Beaudry-Losique, who has worked in the North American energy field for years, describes himself as an energy geek who lives and breathes electrons, molecules, and all things related to energy technology. He opens his book with a dire warning: The next energy crisis is already here. The U.S., he contends, bogged down by obstructionist legislation, byzantine regulation laws, and a cumbersome industry structure, is facing an oncoming disaster comparable to those experienced by the many countries dealing with chronic energy shortages and rolling blackouts on a regular basis. The nation’s demand for electricity is growing at a far greater pace than its aging and patchwork energy grid can handle, per the author; to fill in this picture, Beaudry-Losique provides a quick but detailed rundown of the energy demands now growing in the modern world and the industries and systems currently in place to fulfill those demands. Using copious amounts of data and plenty of charts and graphs, the author examines the largely ramshackle structure of U.S. energy systems and makes proposals for various improvements that take into account everything from climate change to the exponential energy demands created by AI data-processing centers, all while extrapolating possible future scenarios. The tone is always direct, the claims are consistently backed up by data, and the author’s wealth of experience is evident on every page. Beaudry-Losique is not an idealist; he knows perfectly well, for instance, that nations and organizations faced with an “unrealistic crusade to abolish a strategic industry within a few years” in favor of cleaner power sources are more likely to entrench and resist. This prognosis will frustrate readers who very clearly hear the clock ticking, but skeptics and believers alike should read this book; the author’s argument is too compelling to ignore.
