Supercharge Me: Net Zero Faster - Eric Lonergan and Corinne Sawer

If you’ve ever read a climate book and thought, Okay… but what are we actually supposed to do now? then Supercharge Me: Net Zero Faster by Eric Lonergan and Corinne Sawers feel like a breath of fresh air.

Instead of spending pages explaining how serious climate change is (we’ve all heard that part), the book jumps straight into a more useful question: how do we cut emissions faster?

And the authors’ answer is surprisingly simple.

The authors argue that one of the biggest barriers to climate progress isn’t technology - it’s incentives. We already have many of the tools we need, from renewable energy to electric vehicles. The real challenge is getting people and businesses to adopt them quickly enough.

Instead of relying mostly on carbon taxes or telling people to dramatically change their lifestyles, they argue we should focus on making green choices cheaper, easier, and more attractive than fossil-fuel alternatives. In other words: if the cleaner option is the obvious option, people will naturally switch.

The book introduces a concept they call “EPICs” - Extreme Positive Incentives for Change. The idea is basically: if you want big behavior shifts, the incentives need to be big too. Think about it this way. If a plant-based burger costs the same as a regular burger, most people might stick with what they know. But if it’s 30% cheaper, suddenly trying it becomes an easy choice. Scale that idea across transportation, energy, and food systems, and you start to see how powerful incentives can be.

It’s a pretty practical way of thinking about climate policy: more carrots, fewer sticks.

The way this book is laid out is like a conversation between two friends, almost like listening to a smart discussion over coffee. One brings the economics perspective, the other brings climate and behavioral insights, and together they try to figure out what policies actually work in the real world. The tone stays practical and optimistic throughout. Instead of framing climate action as endless sacrifice, the book highlights the huge economic opportunity in shifting investment toward clean technologies and infrastructure.

The big takeaway is surprisingly hopeful: we already have most of the technology needed to slash emissions, especially if we electrify things like transport, buildings, and industry with clean power. The real challenge isn’t invention; it’s scaling investment and changing incentives fast enough.

So if you’re tired of climate books that leave you feeling slightly overwhelmed, Supercharge Me is a refreshing change of pace. It’s practical, optimistic and focused on the question we probably care about most: How do we move faster?

🔗 Pick up your copy — Amazon

Who It's Best For: Readers interested in the policy and economic side of climate solutions. Especially useful for people curious about how transition to net zero can be accelerated.

Difficulty: Intermediate.The book discusses the big topics but the dialogue-style writing keeps it relatively approachable even if you don’t have a background in climate science.

Read Time: A fairly quick read. The book is structured as short, fast-paced conversations, so it can be read in a few focused sessions or gradually over several evenings.

Pages: 232 pages (paperback edition)