From the preface: “This is a straight-talking book about numbers… I’m concerned about cutting emissions of twaddle – twaddle about sustainable energy”.  (This is a British book, so you will need to think about how his examples translate to the US context.  The word “twaddle” means “silly, idle talk”, according to the online Merriam-Webster dictionary.)  Many helpful calculations about energy resources, efficiencies, and the possibility of meeting our consumption from renewables.

Book reference: MacKay, David JC. 2009. Sustainable Energy – Without the Hot Air. 1 edition. Cambridge, England, 2009

Online: The whole book is downloadable for free from http://www.withouthotair.com/