We frequently hear that our energy system is not sustainable. This certainly sounds right.

Our economies, especially those of industrialized countries, are completely dependent on fossil fuels – coal, oil and natural gas. These are non-renewable resources that we shall exhaust one day, perhaps soon. Fossil fuels provide energy via combustion and in the process release emissions that are toxic to animals and plants. Some of these emissions may be changing the earth's climate. Indeed, each stage in the exploration, extraction, processing, transportation and consumption of fossil fuels has known impacts and suspected risks for humans and ecosystems.

Surely the solution is to wean ourselves quickly off of fossil fuels – for there are ready alternatives. We can use energy much more efficiently. Reduce our energy consumption and we equally reduce emissions, slowing the depletion of fossil fuels at the same time. We can increase our use of nuclear power. It has negligible emissions and is virtually inexhaustible. We can rekindle our pre-industrial dependence on renewable energy, this time with advanced technologies that meet the needs of the information age for high quality, reliable energy.

In the more than twenty years that I have devoted to researching the relationship between energy, the environment and the economy – first as a graduate student, then combining duties as professor, policy advisor and five years chairing an energy regulatory agency – I have assumed that the shift to a sustainable energy system would entail a transition away from fossil fuels.