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For Immediate Release
November 22, 2006
The Citizen-Powered Energy Handbook
Community Solutions to a Global Crisis
By Greg Pahl
Foreword by Richard Heinberg
Contact: Jon-Mikel Gates, (802) 295-6300, ext. 111,
jgates@chelseagreen.com
Groundbreaking Book Provides Local Solutions for Energy Crisis
We’ve gotten the message and the message is clear. Over the past year, a host of scientific articles and
the widely viewed movie by Al Gore, An Inconvenient Truth, have presented compelling arguments for
moving beyond our present fossil-fuel economy. The Long Emergency, The End of Oil, and Out of Gas are
just a few titles from a slew of recent books.
By the end of this decade, if not sooner, our nation will have reached the time of “Peak Oil” – that pivotal
moment in history when world oil production and reserves begin their inevitable and inexorable decline.
Wars fought over dwindling resources, severe weather and climate change due to global greenhouse gas
emissions – the predictions are sobering and often seem beyond our control as a human race, much less as
individuals. Very little planning has so far been done by our government or industry to ease our transition
away from fossil fuels, and toward a more renewable, and sustainable, energy future.
Now comes the solution. Energy expert Greg
Pahl’s latest book, The Citizen- Powered Energy
Handbook brings hope and optimism to each of us,
as we face the energy challenge in our own homes,
neighborhoods, and communities. Many of the
renewable energy systems and technologies we will
need to wean ourselves from fossil fuels already exist
and are waiting on the shelf to be rediscovered, if
only we have the will, the courage, and the wisdom
to use them.
Pahl provides readers with a clear-eyed view of
the current “energy landscape.” He helps regular
people make sense of all of the energy options
that are on the table and shows what works and
what doesn’t, which future technologies can be
part of the solution and which ones are probably
sci-fi fantasies.
Pahl then focuses on key renewable energy
strategies that can be adopted for individualor community use. Many of these cooperative
initiatives have been common in Europe for years,
and are beginning to gain a foothold in the United
States. Each chapter explores a different renewable
energy category (solar, wind power, water power,
biomass, liquid biofuels, and geothermal), reviews
their advantages as well as disadvantages, and
provides numerous examples of successful local
initiatives from various countries.
Written to inspire, with a decidedly pragmatic
but encouraging tone, this book emphasizes the
need for immediate local action to provide power
for essential community needs. It also details
the many advantages of Community Supported
Energy (CSE), as well as the barriers that still need
to be overcome. Although local initiatives will not
eliminate the challenges ahead, they may ease the
pain somewhat as society makes the necessary shift
to a more sustainable future.
The Citizen-Powered Energy Handbook is an eloquent and timely appeal for community and regional
action. Looking beyond a simplistic “magic bullet” solution to our looming energy crisis, the book argues
for a broad array of solutions to our energy needs that are available now – solutions that will also strengthen
our community and national security and break the monopolistic control of large, distant utilities and
energy consortiums.
Greg Pahl, author of Biodiesel: Growing a New Energy Economy and Natural Home Heating: The Complete
Guide to Renewable Engergy Options, has been following renewable energy issues for more than 25 years.
He is a founding member of the Vermont Biofuels Association. Pahl lives in Weybridge, VT.
Book available March 2006 | Paperback | $21.95 | ISBN-10 1-933392-12-6 | ISBN-13 978-1-933392-12-7 | 6 x 9 | 376 pages
Find out more at www.chelseagreen.com/2007/items/citizenpowered.com
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