No Need for Planet B
While Limits to Growth warned of systemic collapse, today’s technologies — when implemented wisely — offer a path forward. Oxyfuel combustion stands out as a practical, immediate solution to the climate crisis. It’s scalable, energy-efficient, and compatible with carbon reuse systems.
From Limits to Growth to Oxyfuel: Why I Believe We Don’t Need a Planet B
When the Limits to Growth report was published by the Club of Rome in 1972, I was in my late twenties. The book had a profound effect on me. It predicted a future of resource depletion, environmental collapse, and economic breakdown if exponential growth continued unchecked. Although it was light on climate change, it set me firmly on the path to environmentalism—a journey I’ve been on ever since.
Over the decades, I’ve seen many of those early warnings prove prescient. But I’ve also seen how technology has changed the game, mitigating or delaying some of the dire outcomes the report foresaw. Today, I’m more convinced than ever that we have the tools to build a sustainable future—and one of the most promising is oxyfuel combustion.
Energy Crisis Averted—For Now
One of the central concerns in Limits to Growth was fossil fuel depletion. It warned that industrial civilisation could grind to a halt as oil and gas ran out. But nuclear energy changed the trajectory. Since the 1970s, it’s provided a stable and significant portion of global electricity, easing our dependence on fossil fuels.
Yes, nuclear has faced concerns around safety and waste, but advancements in reactor technology, such as small modular reactors (SMRs) and thorium reactors, are making it safer, cleaner, and more efficient. If fully embraced, nuclear could remain a critical low-carbon power source for decades to come.
Feeding the World Through Innovation
The original model also warned of mass starvation, with population growth outpacing food production. But in my lifetime, I’ve seen genetically modified crops, organic farming techniques, and now precision agriculture completely transform how we grow food.
Crops that resist drought and pests, combined with AI-driven farming and automated irrigation, have made it possible to feed billions more people using less land and fewer resources. It’s a powerful reminder that innovation can be our best defence against collapse.
Renewables Rise—But Transport Lags Behind
Pollution and ecological destruction from fossil fuel use were also key concerns in the book. Since then, we’ve made big strides. Solar, wind, and hydroelectric power are now major players in the global energy mix. That’s something I couldn’t have imagined in the early ’70s.
However, transport remains a major stumbling block. Batteries and hydrogen fuel cells haven’t yet solved the problem of long-range, heavy-duty transit. As I often say, renewables won’t get a container ship across the Pacific. This is one of the reasons I’ve become so focused on oxyfuel.
Population Growth Isn’t What It Used to Be
Limits to Growth assumed exponential population growth would be a key driver of collapse. But something unexpected happened: birth rates fell in many industrialised nations. Economic development, healthcare, and education—particularly for women—led to smaller families and slower growth.
At the same time, I’ve seen cities adopt smarter infrastructure, from vertical farming to circular economies. Urbanisation, when combined with good planning and tech, can actually make resource use more efficient—not less.
So Where Are We Now?
We’re still facing environmental limits, no question. But many of the worst outcomes predicted in 1972 have been delayed or softened by technology and innovation. That said, the warnings of Limits to Growth haven’t been disproven—they’ve been postponed.
The real challenge is deployment. We have the solutions. Now we need to scale them—fast and fairly.
I believe we don’t need a Planet B.
We just need to make better use of the one we have.
Why I Believe Oxyfuel Technology Is a Game Changer
As the climate crisis deepens, we urgently need scalable, cost-effective, and energy-efficient technologies. I believe oxyfuel combustion is one of the most promising—especially for the toughest sectors to decarbonise: aviation and maritime transport.
Oxyfuel works by burning fuel in pure oxygen instead of air, producing a clean exhaust of mostly CO₂ and water vapour. This makes carbon capture far more efficient, opening up powerful new possibilities for decarbonisation.
Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) – A Breakthrough
One of the most exciting applications I’ve come across is using stationary oxyfuel power plants to produce Sustainable Aviation Fuel. Here’s how it works:
- The CO₂-rich exhaust from oxyfuel combustion is captured and combined with hydrogen produced via electrolysis.
- A new method developed by Aarhus University uses a bacteriological reactor to convert CO₂ and hydrogen into synthetic fuel—using only one-third of the hydrogen required by other methods.
- This results in a synthetic jet fuel that is competitive with fossil fuels in both cost and performance.
Because oxyfuel plants can run continuously, they offer a reliable and scalable solution—a real game-changer for the aviation industry.
Decarbonising Shipping with Oxyfuel
Shipping is notoriously hard to clean up, but oxyfuel offers some promising routes:
- Ships with onboard oxyfuel engines could capture CO₂ directly and offload it at port for processing.
- Alternatively, captured CO₂ could be converted onboard into methanol or other synthetic fuels using the same bacteriological system mentioned above.
- This methanol could be reused as fuel in methanol/steam injection systems, already proven to deliver a 10% efficiency boost.
- Captured CO₂ could even be transformed into stable carbonate precipitates using seawater brine—addressing both emissions and ocean acidification.
These systems are still in development, but early results are encouraging—and I believe they could be the key to carbon-neutral shipping.
Beyond Transport: Oxyfuel in Heavy Industry
Oxyfuel isn’t just for transport. It has major potential in cement, steel, and power generation, where emissions are hardest to abate:
- In cement and steel, oxyfuel enables simpler, more effective carbon capture without disrupting production.
- Oxyfuel turbines, especially when paired with carbon utilisation, can deliver reliable, emission-free electricity.
- Captured CO₂ can be turned into synthetic fuels, closing the loop and reducing dependence on fossil sources.
The Bottom Line: Technology Can Save Us—If We Let It
When I first read Limits to Growth, I feared collapse. Today, I feel something different: hope. Not because the risks have gone away—but because we now have tools like oxyfuel that can dramatically reshape our trajectory.
We don’t need Planet B.
We need to implement the solutions we already have—and scale them like our lives depend on it. Because they do.
Allan J Brown (2025)