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Era3 of humanity: Shape paradise or slip into hell
402 pages, Paperback
Published September 5, 2025
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November 2, 2025
The book compiles previously expressed criticisms by the author of (mostly European) climate policy and discourse, covering ETS and related market-based systems, as well as delusive narratives on atomic energy and green hydrogen that are put forward as solutions by the nuclear, fossil, and financial industries. The author advocates for local production of renewable electricity, in which solar and wind energy should be central and operational reliability is partly organized locally too. The ultimate goal is full - renewable - electrification of society with responsible use of energy and very little room for sectors that cannot fully rely on electricity (think of aviation, long-distance shipping, production of fertilizer, cement, steel). Furthermore, it is argued that neo-liberalism and decentralized energy production and management are incompatible, and that the fossil, nuclear, and financial industries have left their deliberately misleading marks on current climate policies.
The author's criticisms appear largely justified. The allocation of free emission rights, the lack of a carbon tax on imported products, and the very slow integration of many sectors into the ETS system indeed suggest that mostly low-hanging fruit is being picked, and that the reduction of emissions is proceeding much slower than would have been feasible under alternative policies.
The author is an expert in energy management and policy, both in a technical and economical sense. My expectations were therefore high, but they were not fully met. All of the above is important information, however, I found the lack of a clear vision of the future slightly disappointing, since the book's title seems to promise such a thing. Sure, problems of fertilizer, cement and steel, aviation and shipping are touched upon, but no detailed view on how society in 'Era3' will look like is provided, and possible pathways that are suggested are only sparsely supported by numbers.
In sum, I learned quite a lot from this book, although it could have been much more crisp, clear, and concise, with a more thoughtful title.
The author's criticisms appear largely justified. The allocation of free emission rights, the lack of a carbon tax on imported products, and the very slow integration of many sectors into the ETS system indeed suggest that mostly low-hanging fruit is being picked, and that the reduction of emissions is proceeding much slower than would have been feasible under alternative policies.
The author is an expert in energy management and policy, both in a technical and economical sense. My expectations were therefore high, but they were not fully met. All of the above is important information, however, I found the lack of a clear vision of the future slightly disappointing, since the book's title seems to promise such a thing. Sure, problems of fertilizer, cement and steel, aviation and shipping are touched upon, but no detailed view on how society in 'Era3' will look like is provided, and possible pathways that are suggested are only sparsely supported by numbers.
In sum, I learned quite a lot from this book, although it could have been much more crisp, clear, and concise, with a more thoughtful title.
Displaying 1 of 1 review