Richard Heinberg is senior fellow at the Post Carbon Institute and the author of Power: Limits and Prospects for Human Survival.
Latest by this author
Renewable energy isn’t replacing fossil fuel energy—it’s adding to it.
By Richard Heinberg in Environment | Post Carbon Institute and Earth • Food • Life | English | Guide to Renewable Energy
The seven steps that could help build a social movement and ensure a sustainable future.
When it comes to maintaining energy flows, there is a closing window to avert both climate catastrophe and economic peril.
Radical societal transformation is inevitable; a plan could make a difference between catastrophe and progress.
The promise of AI is eclipsed by its perils, which include our own annihilation.
Richard Heinberg is a senior fellow at Post Carbon Institute, and is regarded as one of the world’s foremost advocates for a shift away from our current reliance on fossil fuels. He is the author of 14 books, including some of the seminal works on society’s current energy and environmental sustainability crisis.
Heinberg has authored hundreds of essays and articles that have appeared in such journals as Nature, Reuters, Wall Street Journal, the American Prospect, Public Policy Research, Quarterly Review, Literary Review, Yes!, and the Sun; and on websites such as Resilience.org, Common Dreams, AlterNet, Project Censored, and CounterPunch. His monthly MuseLetter has been in publication since 1992 and has been included in Utne Magazine’s annual list of Best Alternative Newsletters.
Heinberg has delivered hundreds of lectures on energy and climate issues to audiences on six continents, addressing policy makers at many levels, from local city councils to members of the European parliament. He has been quoted and interviewed countless times for print (including for Reuters, the Associated Press, and Time), television (including Good Morning America, National Geographic, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Al Jazeera, and C-SPAN), and radio (including NPR, WABC, and Air America).
Heinberg has appeared in many film and television documentaries, including Leonardo DiCaprio’s 11th Hour. He is a recipient of the Atlas Award for climate heroes (2012) and the M. King Hubbert Award for Excellence in Energy Education (2006). In 2012 Richard was appointed to His Majesty the King of Bhutan’s International Expert Working Group for the New Development Paradigm initiative.
Heinberg wrote and narrated Post Carbon Institute’s animated video “300 Years of Fossil Fuels in 300 Seconds” (winner of YouTube’s DoGooder 2011 Video of the Year Award), which has viewed by nearly 2 million people and translated into multiple languages. He is also the author and narrator of Post Carbon Institute’s 22-video Think Resilience online course.
Heinberg is the author of many books on energy and the environment, including Power: Limits and Prospects for Human Survival, The End of Growth: Adapting to Our New Economic Reality, and, with David Fridley, Our Renewable Future. He’s won an award for excellence in energy education and his work is cited as one of the inspirations for the international Transition Towns movement, which seeks to build community resilience ahead of climate change.
He and his wife, Janet Barocco, live in an energy-efficient permaculture home in Santa Rosa, California.External
Climate Change and Energy Transition: The 2023 Scorecard
CounterPunch | January | 2024
The numbers are in. Last year was the hottest on record by a wide margin. The planet is now 1.48 degrees Celsius warmer than it was before the fossil fuel revolution. Global heating is accelerating. This year (2024) is likely to set another record because the latter half of last year featured an El Nino climate pattern that continues to influence global weather. The last colder-than-average year, according to NOAA, was 1976.
We're at a crisis point. A sacrifice is needed and only a sacred cow will do. But we know the problem with sacred cows.
ZNetwork | March | 2023
We all know what needs to be done: reduce carbon emissions. But so far, we members of global humanity just haven’t been able to turn the tide. The latest IPCC report documents that carbon emissions are still increasing, despite all the promises and efforts of the past few decades. The report tells us there’s only a narrow (and rapidly shrinking) pathway to averting climate catastrophe. That path requires us to cut emissions 50 percent by 2030, and to reach net zero emissions by 2050. So far, we’re going in the opposite direction.
