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The man who tamed the wind
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Uncomfortable truth To curb climate change, environmentalists need to face the hard economic facts The most urgent need is to banish coal burning, he says. Any other fuel is better. And the clear choice for the immediate future is natural gas, especially shale gas. Natural gas may contain carbon, but burning it in power stations produces only half the carbon emissions of coal. And, thanks to improved drilling technology, we suddenly have huge reserves of cheap shale gas available around the world. Greens may recoil at the idea of yet more cheap fossil fuel. But the US’s dash to exploit shale gas cut its carbon emissions by 1.7 per cent in 2011, at a time when
The Carbon Crunch by Dieter Helm, Yale University Press, £20/$35 Reviewed by Fred Pearce
THIS book will anger many environmentalists. In it, Dieter Helm argues that they, and green-minded political leaders, have wasted two decades in counterproductive efforts to curb climate change, and he calls for climate crusaders to get behind the much-hated new fossil fuel, shale gas. A University of Oxford economist with a distinguished pedigree on climate change, Helm is no closet sceptic. He is adamant that action to halt global warming is urgent. But he says that the dogged installation, especially in
Europe, of expensive and poorly performing wind turbines and solar panels has done more harm than good. Far from kick-starting a renewables revolution, he says, it has diverted cash from research and design needed to produce genuinely carbon-reducing energy technologies. Worse, it has pushed up energy prices and driven industries to relocate. “What exactly is the point of reducing emissions in Europe,” he asks, “if it encourages energy-intensive industry to move to China, where the pollution will be ever worse?” Improved drilling technologies provide access to vast reserves of shale gas
Mayumi Terao/getty
“Calls to stifle shale gas are born of economic illiteracy, and a ban will only push up coal production”
Europe’s emissions rose. Why not grab this carbon lifeline? Helm acknowledges that there are plenty of places where shale gas exploitation would be environmentally damaging, and that it is only a “bridging technology”. But, he says, calls to stifle shale gas at birth are born of economic illiteracy. A ban can only push up coal production, the worst of all possible outcomes. His stance is controversial, and there are those who argue shale gas will actually squeeze out renewables. But Helm insists that this is both the cheapest and quickest way to cut emissions. The Carbon Crunch is a powerful and heartfelt plea for hard-nosed realism. And it also suggests a worrying truth – that the environment movement is often more interested in pursuing a soft-focus vision of a greener world than in actually fixing climate change. n
Towering reputation Wind Wizard by Siobhan Roberts, Princeton University Press, £19.95/$29.95 Reviewed by Ben Crystall
ONE stormy night in Boston in 1973, the windows of the John Hancock Tower began dropping onto the pavement. Alan Davenport was called in to help. Five years later, when structural engineers discovered that the newly completed 59-story Citicorp Center in New York was at risk of collapse, Davenport’s phone was soon ringing again. In Wind Wizard, Siobhan Roberts reveals Davenport as one of the unsung heroes of the construction industry. In the early 1960s, he established a wind tunnel lab at the University of Western Ontario in London, Canada, where he simulated the effects of wild, tumbling air flows on structures of all kinds. The techniques he pioneered have helped protect our biggest bridges and buildings from extreme weather conditions ever since. Roberts’s book is more than an account of Davenport’s life – it also provides fascinating insights into some of civil engineering’s greatest achievements, and closest shaves. She reminds us how much we rely on wind engineering: from portable toilets to space rockets, Davenport tested everything. He even deciphered the complex winds at Amen Corner, a tricky section of the Augusta National Golf Club course in Georgia, using a model and 40 years of meteorological data. Davenport died in 2009 but his monuments are all around us – including the two skyscrapers he helped to save in the 1970s. With climate change making violent storms like Sandy more common, the story of the wind wizard has never been more relevant. n 17 November 2012 | NewScientist | 51
Uncomfortable truth To curb climate change, environmentalists need to face the hard economic facts The most urgent need is to banish coal burning, he says. Any other fuel is better. And the clear choice for the immediate future is natural gas, especially shale gas. Natural gas may contain carbon, but burning it in power stations produces only half the carbon emissions of coal. And, thanks to improved drilling technology, we suddenly have huge reserves of cheap shale gas available around the world. Greens may recoil at the idea of yet more cheap fossil fuel. But the US’s dash to exploit shale gas cut its carbon emissions by 1.7 per cent in 2011, at a time when
The Carbon Crunch by Dieter Helm, Yale University Press, £20/$35 Reviewed by Fred Pearce
THIS book will anger many environmentalists. In it, Dieter Helm argues that they, and green-minded political leaders, have wasted two decades in counterproductive efforts to curb climate change, and he calls for climate crusaders to get behind the much-hated new fossil fuel, shale gas. A University of Oxford economist with a distinguished pedigree on climate change, Helm is no closet sceptic. He is adamant that action to halt global warming is urgent. But he says that the dogged installation, especially in
Europe, of expensive and poorly performing wind turbines and solar panels has done more harm than good. Far from kick-starting a renewables revolution, he says, it has diverted cash from research and design needed to produce genuinely carbon-reducing energy technologies. Worse, it has pushed up energy prices and driven industries to relocate. “What exactly is the point of reducing emissions in Europe,” he asks, “if it encourages energy-intensive industry to move to China, where the pollution will be ever worse?” Improved drilling technologies provide access to vast reserves of shale gas
Mayumi Terao/getty
“Calls to stifle shale gas are born of economic illiteracy, and a ban will only push up coal production”
Europe’s emissions rose. Why not grab this carbon lifeline? Helm acknowledges that there are plenty of places where shale gas exploitation would be environmentally damaging, and that it is only a “bridging technology”. But, he says, calls to stifle shale gas at birth are born of economic illiteracy. A ban can only push up coal production, the worst of all possible outcomes. His stance is controversial, and there are those who argue shale gas will actually squeeze out renewables. But Helm insists that this is both the cheapest and quickest way to cut emissions. The Carbon Crunch is a powerful and heartfelt plea for hard-nosed realism. And it also suggests a worrying truth – that the environment movement is often more interested in pursuing a soft-focus vision of a greener world than in actually fixing climate change. n
Towering reputation Wind Wizard by Siobhan Roberts, Princeton University Press, £19.95/$29.95 Reviewed by Ben Crystall
ONE stormy night in Boston in 1973, the windows of the John Hancock Tower began dropping onto the pavement. Alan Davenport was called in to help. Five years later, when structural engineers discovered that the newly completed 59-story Citicorp Center in New York was at risk of collapse, Davenport’s phone was soon ringing again. In Wind Wizard, Siobhan Roberts reveals Davenport as one of the unsung heroes of the construction industry. In the early 1960s, he established a wind tunnel lab at the University of Western Ontario in London, Canada, where he simulated the effects of wild, tumbling air flows on structures of all kinds. The techniques he pioneered have helped protect our biggest bridges and buildings from extreme weather conditions ever since. Roberts’s book is more than an account of Davenport’s life – it also provides fascinating insights into some of civil engineering’s greatest achievements, and closest shaves. She reminds us how much we rely on wind engineering: from portable toilets to space rockets, Davenport tested everything. He even deciphered the complex winds at Amen Corner, a tricky section of the Augusta National Golf Club course in Georgia, using a model and 40 years of meteorological data. Davenport died in 2009 but his monuments are all around us – including the two skyscrapers he helped to save in the 1970s. With climate change making violent storms like Sandy more common, the story of the wind wizard has never been more relevant. n 17 November 2012 | NewScientist | 51