Coal, oil and gas provide four-fifths of the energy that powers our modern world. But continuing to burn them will mean wrecking the only planet we have. Is there a way out? In The Future of Energy, journalist and analyst Richard Black argues that there is, and that the transition to a clean energy world is already underway. He shows that with just five key technologies we can replace the burning of fossil fuels almost entirely, as quickly as society decides. Doing so will do much more than halt climate change. The transition will bring cheaper energy, cleaner air and more jobs. It will remove some of the factors behind oppression, injustice and conflict. And it is supported by an overwhelming majority of the world’s population. This may not be the story of energy that you hear most about from politicians, business leaders and journalists, but it is the one that matters.

Richard Black spent fifteen years as a science and environment correspondent for the BBC, largely for World Service radio, before setting up the Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit. He now lives in Berlin and works for the global clean energy thinktank Ember, which tells the story of the energy transition through data and analysis. He is the author of Denied: The Rise and Fall of Climate Contrarianism and is an Honorary Research Fellow at Imperial College London.