The Perils of EROI | Frankly #32
Today, I’m discussing a concept that I’ve been working with for almost 2 decades, starting from my PhD dissertation and continuing with many papers, essays, and collaborations over the years. Energy Return On Investment and its corresponding metric Net Energy, are a great way to understand the energy surplus of a technology - and ultimately of a society. Yet, this way of interpreting the efficiency of an energy source is increasingly being wielded as a precise instrument to compare energy types, especially oil, gas, coal, and renewable technologies. In an increasingly politicized world, there are traps that researchers fall into, resulting in misleading conclusions that can be used to defend ideologies rather than contribute to the body of science. Understanding net energy and its fundamental importance for human societies is critical for understanding the challenges of the future, but if not used thoughtfully EROI may only end up causing more confusion and rancor.
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