiot manages this well. He is unafraid to call a spade a spade, and correctly diagnoses the wishful thinking that sometimes afflicts environmental activists. Rooftop wind turbines are no solution to anything.

He makes a compelling case that that we should all demand that our economic system be issued new rules. Like NHL hockey players, no one (country/individual/business) wants to be the *first* to put on the helmet,...more

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04/12/09

Irene Toh rated it:

Read in April, 2009

the fog, inertia, and conspiracy surrounding climate change and the call for action, this book gives the a-z perspective. i like the central metaphor of the book which is that we have signed a Faustian pact - living it up like there's no tomorrow.

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09/16/07

Laurel rated it:

Read in October, 2007

recommends it for: everyone

I was amazed by the thoughtfulness, thorough research, and full disclosure that Monbiot exhibited in his effort to show us how we can stop global warming by cutting our carbon footprint by 90%. I was especially affected by his chapter on transportation (save the world = stop flying).

Unfortunately, since so many of his specific suggestions rely on government policy and on governments "doing the right thing" for the environment, I'm not especially optimistic that his suggest...more

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03/27/08

Frederik rated it:

Read in April, 2008

Monbiot offers governments, industries and people like ourselves some valid solutions to fight global warming. But we lack the political will and insight to deploy them. In the mean time, the clock is ticking relentlessly...

I like Al Gore's documentary ('An inconvenient Truth') better. Unless you're a real and proactive global warming fighter, these matters can get a tad tedious. Especially when extended over more than 300 pages of depressing figures and estimations.

Our o...more

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12/15/07

Lee rated it:

I expected a jeremiad, but this is a patient, empirical exploration of whether we can live a sustainably low-carbon life and preserve the benefits of industrial/technological civilization. Monbiot's conclusion: yes, but just barely, and it will require the kind of determined, concerted efforts that one might well doubt our governments are capable of. Monbiot admits he's not a scientist, but he tells you where he gets his info and how he comes to his conclusions. Best book I've read on climate ch...more

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06/26/07

Anthony rated it:

(review of isbn 0141026626)

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in July, 2007

recommends it for: climate change activists

Monbiot embarks on a quest to determine how the UK can cut its carbon emissions 90% by 2030 from the current level. Examining various sectors like transportation, cement production, retail, and housing, he comes close to what he feels is the necessary recipe to combat what would be a disaster-causing temperature shift if carbon levels are not stabilized at current levels, let alone allowing them to push 450 or 500ppm as many IPCC scientists are suggesting.

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quotes from this book

"In managing our transport systems, our governments must constantly negotiate the paradox of mass movement. They must create a system which, for the sake of speed and efficiency, treats us like a herd, constantly prodded and coralled, divided, re-formed and forced into line. At the same time it must grant us the illusion of autonomy." More quotes...