book review of hot, flat, crowded

Pham Thi Thu
KT43B
KT43B-067-1620
Report: Book review

Hot, Flat, and Crowded
Why we need a green revolution – and how it can renew America
The book is a continuation of the famous work "Flat World" by author Thomas L.
Friedman - who has won the Pulitzer Prize three times for his contributions in the field of
journalism on international, environmental issues, events involving war zones, terrorist
threats.
The reason I chose the book is:
Firstly, I am really interested in the economic development process of the country called
the No.1 power of the world. Does America's economy always look as glamorous as it is
to the world?
Secondly, the book addresses a very important issue, which is the impact of the
environment and the issue of climate change on the global economy. At the time of the
book's release in 2008, the world hardly paid any attention to this issue. I wanted to
understand the author's vision and the solutions he offered, about how he said he wanted
to get the country out of the "wrong path" and hold on to the leading position.
The book consists of 5 parts:
Part 1: where we are?
Part 2: why are we here?
Part 3: How are we going?
Part 4: China
Part 5: America
Thomas opens the first part with the title chapter 1: "Where the birds don't fly over," the
author compares the picture of the new US consulate in the military zone of Istanbul,
Turkey after the September 11 event. Despite solidity, flying birds do not fall, but not
unlike a prison, it is an image of a United States that is shrinking, defying the world after
the growth of terrorism. As such, the United States will not be able to continue to play an

important role with the world for so long - a country that is at the forefront of facing
challenges.
We are in trouble, the world is in trouble, and so is America. The biggest difficulties of
the world today are encapsulated in three words as the title of the work: Hot – Flat –
Crowded.
Hot: The world's unstoppable dependence on fossil fuels is heating the Earth and
creating long-term implications for natural and environmental recovery.


Flat: Technological advances connect the world and people and create a community that
is much more seamless and seamless than before. However, the increasing pressure on
energy, minerals, water, and forest products will ignite an unprecedented fierce struggle
among countries.
Crowded: The world population is growing very fast, by 2053, the United Nations
predicts 9 billion people will live. The number of giants added will make land
reclamation, deforestation, overfishing, scarce water and pollution, etc. become more and
more severe and out of control. Not to mention that the lack of jobs will lead to social
instability and violence erupt in many places.
According to Thomas's summation, combining the three elements that are rising to the
top of the world: Hot, Flat, and Crowded, the present world is facing five major problems
that are surpassing the limit that has never been witnessed in history:
Supply and demand of energy and resources: Thomas thinks that there are too many
'Americans' with 'American enjoyment of life' in the world. The population growth along
with the outstanding economic growth of many hot economies in the world such as
China, Russia, India, ... are creating a force of residents with high levels of enjoyment,
consume energy, and emit CO2 as much as Americans. In the book, he writes that when
looking at the growth of Doha and Dalian (China), he is concerned because we may not
be able to cope with the problem of climate change in time with the rapid growth. Dread
of many super cities in the world. However, he knew the solution could not be in keeping
with the wealth of mankind but in directing the development of countries towards a more

sustainable way.
The dominant role of oil: American oil addiction affects not only climate change but
also changes the world in many difficult ways, such as promoting the power of extreme
Islamic trends and terrorism; providing abundant funding for activities that go against
basic moral values in Russia, Latin America and elsewhere; promote the global chaotic
energy struggle. Thomas emphasized the link between oil and Islam in history and
between the present situation. It is an endless source of money from the sale of "black
gold" that the Middle Eastern Islamist rhetoric spans from openness, extrovert, and on the
path of development towards liberalization into a conservative, introverted, distant Islam,
violence, and hostility.
Climate change: many natural disasters continue to occur, and climate change is
becoming increasingly apparent. At the time Thomas wrote this work, he cited many
alarming real numbers and the reasons for us to underestimate this. In addition, there are
more frightening facts that we have never known such as the methane hazard (CH4) from
the tundra strip in the Arctic. When the permafrost in the mudflats of this area is
dissolved, most of the carbon here (accounting for one third of the total carbon in the
earth worldwide) will quickly turn into methane. Because methane is stronger than CO2,


a huge amount of methane escaping will be equivalent to billions of tons of CO2 released
and extremely tragically affecting the habitat on Earth.
Energy poverty: the poorest countries in the world will suffer the worst when the hot-flat
world makes it easier for the rich and poor division to expand; High energy pressures
lead to a severe shortage of basic energy sources for the world's poorest neighborhoods,
making their prospects of escaping poverty and destiny becoming increasingly obscure.
Biodiversity loss: 'As more and more species are threatened with extinction due to the
wave of economic development in the world, we may be the first generation in human
history to do Noah. And we ourselves are responsible for the cataclysm we caused. We
are the flood. We are the asteroids that hit Earth. We better learn how to build
boats'. Thomas wrote the chapter for biodiversity loss with a title "Late is the end".