Resilience.org | 2022
The world’s shift away from its current reliance on fossil fuels will be the biggest, most expensive, and most complex technical project ever attempted by humans. If it fails, that might mean the end of industrial civilization. For it to succeed, enormous amounts of investment and effort, along with some shared sacrifice, will be required. These are the conclusions of key recent studies attempting to model the global energy transition.
Resilience.org | November | 2022
This essay is dedicated to the memory of Herman Daly, the father of ecological economics, who began writing about the absurdity of perpetual economic growth in the 1970s; Herman died on October 28 at age 84.
Politicians and economists talk glowingly about growth. They want our cities and GDP to grow. Jobs, profits, companies, and industries all should grow; if they don’t, there’s something wrong, and we must identify the problem and fix it. Yet few discuss doubling time, even though it’s an essential concept for understanding growth.
Resilience.org | October | 2022
“Recently my wife Janet and I splurged on tickets to a spellbinding concert by the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. The music was memorable, but a comment by orchestra leader and trumpet virtuoso Wynton Marsalis proved even more so. Marsalis introduced a blues number with the seemingly off-hand suggestion that the blues should be America’s national anthem.[*]”
“The audience laughed. But I, for one, took this as a serious and brilliant suggestion. It’s worth some discussion.”
Publications by this author
Navigating the Polycrisis of Environmental and Social Breakdown
Co-authors: Asher Miller | Post Carbon Institute | June | 2023
In recent years, policy think tanks have increasingly adopted the term polycrisis to signify humanity’s destabilized status quo.
Welcome to the Great Unraveling: Navigating the Polycrisis of Environmental and Social Breakdown seeks to build a coherent narrative about the roots of the polycrisis, the signs of its arrival and evolution, and why we should be thinking differently about the future.
New Society | September | 2021
Weaving together findings from a wide range of disciplines, Power traces how four key elements developed to give humans extraordinary power: tool making ability, language, social complexity, and the ability to harness energy sources―most significantly, fossil fuels. It asks whether we have, at this point, overpowered natural and social systems, and if we have, what we can do about it.
Has Homo sapiens—one species among millions—become powerful enough to threaten a mass extinction and disrupt the Earth’s climate? Why have we developed so many ways of oppressing one another? Can we change our relationship with power to avert ecological catastrophe, reduce social inequality, and stave off collapse?
These questions—and their answers—will determine our fate.Co-authors: David Fridley | Island Press | June | 2016
The next few decades will see a profound energy transformation throughout the world. By the end of the century (and perhaps sooner), we will shift from fossil fuel dependence to rely primarily on renewable sources like solar, wind, biomass, and geothermal power. Driven by the need to avert catastrophic climate change and by the depletion of easily accessible oil, coal, and natural gas, this transformation will entail a major shift in how we live. What might a 100 percent renewable future look like? Which technologies will play a crucial role in our energy future? What challenges will we face in this transition? And how can we make sure our new system is just and equitable?
In Our Renewable Future, energy expert Richard Heinberg and scientist David Fridley explore the challenges and opportunities presented by the shift to renewable energy. Beginning with a comprehensive overview of our current energy system, the authors survey issues of energy supply and demand in key sectors of the economy, including electricity generation, transportation, buildings, and manufacturing. In their detailed review of each sector, the authors examine the most crucial challenges we face, from intermittency in fuel sources to energy storage and grid redesign. The book concludes with a discussion of energy and equity and a summary of key lessons and steps forward at the individual, community, and national level.
The transition to clean energy will not be a simple matter of replacing coal with wind power or oil with solar; it will require us to adapt our energy usage as dramatically as we adapt our energy sources. Our Renewable Future is a clear-eyed and urgent guide to this transformation that will be a crucial resource for policymakers and energy activists.New Society | May | 2015
Climate change, along with the depletion of oil, coal, and gas, dictate that we will inevitably move away from our profound societal reliance on fossil fuels; but just how big a transformation will this be? While many policymakers assume that renewable energy sources will provide an easy “plug-and-play” solution, author Richard Heinberg suggests instead that we are in for a wild ride; a “civilization reboot” on a scale similar to the agricultural and industrial revolutions.
