Vanek, a longtime climate expert, explains the necessity and challenges of transitioning from a fossil-fuel-dependent economy to one powered by sustainable energy. Climate change threatens to render much of the Earth uninhabitable. The Earth is rapidly warming due to emissions from coal, oil, and natural gas, making it all the more urgent that nations of the world build infrastructure to support renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, along with geothermal and hydropower.

The good news is that a world of zero emissions is possible, and the process is already further along than the reader might expect. Solar power has seen widespread adoption over the past three decades, and, as Vanek is keen to remind us, there is enough power from the sun and wind to supply all our energy needs, provided it is appropriately harnessed. If just forty percent of Arizona were covered in solar panels, it would provide electricity for the entire country. And given that non-renewable energy supplies will be exhausted sooner rather than later, humanity will have no choice but to embrace alternative energy sources.

Vanek writes with exceptional clarity. Though there is an abundance of numbers and charts, he communicates his ideas and aims so lucidly that not even the math-phobic will have trouble understanding. One might be forgiven for thinking that a book on "energy literacy" would make for dry reading, but the project's stakes keep the reader invested, and every few pages Vanek trots out an astonishing fact that threatens to upend one's whole perspective. For example, the world population fell by 100 million during World War II. Also, only about sixty-two percent of electricity currently comes from fossil fuels. This is an essential book for anyone seeking to understand the path to a sustainable future.

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