(Originally published 2011, Paperback Edition 725 pages)
As a followup to his excellent, 1992 Pulitzer-Prize-winning book "The Prize," Mr. Yergin's "The Quest" explores the rapid change since the 1990s up to today. There was much about world energy markets I did not know. The central theme that weaves its way throughout his 725-page tome is there are four key dynamics which effect the many directions energy is being pursued: technology, price, scale and the environmental impact. The author's intent was to set up the six large chapters as independent sections if the reader is only interested in one area. I, however, read it from beginning to end and found it very informative.
Mr. Yergin covers every major energy area from oil, electricity, wind, natural gas, nuclear, solar and biofuels. He shows that cutting-edge technologies have helped to discover new, rich oil sources as well as helped use energy more efficiently. "The Quest" also attempts to describe the many complexities involved in finding and developing alternative energy sources. The implications of fast-growing economies such as China, India and Brazil certainly means the world of energy issues will continue to evolve. Naturally, electricity and vehicles are given especially thorough attention in the book. Reading about the many foreign and domestic political disruptions, global warming, and the short-sighted nature of R&D funding gave me a headache.
Overall, "The Quest" take pains to give a fair assessment of present conditions in highly controversial areas such as global warming, cap & trade policies, fraccing, and nuclear power, but ultimately comes across as an optimistic view of our future. The author also writes in a style that doesn't require you have a doctorate degree in academic gobbledegook wording and inserts many interesting human stories. A minority of Amazon reviewers believe the book is an over-simplistic, wrongheaded piece of trash. I couldn't disagree more with their assessments. Mr. Yergin's highly-interesting book helped me better understand the complexities of the ever-changing, fast new world we live in when it comes to energy. It is such an important, complex topic which affects us all that you will be doing yourself a huge favor by reading this large, very interesting work.
(Meyers - A few years ago, I started writing, under the pseudonym Franklin the Mouse, short reviews at Amazon's web site. This is my most recent review #357)
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