Routledge The Energy of Nations: Risk Blindness and the Road to Renaissance

Systemic global risks of oil supply, climate shock and financial collapse threaten tomorrow's economies and mean businesses and policy makers face huge challenges in fuelling tomorrow’s world. Jeremy Leggett gives a personal testimony of the dangers often ignored and incompletely understood - a journey through the human mind, the institutionalization of denial, and the reasons civilizations fail. It is also an account of tantalizing hope, because mobilizing renewables and redeploying energy funding can soften the crash of modern capitalism and set us on a road to renaissance.   Review "[Leggett's] insider perspective on the energy business leaves him ideally placed to narrate with authority the story of an industry hurtling towards crisis ― and the refusal of its leaders to acknowledge it... The Energy of Nations reads like a thriller." - Helen Massy-Beresford, Oxford Today “A story very well told. As far as I am aware there is no one on this planet who has a comparable all-encompassing, multi-disciplinary view and understanding of these issues to Leggett's.” – Stephan Schmidheiny, founder, World Council for Sustainable Development “It really is a terrific read - very unveiling of our human struggle between greed and legacy.” – Stephan Dolezalek, Managing Director, Vantage Point Capital Partners. “I was so captivated by it. The narrative device of running the years and the oil price gives it power and tension. The inter-weaving of account and candid diary makes one feel one has a front-row seat at the places where things almost happen.” – Adam Poole, Analyst, Buro-Happold “I was hooked within the first few pages.” – Pamela Hartigan, Director, Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship, Said Business School, University of Oxford “The narrative flows compellingly, filmically, almost like an airport thriller.” – Mark Prain, Executive Director, Hillary Institute of International Leadership “At a time when most people view tomorrow's energy prospects through dark lenses of coal, oil, fracked gas or even methane hydrates, Jeremy Leggett shines a brilliant light on the path towards low or zero carbon energy. Illuminating. And a joy to read.” – John Elkington, cofounder of ENDS, SustainAbility and Volans. "Brilliant–a real roadmap to the future. And a perfect reminder of why we must leave most fossil fuel safely in the ground." – Bill McKibben, Founder, 350.org "Jeremy Leggett is one of great entrepreneurs of the emerging solar era, a man driven by his passion for the environment and for social justice in the developing world to set up a new business (and a new charity) to give expression to those ideas. ‘ The Energy of Nations’ tells it as it needs to be heard, with new – and genuinely sustainable – business models at the heart of today’s transformation going on today in the global economy" – Jonathon Porritt, Founder Director, Forum for the Future "To understand what is going on you need to be a polymath who has worked at the highest levels on all sides. Jeremy Leggett is that person, and he provides clarity of thinking in a consistently delightful written style." – Paul Dickinson, Chairman, Carbon Disclosure Project. "Leggett’s The Energy of Nations is the key to the "next big thing" for investors and asset managers worldwide." – Hazel Henderson, Seeking Alpha "The Energy of Nations is a stimulatingpolemic that paints the ongoing drive to move away from carbon-based fossil fuels as a titanic struggle in which mankind struggles to overcome its darker instincts – greed and denial – in order to ensure the future survival of the human race." – Real Power "By focusing throughout on risks and opportunities, Leggett avoids the mistakes of those who offer fixed forecasts of almost unavoidable extinction, instead setting out an analysis of global trends and what's driving them. […]Leggett's reserved optimism speaks to the real possibility of a rocky transition to a post-capitalist, post-materialist global society t