About the author
Rauli Partanen is a Finland-based award-winning science writer and communicator on energy, its role in our modern society and its effects on our climate and environment. His latest major publication is The age of energy: Understanding growth, prosperity, and environmental destruction (2022).
WEPLANET presents:
A free e-book making sense of energy
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Want to gain more clarity on energy and climate? Want to understand context? We’ve got the right book for you.
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Every day, we hear and read about the energy transition. Unfortunately, we’re stuck with problematic terms. What is really meant by ‘green’ or ‘sustainable’ energy? Also, misleading arguments are used in the debate on climate policy, and certain biases show up in news articles.
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That’s why Rauli Partanen, WePlanet’s Energy Analyst and award-winning author, has written a handbook to make sense of energy. Writing about energy: A companion for journalists and readers helps both aspiring and veteran journalists to avoid common mistakes, and write with more clarity on energy and climate. It also helps policymakers, climate activists and anyone else read about these topics with a better understanding of context and scale.
‘Writing about energy is a must-read for anyone who wants to learn more about energy and climate’
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Key topics include:
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Basic concepts. If we discuss quantities using wrong or unclear units, we risk adding to confusion rather than dispelling it. The same goes for technical terms. For example, ‘energy’ and ‘electricity’ refer to different concepts. Similarly, ‘renewable energy’ is often used when ‘wind and solar’ would fit more accurately.
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The scale of things. It sometimes sounds like getting to net zero is easy with mere political will. Similarly, innovations can appear to be major breakthroughs when they’re discussed without a global context. In this book, you will learn that, yes, size matters.
The case study in the final section concerns nuclear energy. Here, you will learn about using science to get the information right; balancing different viewpoints; and providing proper context. Lastly, in the Advanced Concepts section, you will find more about various energy concepts, markets and systems, such as the differences between price, value and cost of energy.
‘Essential reading for a better understanding of energy’
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