Energy Victory: Winning the War on Terror by Breaking Free of Oil | 
| Author: Robert Zubrin
Publisher: Prometheus Books
Category: Book
List Price: $25.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  54 reviews
Sales Rank: 15297
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 336
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.2
ISBN: 1591025915
Dewey Decimal Number: 333.790973
EAN: 9781591025917
ASIN: 1591025915
Publication Date: November 10, 2007
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Condition: Brand New - Direct From Distributor - Light Shelf Wear - No Remainder Mark
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Product Description
In this compelling argument for a new direction in US energy policy, world-renowned engineer and best-selling author Robert Zubrin lays out a bold plan for breaking the economic stranglehold that the OPEC oil cartel has on our country and the world. Zubrin presents persuasive evidence that our decades-long relationship with OPEC has resulted in the looting of our economy, the corruption of our political system, and now the funding and protection of terrorist regimes and movements that are committed to our destruction. Debunking the false solutions and myths that have deterred us from taking necessary action, Zubrin exposes the fakery that has allowed many politicians -- including current US president George W. Bush -- to posture that they are acting to resolve this problem while actually doing nothing significant toward that goal. Zubrin's plan is straightforward and practical. He argues that if Congress passed a law requiring that all new cars sold in the USA be flex-fueled -- that is, able to run on any combination of gasoline or alcohol fuels -- this one action would destroy the monopoly that the oil cartel has maintained on the globe's transportation fuel supply, opening it up to competition from alcohol fuels produced by farmers worldwide. According to Zubrin's estimates, within three years of enactment, such a regulation would put 50 million cars on the road in the USA capable of running on high-alcohol fuels, and at least an equal number overseas. Energy Victory shows how we could be using fuel dollars that are now being sent to countries with ties to terrorism to help farmers here and abroad, boosting our own economy and funding world development. Furthermore, by switching to alcohol fuels, which pollute less than gasoline and are made from plants that draw carbon dioxide from the air, this plan will facilitate the worldwide economic growth required to eliminate global poverty without the fear of greenhouse warming. Energy Victory offers an exciting vision for a dynamic, new energy policy, which will go a long way toward safeguarding homeland security in the future and provide solutions for global warming and Third World development.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 49 more reviews...
 Worth serious consideration, but very antagonistic. September 30, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Dr. Zubrin is a visionary, and his case against the US dependence on foreign oil, particularly Saudi oil, is a strong one. His mission is to mandate flex-fueling the American automobile so that alcohols may be burned in the car, and OPEC can be busted. Unfortunately he goes out of his way to antagonize some natural allies in this mission: environmentalists, climate change alarmists (particularly Al Gore), green technology advocates, anti-nuclear activists, and others will bristle at some of Zubrin's opinions. Nonetheless the basic technology of converting to flex fuels is sound and deserves serious consideration. Methanol seems more promising than ethanol to me as a future fuel, and interested readers will want to look at the work of Dr. George Olah regarding this fuel option (See his book "Beyond Oil and Gas"). Olah has invented a process that can convert carbon dioxide into methanol that is very promising: It can sequester the greenhouse gas and produce a fuel with essentially a zero net carbon footprint. This technology is not covered in Zubrin's book. In fact, Zubrin needs to explain more about the underlying technology of producing these alcohols. While skeptical of environmentalists, he is not critical of some other cherished energy options: he advocates fission, but his solution to nuclear waste (petrify it into glass, put it into barrels, and drop it into mid-Pacific Ocean seabeds) will unnerve many. His rosy depiction of fusion may be unrealistic. Flex-fueling is much more attainable for the near future. I have little doubt that Americans need to work a lot harder at getting off oil. Both liberals and conservatives, skeptics and environmentalists, can probably agree with that goal.
 A promising and powerful vision of the future. Highly recommended! September 24, 2008
Whether you're interested in your pocketbook, your safety, or your environment, this book should be on your Must Read list. Zubrin does an excellent job of summarizing the horrible current energy situation and of outlining a viable plan for world prosperity and energy independence. The alcohol-based liquid fuel economy represents a realistic and beneficial goal that is well worth our striving for. While the world will probably never reach a point where fossil fuel resources such as oil become unnecessary, there are so many good reasons to support an agriculturally rooted alcohol industry. Methanol and ethanol can be produced anywhere in the world, helping to bring poor nations out of poverty, providing increased supplies of fuel for growing worldwide demand, and creating price-suppressing competitors to cartel controlled oil producers. The only reasons I can imagine for opposing this potentially world changing and almost costless plan are completely inadequate. Environmental: We can't ruin the Earth by farming more land!, and Societal: Alcohol production will take away from food production and poor people will starve! Both of those issues are adequately covered in the book. Long term, this plan has enormous consequences. Don't miss this book.
ENERGY VICTORY is not a political book at heart. While there are numerous cases where Zubrin shows his leanings as far as corruption in Washington and the War on Terror, the basis of his plan has nothing to do with politics. Even if you don't agree with his almost eager sounding suggestions of ending the financial support of terrorists by bombing oil fields in Saudi Arabia and Iran, you have to agree that it would be better for us not to be sending these undeniably corrupt and freedomless countries so much of our money. Many of the world's largest oil exporters have the worst records on human rights and destabilize the political culture of the world. Even those who disagree with the War on Terror agree that sending less money over there would be a good thing.
