"Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming" by Paul Hawken, 2016. [book review]

Abstract

Includes index. "In the face of widespread fear and apathy, an international coalition of researchers, professionals, and scientists have come together to offer a set of realistic and bold solutions to climate change. One hundred techniques and practices are described here--some are well known; some you may have never heard of. They range from clean energy to educating girls in lower-income countries to land use practices that pull carbon out of the air. The solutions exist, are economically viable, and communities throughout the world are currently enacting them with skill and determination. If deployed collectively on a global scale over the next thirty years, they represent a credible path forward, not just to slow the earth's warming but to reach drawdown, that point in time when greenhouse gases in the atmosphere peak and begin to decline. These measures promise cascading benefits to human health, security, prosperity, and well-being--giving us every reason to see this planetary crisis as an opportunity to create a just and livable world"--Page 4 of cover. Origins -- Language -- Numbers -- Energy. Wind turbines -- Microgrids -- Geothermal -- Solar farms -- Rooftop solar -- Wave and tidal -- Concentrated solar -- Biomass -- Nuclear -- Cogeneration -- Micro wind -- Alexander von Humboldt -- Methane digesters -- In-stream hydro -- Waste-to-energy -- Grid flexibility -- Energy storage (utilities) -- Energy storage (distributed) -- Solar water -- Food. Plant-rich diet -- Farmland restoration -- Reduced food waste -- Clean cookstoves -- Multistrata agroforestry -- Improved rice cultivation -- Silvopasture -- Why bother? -- Regenerative agriculture -- Nutrient management -- Tree intercropping -- Conservation agriculture -- Composting -- Biochar -- Tropical staple trees -- Farmland irrigation -- The hidden half of nature -- Managed grazing -- Women and Girls. Women smallholders -- Family planning -- Educating girls -- Buildings and Cities. Net zero buildings -- Walkable cities -- Bike infrastructure -- Green roofs -- LED lighting -- Heat pumps -- Smart glass -- Smart thermostats -- District heating -- Landfill methane -- Insulation -- Retrofitting -- Water distribution -- Building automation. Land use. Forest protection -- Coastal wetlands -- Tropical forests -- Bamboo -- The man who stopped the desert -- Perennial biomass -- Peatlands -- Indigenous peoples' land management -- Temperate forests -- The hidden life of trees -- Afforestation -- Transport. Mass transit -- High-speed rail -- Ships -- Electric vehicles -- Ridesharing -- Electric bikes -- Cars -- Airplanes -- Trucks -- Telepresence -- Trains -- Materials. Household recycling -- Industrial recycling -- Alternative cement -- Refrigeration -- Recycled paper -- Bioplastic -- Water saving : home -- Coming attractions. Repopulating the mammoth steppe -- Pasture cropping -- Enhanced weathering of minerals -- Marine permaculture -- Intensive silvopasture -- Artificial leaf -- Autonomous vehicles -- Solid-state wave energy -- Living buildings -- On care for our common home -- Direct air capture -- Hydrogen-boron fusion -- Smart highways -- Hyperloop -- Microbial farming -- Industrial hemp -- Perennial crops -- A cow walks onto a beach -- Ocean farming -- Smart grids -- Building with wood -- Reciprocity.