Energy Return On Investment With The Concept Of Eroi Applications Criticism And Implications

Seminar paper from the year 2016 in the subject Engineering - Power Engineering, grade: 1,0, Technical University of Munich (Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering), course: Advanced Seminar on Renewable and Sustainable Energy Systems, language: English, abstract: This paper is about the energy return of investment. Energy has a significant impact on economic growth and is a key driver for the wellbeing of a society. The less a society has to spend on energy, the more remains for consumption and discretionary spending that is directly translated into economic growth. This impact can be assessed with the help of the net energy analysis that makes use of the concept of EROI. The Energy Return On Investment is the ratio of the quantity of energy delivered to the quantity of energy consumed in a given process. Thus, this metric serves to measure the accessibility of a resource, meaning that the higher the EROI, the greater the amount of net energy delivered to society in order to support economic growth. This goes hand in hand with the finding that there is a minimum level of EROI that has to be reached, otherwise economic growth cannot be possible. Given that net energy analysis is going to be one of the most fundamental concepts in academic and policy discussion in view of the future of the energy mix there is still a clear need for a standardized and independent framework to calculate EROI.

This authoritative but highly accessible book presents the reader with a powerful framework for understanding the critical role of the energy return on investment (EROI) in the survival and well-being of individuals, ecosystems, businesses, economies and nations. Growth and development are fundamental and ubiquitous processes at all scales, from individuals to food crops to national economies. While we are all familiar with the concepts of economic growth and living standards as measured by gross domestic product (GDP), we often take for granted the energy use that underpins GDP and our expectations for year-on-year growth. In this book, you will learn how these measures of “progress” are completely dependent on the balance that can be achieved between energy costs (inputs) and gains. Nothing is made or moved without an energy surplus, and it is the EROI of available energy sources more than any other single factor that determines the shape of civilization. Nearly all politics and economics assume that policy and market forces are the levers upon which future outcomes will hinge. However, this book presents many examples of historical and current events that can be explained much more clearly from an energetic perspective. In addition, a future scenario is developed that gives a central place to EROI in assessing the potential of governmental and private initiatives to substitute so-called renewable energy sources for diminishing stocks of fossil fuels. When cheap fossil fuels are no longer available in the abundance needed to mask economic problems and power business as usual, it will be EROI more than the plethora of “green” technologies that creates the boundary conditions for a sustainable future.

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