Robert Bryce - A Question of Power: Electricity and the Wealth of Nations

A gang of people helped me produce this book. I must first thank the team at PublicAffairsClive Priddle, Peter Osnos, Kaitlin Carruthers-Busser, Liz Dana, and Jaime Leiferwho challenged me to make this book as good as it could possibly be. I owe particular thanks to my dear friend and editor, Lisa Kaufman. As she has done five times before, Lisa helped me convert a bunch of affiliated ideas into a coherent manuscript. Without her insight and patient guidance, this book would not have happened. Thanks to my agent, Dan Green, who over the past nineteen years has always been able to talk me through times of distress while encouraging me to look forward and get back to work.

Thanks also to the team that helped produce the documentary Juice: How Electricity Explains the World, which was created simultaneously with this book. My good friend and collaborator Tyson Culver has been a loyal business partner and sounding board since we first began talking about making a movie back in 2016. In addition to Tyson, the Juice production team included Deanna DeHaven, James Treakle, John Moody, Dino Maglaris, Matthew L. Wallis, and Ted Powers. Other key people who were instrumental in the making of the film and therefore deserve my sincere thanks: Chris Wright, Liz Wright, Steven R. Anderson, Bud Brigham, Roland Pritzker, Rachel Pritzker, Ray Rothrock, Ed Schweitzer, Stephanie Schweitzer, David Costello, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, and Arthur Smith.

My former colleagues at the Manhattan Institute were supportive throughout the long process of writing this book. In particular, I want to acknowledge Howard Husock, Troy Senik, Vanessa Mendoza, Bernadette Serton, and the institutes former president, Larry Mone, for their patience and encouragement.

Dr. Joyashree Royto borrow the title of Austin-based singer-songwriter Ruthie Fosters most famous albumis a phenomenal woman. When Lorin, Tyson, and I visited Kolkata in late 2016, Joyashree, an economics professor at Jadavpur University, was gracious and supportive at every turn. She arranged our visit to Vidyasagar University in Midnapore, as well as our visits to rural villages in West Bengal. She also arranged for us to obtain Indian rupees, which was no mean feat in the weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi imposed demonetization, which, at a stroke, made illegal all 500- and 1,000-rupee notes, or roughly 80 percent of all the currency in India. She set up meetings, patiently explained the local geography, and even did simultaneous translations. I hope one day to repay her kindness. I must also thank Joyashrees colleagues in Kolkata, Nandini Das and Suman Dutta, for their help in facilitating our travel, as well as Dr. Sebak Jana, who not only hosted us in Midnapore, but took us to several rural villages in West Bengal.

Jimmy Nassour, my friend and fellow board member at Parkside Community School in Austin, was extraordinary. He and his always-smiling brother-in-law, Simon Najm, shepherded us around Beirut, set up meetings, and taught us key Arabic slang. The love that Jimmy and Simon showed for Lebanon made us love Lebanon too.

My friend J. Paul Oxer helped me formulate some of the ideas in this book and, just as important, introduced me to Hlynur Gujnsson, the consul general for Iceland in New York. Hlynur, in turn, connected me with numerous contacts in Reykjavk. Tinna Traustadttir and Nanna Baldvinsdttir from Landsvirkjun were charming tour guides who showed us around the Brfell hydro project. Gsli Katrnarson explained why Iceland has become a hotspot for high-performance computing, and Helmut Rauth walked us through Genesis Minings operations and the cryptocurrency business.

Thanks to the Breakthrough Institute for including me in the annual Breakthrough Dialogue. That event allowed me to meet many of the people I interviewed for this book. My particular thanks to Ted Nordhaus, Alex Trembath, and Jessica Lovering, all of whom I consider my friends. Thanks, too, to Michael Shellenberger and the people at Environmental Progress for allowing me to conduct interviews at their office in Berkeley.

My friend and graphics wizard Seth Myers was, once again, patient and diligent. This book is better because of his skill at turning numbers into meaningful graphics. Jude Clemente and Yevgeniy Feyman also provided research assistance and encouragement during the early days of this project. Thanks to the punctilious and pulchritudinous Mimi Bardagjy, who has fact-checked all of my books with humor and precision.

I must also thank the people who read various versions of the book manuscript. My pal Robert Elder Jr., once again, was a patient and careful reader. My father-in-law, Paul Rasmussen, an emeritus chemistry professor at the University of Michigan, has readand provided insight and feedback onall my book manuscripts. He provided valuable perspective again on this one. Other friends who provided helpful comments include: Peter Z. Grossman, Joe Cunningham, John Sennett, Rex Rivolo, Chris Pedersen, Steve Brick, Stan Jakuba, Omar Kader, Chris Cauthon, and Bryan Shahan. Thanks also to my friend Jonathan Lesser, who was a valuable consultant on all grid-related matters as well as a patient reader.