Critical Reception
Dick Nichols, in Green Left, states that Greenhouse Solutions with Sustainable Energy brings together much useful material about global warming and possible solutions:
- Diesendorf's book concentrates into one volume a succinct analysis of global warming, a rebuttal of climate change scepticism, a thorough summary of the state of development of each renewable energy technology, a masterly demolition of false “solutions” to greenhouse (like carbon sequestration and nuclear power) and a presentation of strategies and policies for uprooting carbon-intensive power production in Australia. Add in chapters on saving energy and transport and urban redesign and Greenhouse Solutions with Sustainable Energy illuminates the reader about all the main features of the many-sided debate on how to make sustainable energy production the heart of the attack on climate change.
Nichols suggests that if there’s one serious shortcoming in Greenhouse Solutions with Sustainable Energy it’s "a failure to consistently trace what rate of implementation of energy efficiency and uptake of renewable energy sources is necessary to confront the greenhouse emergency".
Patrick O'Neill, in Chain Reaction, suggests that Greenhouse Solutions with Sustainable Energy is a comprehensive guide to sustainable energy systems, and that the book is "simply a joy to read". O'Neill explains that whilst an immense amount of technical and scientific detail is presented, the language is simple and the book is well laid out. It also covers often ignored areas of the sustainable energy discussion such as population issues, morality, social justice and equity. In conclusion, O'Neill states that the book is a "wonderfully energising piece of sedition", which calls for a "coordinated national strategy for non-violent action".
George Wilkenfield, in Australian Review of Public Affairs, is more critical and suggests the book feels "strangely anachronistic", partly because it treats climate change as an issue that can be resolved through grassroots activism or by the opposition of protest movements to unjust regimes. Wilkenfield explains that "this rather misses the point that the continuing rise in global greenhouse gas emissions is not a byproduct of injustice or repression but of economic freedom in the West and the unrelenting economic growth by which repressive regimes such as China’s buy legitimacy. In general, very few people want to be freed from consumption—most want the freedom to consume even more". Wilkenfield goes on to say that Diesendorf misses some of the dynamics of consumption: energy use gives people comfort, speed, privacy and convenience. Many people actually enjoy driving and like their cars, and would continue to use them as long as they could afford to, even if public transport were available.
Nevertheless, in the end, Wilkenfield concedes that Greenhouse Solutions with Sustainable Energy is very suitable as a textbook, or as a handbook for activists, journalists or the more committed reader who is not afraid of numbers.
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