Out of Gas by David Goodstein addresses a plethora of different environmental issues mostly surrounding oil and the oil industry. Throughout the eight-part book Goodstein reminds the reader each time to keep an open mind, explore environmental dilemmas, and become active in the fight to find an alternative energy source. The eight main points in this book are understanding the opportunities and limitations the future holds for alternative energy resources, Hubbert’s Peak, America’s excess use of gasoline, the earths increase in inhabitable environment, entropy, finding an alternative energy solution, and the lack of people willing to address these issues. The Introduction discusses several pros and cons of alternative energy sources. Each
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This is because Hubert’s peak is the point in which the total amount of fossil fuels stored in the Earth meets the total usage of fossil fuels. Once this point is reached, which Goodstein argues we already have, it will become increasingly more difficult to find oil and cause a major economic crisis. Chapter 2 introduces the topic of America’s extreme over use of gasoline. Goodstien argues Americans have a backwards way of thinking because they are willing to pay six times more money for water than gasoline. It is implied that the cheapness of gasoline encourages excessive oil use. Chapter 3 covers the increase of inhabitable environments. The greenhouse effect keeps our plant habitable but with the increase in carbon emissions the permafrost is softening, low lying islands are vanishing, and coastlines are changing. This all is occurring right now but most of the planet is extremely under informed or misinformed. Chapter 4 discusses inescapable and unavoidable entropy. Entropy shows that most of the suns radiant energy comes to the earth but little is stored away in fossil fuels. Most of this energy is conserved within the earth and then is radiated back out to the atmosphere, where it then becomes trapped. After a while it is
This is because Hubert’s peak is the point in which the total amount of fossil fuels stored in the Earth meets the total usage of fossil fuels. Once this point is reached, which Goodstein argues we already have, it will become increasingly more difficult to find oil and cause a major economic crisis. Chapter 2 introduces the topic of America’s extreme over use of gasoline. Goodstien argues Americans have a backwards way of thinking because they are willing to pay six times more money for water than gasoline. It is implied that the cheapness of gasoline encourages excessive oil use. Chapter 3 covers the increase of inhabitable environments. The greenhouse effect keeps our plant habitable but with the increase in carbon emissions the permafrost is softening, low lying islands are vanishing, and coastlines are changing. This all is occurring right now but most of the planet is extremely under informed or misinformed. Chapter 4 discusses inescapable and unavoidable entropy. Entropy shows that most of the suns radiant energy comes to the earth but little is stored away in fossil fuels. Most of this energy is conserved within the earth and then is radiated back out to the atmosphere, where it then becomes trapped. After a while it is