Arnulf Grubler

Biography

Arnulf Gruebler first joined IIASA in 1976 to work with the Energy Systems Program, served as Acting Program Director of the Transitions to New Technologies Program from 2010 to 2020, and is currently Emeritus Research Scholar. From 2002 to 2017, he also held a part-time appointment as Professor in the Field of Energy and Technology at the School of Management and the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies at Yale University, New Haven, USA. Since 2020, he holds an Honorary Professorship at the Montan University, Leoben, Austria where he is the first professor on the subject of sustainable development. His teaching and research focuses on the long-term history and future of technology and the environment with emphasis on energy, transport, and communication systems.

Prof. Gruebler received his master's degree in engineering from the Technical University of Vienna, where he was also awarded his PhD. He completed his Habilitation (venia legendi in systems science of environment and technology) at the Montan University Leoben, Austria. He is also foreign member elect of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences.

Prof. Gruebler has been serving as Lead and Contributing Author and as Review Editor for the Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Assessment Reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize). He was also Convening Lead and Coordinating Author for three knowledge modules of the Global Energy Assessment completed in 2012. He is also a regular contributor to the reports 2018-2020 of the World in 2050 Initiative hosted by IIASA. He currently serves on the editorial boards of Carbon Management and Journal of Industrial Ecology.

He has published widely as author, coauthor, or editor of twelve books, three special journal issues, over 100 peer reviewed articles and book chapters, and over 30 additional professional papers in the domains of (modeling of) technological change and diffusion, long wave theory, historical transitions in energy and transport systems, long-term future scenarios, energy technology innovation systems and policy, climate change, resource economics, and sustainable development.

His latest books includeEnergy Technology Innovation: Learning from Historical Successes and Failures (edited together with Charlie Wilson), Cambridge University Press, 2014; and Energizing Sustainable Cities: Assessing Urban Energy (edited together with David Fisk), Earthscan, 2013. Latest high-impact publications include: C. Wilson, A. Grubler, N, Bento, S. Healey, S. De Stercke, and C. Zimm, 2020, Granular technologies to accelerate decarbonization, Science 368(6486):36-39; and A. Grubler, C. Wilson, N. Bento, B. Boza-Kiss, V. Krey et al., 2018, A low energy demand scenario for meeting the 1.5°C target and sustainable development goals without negative emission technologies, Nature Energy3(June 2018):515-527.

Last update: 28 JAN 2022