The End of Fossil Energy and the Last Chance for Sustainability. By John G. Howe. Wateford, Maine: McIntire Publishing Services, 2005 (second printing). 

TO ORDER THIS BOOK (it's great): send $10 to John Howe, 298 McIntire Rd., Waterford, ME 04088.

O. K., this is a self-published book, looks like a self-published book, and on first glance it doesn’t seem that strong, with rather unimpressive chapter titles like "A Two-Year Update, 2005" and "Reductions in Energy Usage to Achieve the Five Percent Plan."  But look again: this book is much stronger than it first appears. 

The key to the book is that he actually has a fairly specific plan for sustainability.  It's not just vague stuff like "more solar and wind."  You may not agree with it, but he is much, much more specific about where the energy changes are going to come than anyone else I've referred to in this series of books. He even includes an appendix where he gives a year-by-year overview of where the reductions will come.

The upshot of the plan is to slash total energy usage to about 1/3 of its current use by the year 2050, at 5% per year. Finite fossil fuel consumption will be cut by an even greater percentage to a mere 15% of its current value. Solar and wind energy will be dramatically increased. He actually decreases wood and biodiesel which he thinks are a waste of time and energy. He maintains nuclear energy at its current level.

Richard Heinberg said that if he had seen this book a few weeks earlier than he actually did, he would have altered his book Powerdown to include a mention of the author’s plan for planned energy reductions. Colin Campbell (the oil guy, not the "China Study" nutritionist guy) calls this a "splendid" book which "hits the nail on the head." How can I add to these accolades? This might not be the first book you’d want to read on "peak oil" — you’d probably want to convince yourself that peak oil is imminent, first, by reading Heinberg’s The Party’s Over — but this should surely be high on the reading list of any serious student of peak oil.