Oil: Resources Production Uses Impacts

by Vaclav Smil

Energy expert Vaclav Smil presents a sharp-witted and approachable guide to oil's origins, exploration, extraction and use. This book is the perfect starting point for readers who wish to understand the science and culture behind our oil-driven world.

Genres: Nonfiction, Comics

241 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 31, 2001

About the author

Vaclav Smil is a Czech-Canadian scientist and policy analyst whose work spans energy, environment, food, population, economics, history, and public policy. Educated at Charles University in Prague and later at Pennsylvania State University, where he earned his Ph.D. in geography, Smil emigrated from Czechoslovakia to the United States in 1969 following the Soviet invasion, before beginning his long academic career at the University of Manitoba in 1972. Over the decades he established himself as a leading voice on global energy systems, environmental change, and economic development, with particular attention to China. Smil has consistently argued that transitions to renewable energy will be gradual rather than rapid, emphasizing the persistence of coal, oil, and natural gas and highlighting the difficulties of decarbonizing critical industries such as steel, cement, ammonia, and plastics. He has also been skeptical of indefinite economic growth, suggesting that human consumption could be sustained at much lower levels of material and energy use. Widely admired for his clear, data-driven analyses, Smil counts Bill Gates among his readers, while colleagues have praised his rigor and independence. Known for his reclusiveness and preference for letting his books speak for him, he has nonetheless lectured extensively worldwide and consulted for major institutions. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and a member of the Order of Canada, Smil remains a highly influential public intellectual.

Reviews

[David Glad · Rating 4 out of 5]

OK short stories for what they are, more so if you were unfamiliar with the cast of business personalities from primarily the 1990s. Was funny them mocking Marvel by using ostracized kids who thought they could "identify" with the characters in the comics.

[Gk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jay Goldinger is in this book of true stories. I once went to a Cubs game with Mr. Goldinger. The game was rained out, and he eventually went to prison.