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The Low Energy Trap
But since the mid-1970s we’ve been increasingly aware of the limits and problems with this model, and it’s put us on an energy diet. Now when we invent something cool, we often have to say “too bad the energy requirements are so high.”
Matthew Yglesias • The case for more energy
This may seem self-evident, but it is surprising how small a role, if any, the generalized concept of energy plays in the conceptual thinking of economists and social scientists.
Geoffrey West • Scale
The human ones include linkages between the ecosystem and the economy, as in our earlier example of the food system, where higher oil prices and subsidies for corn-based ethanol in the United States led to deforestation in Brazil, which worsens climate impacts, which drives up food prices. The other key human uncertainty is technology. There is alw
... See morePaul Gilding • The Great Disruption
Electronics evolved rapidly without any help before. Why can't we pull it again?
These technological breakthroughs happened in a context of cheap energy. Unless we have a "unicorn tech" (nuclear fusion for example) giving us cheaper energy than 1960's oil, we will never again see these days of extraordinarily cheap energy.
Without cheap energy, we h... See more
These technological breakthroughs happened in a context of cheap energy. Unless we have a "unicorn tech" (nuclear fusion for example) giving us cheaper energy than 1960's oil, we will never again see these days of extraordinarily cheap energy.
Without cheap energy, we h... See more
Collapse OS — Why?
Energy shows up—directly or indirectly—in many scaling relations because scaling is closely associated with conservation laws.
Luis M. A. Bettencourt • Introduction to Urban Science: Evidence and Theory of Cities as Complex Systems
