Earth Policy Institute – Building a Sustainable Future

Lester R. Brown
President

“Oil wells go dry and coal seams run out, but for the first time since the Industrial Revolution began we are investing in energy sources that can last forever.” –Lester R. Brown, Plan B 4.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization.

Welcome to Earth Policy Institute, dedicated to planning a sustainable future as well as providing a roadmap of how to get from here to there.

Plan B is a plan to replace the fossil-fuel-based, automobile-centered, throwaway economy with a new economic model. Instead of being based on fossil fuels, a Plan B economy will be powered by abundant sources of renewable energy: wind, solar, geothermal, hydropower, and biofuels. Read more...

Earth Policy Research | featured release

August 31, 2010

Geothermal: Getting Energy from the Earth

The heat in the upper six miles of the earth’s crust contains 50,000 times as much energy as found in all the world’s oil and gas reserves combined. Despite this abundance, only 10,700 megawatts of geothermal electricity generating capacity have been harnessed worldwide.

Partly because of the dominance of the oil, gas, and coal industries, which have been providing cheap fuel by omitting...