Afterburn consists of 15 essays exploring various aspects of the 21st-century migration away from fossil fuels including:
- Short-term political and economic factors that impede broad-scale, organized efforts to adapt
- The origin of longer-term trends (such as consumerism) that have created a way of life that seems “normal” to most Americans, but is actually unprecedented, highly fragile, and unsustainable
- Potential opportunities and sources of conflict that are likely to emerge
Post Carbon Institute | July | 2013
The rapid spread of “fracking” (hydraulic fracturing) has temporarily boosted natural gas and oil production, particularly in the USA, but it has also sparked a massive environmental backlash in local communities. The fossil fuel industry is promoting fracking as the biggest energy development of the century, with seductive promises of energy independence and benefits to local economies. Snake Oil casts a critical eye on the oil-industry hype that has hijacked the discussion over energy security.
This is the first book to look at fracking from both economic and environmental perspectives, informed by the most thorough analysis of shale gas and oil drilling data ever undertaken. Is fracking the miracle cure-all to our energy ills, or a costly distraction from the necessary work of reducing our fossil fuel dependence?
New Society | 2011
Economists insist that recovery is at hand. Yet, unemployment remains high, real estate values continue to sink, and governments stagger under record deficits. The End of Growth proposes a startling diagnosis: humanity has reached a fundamental turning point in our economic history. The expansionary trajectory of industrial civilization is colliding with non-negotiable natural limits.
Richard Heinberg’s latest landmark work goes to the heart of the ongoing financial crisis, explaining how and why it occurred, and what we must do to avert the worst potential outcomes. Written in an engaging, highly readable style, it shows why growth is being blocked by three factors:
- Resource depletion
- Environmental impacts
- Crushing levels of debt
These converging limits will force us to reevaluate cherished economic theories and to reinvent money and commerce.
The End of Growth describes what policymakers, communities, and families can do to build a new economy that operates within Earth’s budget of energy and resources. We can thrive during the transition if we set goals that promote human and environmental well-being, rather than continuing to pursue the now-unattainable prize of ever-expanding GDP.New Society Publishers | July | 2009
Coal fuels about 50 percent of U.S. electricity production and provides a quarter of the country’s total energy. China and India’s ferocious economic growth is based almost entirely on coal-generated electricity. Coal currently looks like a solution to many of our fast-growing energy problems. However, while coal advocates are urging full steam ahead, increasing reliance on the dirtiest of all fossil fuels has crucial implications for the global climate, energy policy, the world economy, and geopolitics.
Coal advocates argue that America has 250 years’ worth of coal. They say that although it’s disastrous stuff, coal is cheap and abundant, and so we should find a way to capture the carbon dioxide released from power plants. But what if the basic premise of that argument is wrong? What if coal isn’t as abundant as everyone thinks, and will be getting more expensive, and scarce, very soon? That’s the conclusion of a series of groundbreaking reports discussed in Blackout: Coal, Climate, and the Last Energy Crisis.
The book includes information from the National Academy of Science and the U.S. Geological Survey. Blackout goes to the heart of the tough energy questions that will dominate every sphere of public policy throughout the first half of this century, and is a must-read for planners, educators, and anyone concerned about energy consumption, peak oil and climate change.New Society Publishers | September | 2007
The 20th century saw unprecedented growth in population, energy consumption, and food production. As the population shifted from rural to urban, human impacts on the environment increased dramatically.
The 21st century ushered in an era of declines, including:
- Oil, natural gas, and coal extraction
- Yearly grain harvests
- Climate stability
- Economic growth
- Fresh water
- Minerals and ores, such as copper and platinum
To adapt to this profoundly different world, we must begin now to make radical changes to our attitudes, behaviors and expectations.
Now in paperback and featuring a foreword by James Howard Kunstler, Peak Everything addresses many of the cultural, psychological and practical changes we will have to make as nature dictates our new limits. This landmark work from Richard Heinberg, author of three of the most important books on Peak Oil, touches on vital aspects of the human condition at this unique moment in time.