The one thing that Zubrin glosses over a bit is the impractibility of actually converting biomass into methanol or ethanol. Transportation costs of biomass represents a huge limitation on this process. The US DOE recently set up a number of pilot cellulosic ethanol plants across the United States. Current projections indicate that to make cellulosic ethanol production competitive, biomass needs to be grown within 15 miles of ethanol plants. In order for a plant to stay operational year round and have enough biomass to run at full capacity, these plants need to be situated in some of the most fertile land we have. Much better would be to find a way to utilize more marginal lands for ethanol production. Some of this issue will be resolved by adjustments in delivery methods. Trains and barges are more efficient than trucks. Also, some form of pretreatment or compaction of material at smaller, more immediate locations could help ameliorate this problem.
Also, it is not exactly clear why methanol is so much easier to produce from biomass than ethanol. Theoretically all plant biomass should be capable of being turned into either. In practice plant cell walls (which have evolved to be resistant to physical, chemical, and biological breakdown) have proven to be extremely recalcitrant to processing. This will prove a challenge for both methanol and ethanol production, but is being worked on by scientists and engineers around the globe. Microbial and plant genetic engineering, and chemical and industrial engineering will solve these limitations and Zubrin's plan will come to pass.
This book presents a bright and promising vision of the future. Read this one and recommend it to your friends. The more people that are aware of the possibilities, the faster this transition will occur, and the better the world will be.
worth reading September 20, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
On the positive side, I think that the author marshals sufficient evidence to support his thesis that a flex-fuel mandate would be an excellent idea. On the negative side, the overall dogmatic tone and hysterical right-wing war-mongering in the book undermine his credibility. For example, in two separate places in the book the author suggests that unprovoked unilateral bombing of Middle Eastern oil facilities would be a good idea. This type of unnecessary belligerence invariably creates more problems than it solves, but you'll rarely hear this from the folks who delight in practicing the all-too-common forms of religious, racial, and cultural bigotry that justify these attitudes.
 Seriously flawed August 31, 2008
7 out of 13 found this review helpful
The basic thesis that Mr. Zubrin presents is that the US government should immediately mandate that all cars sold in the USA be flex-fuel vehicles. These are vehicles equipped with fuel systems capable of handling gasoline, ethanol, or methanol, or any combination of the above. Modern computerized ignition and fuel injection systems make such a modification fairly cheap to implement. This change would open up the market for domestic ethanol and methanol production, which would rise to meet the demand and, because it is cheaper than gasoline, would finally liberate us from our dependence on Middle East oil.
The author is certainly enthusiastic but his book is deeply flawed. The author is an aerospace engineer with a doctorate in nuclear engineering, and he certainly understands the engineering angles clearly. But he has problems with just about everything else, such as politics, history, and economics. He wrote a chapter on the military history of oil -- a bad mistake. He's obviously not well versed in military history. He appears to have slapped together some quick research to support his thesis. Although there's nothing terribly mistaken in the chapter, it bristles with so many trivial errors that it undermines his credibility. He really didn't need this chapter anyway; it struck me as gratuitous material tossed in to demonstrate intellectual breadth -- when in fact it indicated the opposite to me.
I was particularly disturbed when I realized that he fails to back up his thesis with the crucial numbers that he needs. The book bristles with numbers and data, but there is one that is prominent by its absence: an estimate of the amount of farmland that would have to be dedicated to fuel production in order to provide enough fuel to permit us to stop importing oil. I have seen a few estimates, and they are staggering -- the most pessimistic estimates suggest that we'd have to dedicate much of our current farmland to fuel production to grow that much fuel. These estimates depend on a lot of assumptions: energy costs of fertilizer, transportation, processing, and so forth. Mr. Zubrin airily dismisses such concerns with the observation that the technology works. Yes, it works -- but how much will it cost to make that much fuel? How much will our food prices rise if we dedicate that much land to growing fuel? Mr. Zubrin makes no effort to answer these bottom-line questions.
There is also an ungraciousness to his writing. He has some strong things to say about those who have disagreed with him. I cannot recall any place where he acknowledged uncertainty or the possibility that other experts might reasonable disagree with him. To Mr. Zubrin, everything seems clear and simple -- and that scares me. The real world is a messier place than Mr. Zubrin seems to think.
But the most discrediting aspect of this book is its Islamoparanoia. Mr. Zubrin is convinced that Muslims are the spawn of the devil, subhuman monsters intent on rapine and bloodshed. His wild rants on this subject, which cover a goodly amount of space, are embarrassing, and they destroy any confidence a fair-minded reader would have in his judgement. What's sad is that his basic point -- that the USA must end its dependence on foreign oil -- is absolutely right. But he soils that point with his bigoted ravings.
My overall assessment: this is a seriously flawed book that has a bit of good information in it, but you have to put up with a lot of nonsense, ignore the minor bloopers, and follow up with your own research to get the full benefits of this book.
A MUST READ August 25, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
If you are tired of spending your dollars on gasoline produced from oil from Saudi Arabia, Iran, Venezuela,and other OPEC countries, many of whom hate the U.S.,this book is a must read. Dr.Zubrin's argument is simple: to become independent of foreign oil, stop using gasoline made from oil and turn to alcohol based fuels; ethanol and methanol. Methanol is the fuel used by the Indy 500 drivers. It's cheap to make and can be made from coal, natural gas and almost any biomass (including the leftovers from the manufacture of ethanol.)One needs a flex fuel engine to use it, but that only costs $150-200 per car. Congress could subsidize this for $150 million per year, and mandate a flex fuel engine for every car sold here. In three years that would put 50 million cars on the roads, creating a market for entrepreneurs to provide the pumps to deliver methanol to the marketplace. It would also help farmers in poor countries as well as take the pressure off of food crops presently used for ethanol and presently driving up many food prices. It is the Saudi's, the farm lobby and the oil company's stranglehold on Congress which is preventing methanol from coming to market. "Energy Victory" sets forth the problems and provides details of the solution to weaning ourselves from foreign oil.
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