Clean Energy and Regeneration

This article is part of our Mentor-Coach Reading List series. Join the mailing list to receive this and more.

What are the greatest leverage points for reducing emissions? What are the human choices and alternatives? What do we need to do now? Can we build a better future? This series will assist you understand the clean energy supply chain, the implications of climate and carbon and the options of electrification, community involvement and the circular economy.

Happy reading and stay curious!

Here is more information about the Series 14 selection of books.

Powering Up: Unleashing the Clean Energy Supply Chain (Black Inc, June 2023) by Dr Alan Finkel. The clean energy transition is humanity's biggest ever economic challenge. In Powering Up, former Australian chief scientist Alan Finkel shows how to remove the barriers that prevent nations transforming from petrostate to electrostate. Finkel considers the entire supply chain, from raw materials through power infrastructure, the workforce, transportation and household customers. He reveals the outlines of a new geo-economic order and explains in persuasive, practical terms how we can get there. If governments, investors, industry and consumers get this right over the next three decades, history will judge us as the generation who ushered in the Electric Age and helped to save the planet. The world will be transformed - with Australia, if we seize the opportunity, as a global leader.

Regeneration: Ending the Climate Crisis in One Generation (Penguin Press, December 2021) by Paul Hawken. Offers a guide to what each of us can do-should do-to make changes in the ecological, social and economic and transform the climate crisis in a single generation. From land to ocean, food to industries - Regeneration proposes an extensive menu of actions that provide the means to radically reduce individual and collective impacts. The solutions, techniques, and practices detailed are doable, science-based, and comprise a precise and unequivocal course of action. Whether you are an individual, community focused or a national government, Regeneration is a call to arms to mobilise against the degradation of our planet in order to safeguard the future.

The Carbon Almanac (Penguin, November 2022). A collaboration between hundreds of writers, researchers, thinkers, and leaders that focuses on what we know, what has come before, and what might happen next. With thousands of data points, articles and charts explaining carbon's impact on everything in our society, from our the economy to extreme weather events, it is the definitive source for facts and the basis for a global movement to fight climate change.

Earth for all – A survival guide to humanity (The Club of Rome, 2022) by Sandrine Dixson-Declève, Owen Gaffney, Jayati Ghosh, Johan Rockström, Per Espen Stoknes, Jørgen Randers. Earth For All is both an antidote to despair and a road map to a better future. Using powerful state-of-the-art computer modeling to explore policies likely to deliver the most good for the majority of people, a leading group of scientists and economists from around the world present five extraordinary turnarounds to achieve prosperity for all within planetary limits in a single generation. Coverage includes: results of new global modeling that indicates falling well-being and rising social tensions heighten risk of regional societal collapses; two alternative scenarios – Too-Little-Too-Late vs The Giant Leap – and what they mean for our collective future; five system-shifting steps that can upend poverty and inequality, lift up marginalized people, and transform our food and energy systems by 2050; a clear pathway to reboot our global economic system so it works for all people and the planet. Written in an open, accessible, and inspirational style using clear language and high impact visuals, Earth For All is a profound vision for uncertain times and a map to a better future.

The Wires That Bind: Electrification and Community Renewal (Quarterly Essay 89, March 2023) by Saul Griffith. A compelling vision of green energy at a local level. This is an essay about building a better world, one community at a time. Inventor, engineer and visionary Saul Griffith reveals the world that awaits if we make the most of Australia’s energy future. He paints an inspiring yet practical picture of empowered local communities acting collectively when it comes to renewable energy, and benefiting financially. “We need a realistic and achievable vision for the future because the future is coming fast. We have only about one-quarter of one century, twenty-five years, one human generation, to get ourselves out of this climate quandary. If we get this right, if we design the incentives and the policies and the regulations correctly, communities will thrive. Every Australian will benefit economically, socially and even health-wise. So let's hit the road.” says Saul Griffith.

The Circular Economy: A User's Guide (Routledge, January 2019) by Walter Stahel. A Circular Economy seeks to rebuild capital, whether this is financial, manufactured, human, social or natural, and offers opportunities and solutions for all organisations. This book, written by Walter Stahel, who is widely recognised as one of the key people who formulated the concept of the Circular Economy, is the perfect introduction for anyone wanting to quickly get up to speed with this vitally important topic for ensuring sustainable development. It sets out a new framework that refines the concept of a Circular Economy and how it can be applied at industrial levels. This concise book presents the key themes for busy managers and policymakers and some of the newest thinking on the topic of the Circular Economy from one of the leading thinkers in the field. Practical examples and case studies with real-life data are used to support the ideas.

… and here is a prior reading list on ‘sustainability, climate, planet’

Sustainability, Climate, Planet - exploring sustainability, climate, circular economy, food production, zero-carbon, regeneration, landscapes and the environment.

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