It’s a rare event, but every once in a while a book comes along that is so good, so comprehensive that it becomes ‘the bible’ for a discipline and a standard reference. I predict David MacKay’s book, Sustainable Energy — without the hot air, will be one of those. The book surveys the entire range of energy sources for buildings and transport and uses simple rules-of-thumb calculations to estimate how much they could each contribute to the national energy demand for the UK. Although you may argue with the assumptions, such as the use of the author’s own house as a benchmark for energy consumption, you can argue against them because they are explicit.

Like most investigations that approach the energy and carbon problems from a technical perspective, the book largely ignores variations introduced by the widely different ways people operate energy systems. In spite of that, it is a hugely important book and deserves a wide readership.

I bought the printed version because I find it much easier to consult, but if your budget is tight or you simply want to browse its contents then you can download it from the author’s website for free. I have found it particularly useful for working with architecture students, because it explains energy supply and demand concepts very clearly, uses standard units for all forms of energy and simple arithmetic (rather than maths) for most of its calculations.

There is a review of an early draft here, but note that many of the criticisms aired in the review have been addressed in the final version.

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