A combination of wry commentary and sober forecasting on subjects as diverse as farming and industrial design, this book describes how to make the transition from the Age of Excess to the Era of Modesty with grace and satisfaction, while preserving the best of our collective achievements. Peak Everything is a must-read for individuals, business leaders, and policymakers serious about effecting real change.New Society Publishers | September | 2006
Since oil is the primary fuel of global industrial civilization, its imminent depletion is a problem that will have a profound impact on every aspect of modern life. Without international agreement on how to manage the decline of this vital resource, the world faces unprecedented risk of conflict and collapse.
The Oil Depletion Protocol describes a unique accord whereby nations would voluntarily reduce their oil production and oil imports according to a consistent, sensible formula. This would enable energy transition to be planned and supported over the long term, providing a context of stable energy prices and peaceful cooperation. The protocol will be presented at international gatherings, initiating the process of country-by-country negotiation and adoption and mobilizing public support. To this end, this book:
- Provides an overview of the data concerning Peak Oil and its timing
- Briefly explains the protocol and its implications for the reader and for decision-makers in government and industry around the world
- Deals with frequently asked questions and objections
- Looks forward to how the protocol can be adopted and how municipalities and ordinary citizens can facilitate the process
New Society Publishers | September | 2004
If the U.S. continues with its current policies, the next decades will be marked by war, economic collapse, and environmental catastrophe. Resource depletion and population pressures are about to catch up with us, and no one is prepared. The political elites, especially in the U.S., are incapable of dealing with the situation and have in mind a punishing game of “Last One Standing.” The alternative is “Powerdown,” a strategy that will require tremendous effort and economic sacrifice in order to reduce per-capita resource usage in wealthy countries, develop alternative energy sources, distribute resources more equitably, and reduce the human population humanely but systematically over time. While civil society organizations push for a mild version of this, the vast majority of the world’s people are in the dark, not understanding the challenges ahead, nor the options realistically available.
Powerdown speaks frankly to these dilemmas. Avoiding cynicism and despair, it begins with an overview of the likely impacts of oil and natural gas depletion and then outlines four options for industrial societies during the next decades:
- Last One Standing: the path of competition for remaining resources
- Powerdown: the path of cooperation, conservation, and sharing
- Waiting for a Magic Elixir: wishful thinking, false hopes, and denial
- Building Lifeboats: the path of community solidarity and preservation
New Society Publishers | June | 2005
The world is about to run out of cheap oil and change dramatically. Within the next few years, global production will peak. Thereafter, even if industrial societies begin to switch to alternative energy sources, they will have less net energy each year to do all the work essential to the survival of complex societies. We are entering a new era, as different from the industrial era as the latter was from medieval times.
In The Party’s Over, Richard Heinberg places this momentous transition in historical context, showing how industrialism arose from the harnessing of fossil fuels, how competition to control access to oil shaped the geopolitics of the twentieth century and how contention for dwindling energy resources in the 21st century will lead to resource wars in the Middle East, Central Asia, and South America. He describes the likely impacts of oil depletion and all of the energy alternatives. Predicting chaos unless the United States—the world’s foremost oil consumer—is willing to join with other countries to implement a global program of resource conservation and sharing, he also recommends a “managed collapse” that might make way for a slower-paced, low-energy, sustainable society in the future.
More readable than other accounts of this issue, with fuller discussion of the context, social implications, and recommendations for personal, community, national, and global action, Heinberg’s updated book is a riveting wake-up call for humankind as the oil era winds down, and a critical tool for understanding and influencing current U.S. foreign policy.Media by this author
Feature | November | 2010
This video is the 2011 recipient of YouTube’s Best Nonprofit Video Award.
Fossil fuels have powered human growth and ingenuity for centuries. Now that we're reaching the end of cheap and abundant oil and coal supplies, we're in for an exciting ride. While there's a real risk that we'll fall off a cliff, there's still time to control our transition to a post-carbon future. A deeper analysis of the crises we face, and possible solutions we can work on right now can be had HERE: http://j.mp/PCReader
