The Coming Surge: Coping with a Climate Reckoning Through Energy

An expert compares renewables and nuclear power as sources of low-carbon energy for the electric gridAs the earth warms and we hurtle toward a climate reckoning, many nations are seeking low-carbon, greener ways to generate electricity.Electrification promises to power our vehicles, devices, and infrastructure in a decarbonized future.But, as Peter Wynn Kirby reminds us in The Coming Surge, electricity is only as green as the means used to produce it.Kirby sets up a head-to-head comparison of the two top contenders in the race to produce low-carbon energy for the electric grid: renewables and nuclear.Along the way, he makes predictions about technological development, from AI to automated traffic systems and grid sensor expansion, and considers how political shifts could influence energy policy and environmental outcomes.Through it all, perhaps improbably, he remains optimistic about human resilience and the fate of the planet. Drawing on extensive fieldwork and research conducted in F