Cómo funciona el mundo

Vaclav Smil has spent fifty years studying the possibilities available to us to guarantee the energy future of our planet. Due to the complexity of the interactions that move the world, the atomization of knowledge and the volatility of information, it is very difficult to anticipate exactly what will happen. That is why it is necessary to stick to the data and the limits that science offers us, as well as paying attention to the closest and least idealistic scenarios to face current challenges effectively. Thus, this book addresses issues as important as the unlikely and difficult task of decarbonizing the planet, partly because of the close relationship between food production and fossil fuels, but also uncovers uncomfortable realities, such as the dependence of modern economies on high production of ammonia, metal, cement and plastic. In addition, it examines how global warming can affect our basic needs for survival and encourages us to reassess the risks that we have underestimated or exaggerated over the years in order to learn to live longer and better. How the World Works is literally a book about how the world works. Due to its structure and clear-sightedness, it serves as an interdisciplinary guide that avoids echoing extreme positions at all costs and proposes an objective, scientific and reasoned response to all the headlines that cause us anxiety: the climate crisis, the energy crisis, the crisis of raw materials, globalization and the future of our civilization. The result is a powerful essay that combines the most recent scientific discoveries and the work of someone who has investigated the energy challenges we face for half a century.