Energy & Design

 

Is it possible to capture the energy of the sun, the wind and the oceans’ tides to power our entire society? Will the cars of tomorrow run on batteries or vegetable oil? What effect does our use of coal have on the communities and neighborhoods where coal-mining and coal-burning take place? Can we rebuild our cities for walkers and bikers rather than drivers? These are some of the intriguing questions that the following titles try to answer.

Titles

Apollo’s Fire: Igniting America’s Clean Energy Economy
– Jay Inslee & Bracken Hendricks
In response to global warming, companies are racing to find new ways to power our lives. Filled with moving stories and thoughtful optimism, this book outlines the possibilities for our energy future.

Big Coal: The Dirty Secret Behind America’s Energy Future
– Jeff Goodell
Few of us realize the massive damage to the environment and our health that is caused by mining and burning coal. Goodell provides a hard-hitting look at the American coal industry.

Electric Dreams: One Unlikely Team of Kids and the Race to Build the Car of the Future
– Caroline Kettlewell
A team of teenagers from an impoverished North Carolina town sets out to build an electric car for a competition with much wealthier schools. This is the inspiring true story of these underdogs who stood up to discrimination to add their answer to the future of transportation.

The Option of Urbanism: Investing in a New American Dream
– Christopher B. Leinberger
What would cities look like if people could live, work and play in the same area, with close access to footpaths and other transportation options? Acclaimed urban planner Leinberger shows how today’s cities leave people feeling isolated, and asks how tomorrow’s cities can be different.

Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Ways We Make Things
– William McDonough & Michael Braungart
In this call for change, McDonough and Braungart envision a new style of manufacturing that focuses on eco-friendly production and waste reduction, and provide inspiring examples such as the tree-less “paper” on which the book is printed. 

Strange As This Weather Has Been
– Ann Pancake
When the coal companies come to mine the peaceful valley where Lace Ricker has lived all her life, she and her family must decide whether to defend their land as the waste and run-off from the mining threatens their safety.