Sustainable Energy Without the Hot Air
David Mackay
Summary
A good summary of the different forms of sustainable energy and how efficient they are. Written over a decade ago but still great knowledge to understanding our transition to green energy
Rating: 4/5
Notes
‘Nature cannot be fooled’ - Richard Feynman
Building sustainable energy to a scale that can deal with the UK population is so large it’s hard to imagine
Our consumption stack doesn’t stack up with the renewable stack, excluding nuclear
Renewables at the time of writing powered 4% of Britain’s power consumption
Proposal: electrify transport, use heat pumps, use green electricity from nuclear and ask other countries for renewables, particularly solar power in the dessert
Public transit and electric cars are the most fuel efficient ways of ground transport
Ocean liners use more energy per passenger than jumbo jets
To get nuclear to be even more efficient, we need faster breeder reactors and ocean extraction of uranium
Thorium would be a useful alternative to uranium if it runs out
People living near coal powered plants are exposed to more radiant than those living next to nuclear power plants
The key for nuclear fusion is the deutrium deutrium reactions
North America needs solar in desserts, nuclear and/or both
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Make Something Wonderful
Steve Jobs
Summary
The life of Steve Jobs in his own words
Rating: 5/5
Notes
Make something wonderful and put it out there
‘You appear, have a chance to blaze in the sky, then you disappear’
When you’re a stranger in a place, you notice thing you don’t otherwise (Jobs after India trip)
Whenever you start with nothing, always shoot for the moon. You have nothing to lose.
You never achieve what you want without falling on your face a few times
Never be afraid to fail. You never achieve what you want without falling flat on your face a few times
We are never taught to listen to our intuitions, to develop and nurture them. But if you do pay attention to these subtle insights, you can make them come true
Creativity equals connecting previously unrelated experiences and insights others don’t see
Believe that some of what you follow with your heart will come back and make your life richer. And it will. And you will gain even firmer trust on your instincts and intuitions
Make your avocation your vocation. Make what you love your work.
The journey is the reward. The reward isn’t in the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, it’s in crossing the rainbow
To find A+ talent, if experienced, look at their track record and results
The world we know is a human creation and we can push it forward
The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do (read whole ad ‘here’s to the crazy ones)
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act but a habit - Aristotle
Hire people better than you are
You can’t plan to meet the people who will change your life
It’s impossible to connect the dots looking forward, but they make sense looking backwards so you have to trust the dots will somehow connect in your future
Everything around you that you call life was made up by people no smarter than you
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