This content is no longer available. It was a pre-publication draft of a section of “Energy Limits to Growth,” a report that will be published in expanded form by Post Carbon Institute and International Forum on globalization in May.
Energy limits to growth: integrating energy sources – part III
By Richard Heinberg, originally published by Richard Heinberg/Post Carbon Institute
March 20, 2009
Richard Heinberg
Richard is Senior Fellow of 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 fourteen books, including some of the seminal works on society’s current energy and environmental sustainability crisis. He has authored hundreds of essays and articles that have appeared in such journals as Nature and The Wall Street Journal; delivered hundreds of lectures on energy and climate issues to audiences on six continents; and has been quoted and interviewed countless times for print, television, and radio. His monthly MuseLetter has been in publication since 1992. Full bio at postcarbon.org.
Tags: Biofuels, Biomass, Coal, Consumption & Demand, Electricity, Energy Infrastructure, Energy Policy, Fossil Fuels, Geothermal, Hydrogen, Natural Gas, Nuclear, Oil, Renewable Energy, Solar Energy, Tar Sands, Technology, Tidal Energy, Wind Energy
Related Articles
The Petrostate Proxy War
By Ben Shread-Hewitt, The Geopolitical Climate
This is the paradox both Saudi Arabia and the UAE are now navigating. The grey war they are waging — economically, culturally, through regional proxies — is a race to secure the post-oil future before the other does.
March 12, 2026
Chokepoint
By Richard Heinberg, Resilience.org
The 24-mile-wide Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf, through which roughly 20 percent of world oil shipments pass, is an obvious pinch point for a vital industrial resource. But it also serves as an apt metaphor for the brittle global supply chains upon which the entire economy depends.
March 12, 2026
Wide Boundary News: The Iranian War, Rising Gas Prices, and the Single Point Failure
By Nate Hagens, The Great Simplification
In this installment, Nate addresses the U.S. and Israeli military offensive against Iran and traces the reverberating effects that extend far beyond the conflict itself, starting with what the closure of the Strait of Hormuz means for a civilization that routes a massive share of its physical economy through a single maritime corridor.
March 11, 2026




















