Xi'an's Og

Renewable Energy (2nd edition, 2025), by Nick Jelley is part of the terrific “Very Short Introduction” series, which provides an expert introduction to a topic within 150 pages. (The OUP equivalent of the French series “Que sais-je?” that started in 1941.) The reason for the second edition, as provided by the author, is the “dramatic expansion, and fall in cost” of clean energy products. Unfortunately, it comes out just short of realising the magnitude of the backlash again renewable energy and fighting climate change launched by the second Trump administration and the ensuing added pressure on other countries to reduce further their fuel consumption.

The main sources of renewables are identified as wind, sun, and water, in a first chapter that operates as an historical recap on the evolution of energy sources and consumption. The second chapter stresses the need for renewable to fight global warming and to reverse climate change, with a rather vague discussion of the costs of producing energy from renewable. Chapter 3 focusses on (debatable) biomass, solar heat, and hydropower. Chapter 4 on wind power, with a few paragraphs on the production costs and the reluctance of local populations (that seems to be fuelled by right-wing parties). Chapter 5 is specifically about solar photovoltaïcs, deemed to be now cheaper than fossil fuels inmost countries. And substituting for deficient or inexistent large scale energy grids in some countries. And Chapter 6 deals (briefly) with other low-carbon technologies, like tidal dams (mentioning the 1966 La Rance dam near Mont Saint-Michel, Normandy, we would visit now and then when I was a kid!), wave turbines, nuclear energy, and geothermal power (both heating and providing electricity). Chapter 7 discusses renewable electricity issues with energy storage (batteries and pumped hydro storage), since most solutions cannot be fired at will. The book  addresses neither the loss in carrying electricity over long distances (as suggested p103 between Morocco and Europe, or Australia and Singapore), nor the hacking risks impacting large electricity grids. Chapter 8 switches to decarbonasing heat and transport, where heat pumps and electric vehicles are the most promising venues. Chapter 9 concludes by a more political discussion of the transition to renewable, pointing out the Chinese leadership in switching to solar and wind capacities. And the brake put on the transition by international crisis such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine that keep subsidies on fuel consumption. And make European countries divesting from this transition to invest in military budgets.

While the book manages a proper introduction to renewable energy and stays up-to-date with the current developments, I find it a bit overly optimistic on the prospect of achieving COP goals and carbon neutrality. Beyond the geostrategic issues briefly mentioned in the concluding chapter, there is no mention made of the exploding energy consumption of AIs and of the limited investments of AI companies into renewable energies… Reducing energy demand does not even occupy one page of the book (p127). Similarly, I find too little discussion of the political and human aspects of using renewables, eg photovoltaïcs and batteries, which resurfaced in the recent Chinese blockade on rare earths or coverages (as in Nature, 04 Nov 2025) on the extreme hardship of extracting minerals. Contrary to those (aspects) for massive dams affecting the local populations and in the dispute between countries or States. And also little on the environmental costs of producing and recycling both solar and wind farms, in contrast with hydroelectricity. Surprisingly, nuclear energy is evacuated in one paragraph in Chapter 2, on safety arguments. If reappearing in Chapter 6 with further concerns about the overall cost of nuclear energy.

[The usual disclaimer applies, namely that this bicephalic review is likely to appear later in CHANCE, in my book reviews column.]