Thomas points out that the world is entering the Age of Energy and Climate and that is
the greatest challenge of global humanity today in the 21st century. He offers a hope, a
way for mankind to name "Green Code" (Green Code). He sees these challenges as both
a challenge and an opportunity for humanity to transform itself into a new era, the
pressure for people to change their way of life to maintain and to harmonize with the
environment. He predicts that if invested and developed in the right direction, many new
technologies and solutions will develop and expand rapidly to replace the technology and
sources of pollution energy. He wrote: 'We have overcome the limits of energy supply
and demand issues, the dominant role of oil, climate change, energy poverty, and
biodiversity loss. No more shockproof cushions, there is no place to hide, no green fields
to litter, no ocean to overfish, no endless forests to cut. We have entered the stage where
the effects of lifestyle on the planet's climate and biodiversity are no longer "exogenous"
that can be ignored or limited. The environment account is currently empty. Cannot
choose to pay for now or later. We have to pay now, or there is no 'later'. " The
environment account is currently empty. Cannot choose to pay for now or later. We have
to pay now, or there is no 'later'. " The environment account is currently empty. Cannot
choose to pay for now or later. We have to pay now, or there is no 'later'. "
Thomas did not make a separate revolution but built a comprehensive revolution,
knocked out the old system and built a whole new system. Because according to him: 'if
you do not break the old system and replace it with a new system, all you have to do is
limit it ... As Rose says: "Optimizing each component only leads to changes. Small
change, optimizing the whole system will bring about a completely "ecosystem".
Three components of the clean energy system include:
Creating clean electricity: For clean electricity generation, Thomas thinks it is necessary
to maintain both short and long-term innovations. Short-term innovation by applying
existing technologies such as photovoltaics, wind, thermoelectricity, solar power, so that


they are more abundant, more reliable, and cheaper. Long-term innovation by
strengthening the number of government-funded research and building markets for clean

industries, so the probability of creating unexpected laboratory and experimental
breakthroughs is high. more and faster.
Continuous improvement in energy and resource efficiency: Find better ways to grow
but use less electricity and less input from forests, water, and land. To achieve this goal, it
is necessary to focus on improving the design of houses, products, household appliances,
household appliances so that they are smarter and more creative. At the same time
continuously improve the standard of fuel use of each product to ensure we can still
ensure comfort but consume less resources.
Enhancing environmental protection: "It is important to end the trend of seeing Earth
and natural resources as our sole right to use for the needs, wants, and ambitions. We
need to create new habits, new attitudes in consumption ".
During the "Green Code" revolution, Thomas emphasized the importance of state
planning and policy making. Law policies will be the leader to bring the revolution in the
right, clear, and fast way. Without proper policies, the "Green Code" revolution will be
stagnant, stagnant, and time consuming for our little capital in the period of need to
change urgently. "Green Code is the place where politics, climate, energy, and technology
come together," he said. He pointed out that the biggest challenge here is to knock out the
current mindset to promote total improvement.
One of the most interesting chapters of the work is "Energy Internet: When IT meets ET"
(Internet energy: When IT meets ET). This is also the current development trend, using
an increasingly developed IoT system to monitor and apply solutions to improve
performance. If you read carefully about Tesla's current development system, we can
recognize many similarities in Tesla's solutions and Thomas's proposed ideas: using IT to
measure and control electrical energy. Consumption, automatic shutdown system operates
in idle mode, plans charging in low-consumption hours, etc. Thomas offers very bold and
intelligent ideas in building a control and boost system. Smart energy efficiency: SBB
box integrates the entire control system, at the same time ensuring the link between
service equipment and energy use; automobile type RESU - energy storage
device; Energy Internet where every device has a microprocessor circuit, through SBB
directly informs the power company about the amount of energy consumed by

households to plan to optimize energy use; "Daily Power Trading" program where you
can choose and plan to automatically buy electricity at the best prices on the market ...
Thomas' ideas are collected from many programs and projects. currently, however, the
sad thing is that after nearly a decade, only a few ideas in there are gradually
forming. through SBB informs the electricity company directly about the amount of
energy consumed by households to plan to optimize energy use; "Daily Power Trading"
program where you can choose and plan to automatically buy electricity at the best prices
on the market ... Thomas's ideas are collected from many programs and projects.


currently, however, the sad thing is that after nearly a decade, only a few ideas in there
are gradually forming. through SBB informs the electricity company directly about the
amount of energy consumed by households to plan to optimize energy use; "Daily Power
Trading" program where you can choose and plan to automatically buy electricity at the
best prices on the market ... Thomas' ideas are collected from many programs and
projects. currently, however, the sad thing is that after nearly a decade, only a few ideas in
there are gradually forming.
In the conclusion of the work, Thomas writes: "Americans need to redefine how to live
green, to rediscover America, when we do that we will rediscover ourselves and
understand what Americans mean. "All Americans will become Pilgrims. They will board
a new Mayflower ship. They have never been to this coast. If we do not understand that,
we will really become threatened creatures." But if you dare to face the challenge, and
become a true recovery generation, that is, redefining the green life, rediscovering,
restoring and regenerating America, the United States and the whole world. will not only
exist but continue to grow in the era of Hot, Flat and Crowded. "