Economists insist that recovery is at hand, yet unemployment remains high and governments stagger under record deficits. The End of Growth proposes a startling diagnosis: humanity has reached a fundamental turning point in its economic history. The expansionary trajectory of industrial civilization is colliding with non-negotiable natural limits. Richard Heinberg’s latest book goes to the […]

A recent series of studies and rebuttals have debated the greenhouse gas impacts of shale gas production as compared to coal. Here, Post Carbon Institute Fellow David Hughes, author of the groundbreaking report, “Will Natural Gas Fuel America in the 21st Century?”, provides an analysis of two conflicting studies. His conclusion: Shale gas is worse […]

There are currently no viable substitutes for oil at current rates of consumption.  Although alternatives to oil do exist for many of its uses, they are generally vastly inferior to oil in their energy content and in the ease of which they can be extracted, transported, and turned into a commericaly-usable fuel. This is a […]

These articles are supplements to Will Natural Gas Fuel America in the 21st Century? (2013). They consider how the challenges posed by shale gas production have serious implications for the future of agriculture, transportation, and health in the United States. Summary Agriculture and Natural Gas By Michael Bomford The vast majority of natural gas supporting American […]

In Will Natural Gas Fuel America in the 21st Century?, geoscientist David Hughes (formerly of Geological Survey of Canada) shatters the myth that U.S. natural gas can be a “bridge fuel” from high-carbon sources of energy like coal and oil to a renewable energy future.

The year 2008 will be remembered as a major turning point in industrial history, for it was the first year when the world got a taste of the unpredictable price spikes that come from inadequate oil supplies.  The first half of the year was marked by a steady increase in the weighted average price of […]

The key question is, “Where in our current educational system is it possible to develop an institutionalize the kinds of education needed to prepare people for work in the post-carbon economy—and to do so relatively quickly?” This is a chapter from The Post Carbon Reader: Managing the 21st Century’s Sustainability Crises (2010).

One Solution: Cap and Share. “Cap and share” is an attempt to share the cost and the work of fighting climate change among all the nations of the world.  It proposes that a Global Atmosphere Trust should be set up to represent everyone’s interests, not just those of powerful groups in powerful countries. The trust would cap […]

Many responses to peak oil urge individual and community solutions, ignoring government.  They argue that since government hasn’t done anything to address the problem, citizens and businesses must take matters into their own hands.  Some even argue that government is part of the problem, particularly federal and state governments. This attitude is shortsighted. This is […]

The bottom line for sustainability is that any proposal for sustainable development that does not explicitly acknowledge a system’s resilience is simply not going to keep delivering the goods (or services). Resilience science is based on the simple premise that change is inevitable and that attempts to resist change or control it in any strict […]