Energy's role in the economy and material limits to the renewable energy transition.
A collection of links that I periodically update!
I’m trying to get the message out to whoever can hear it that the future we can plan towards is constrained by biophysical and geophysical limits. To this end, I’m curating this list of resources. The good news in this is that the solution space and therefore choices we need to seriously entertain is much reduced once you put this lens on things…
This presentation is a recent attempt I made to synthesize and summarise this knowledge. It also contains many further links!
Here's Steve Keen's paper on energy in the production function which is of critical importance to understand if you’re trying to create useful econometric modelling :
A Note on the Role of Energy in Production – 2019 paper – energy as an input into labour and capital in the Cobb Douglas Production Function.
Friede Gard Prize Lecture 05 Energy In Production Functions - Both Neoclassical and Post Keynesian economic models have been "energy blind", as Steve outlines in this 23 minute talk.
The Role of Energy in Production. Explaining “Solow Residual” as energy’s contribution to output – 25 minute summary presentation.
The Role of Energy In Production (with discussion) – 40 minute expanded explanation.
Labour without energy is a corpse; capital without energy is a sculpture. – summary article.
And a selection of his other work relevant to this discussion:
Economists’ erroneous estimates of damages from climate change – 2021 paper critiquing the DICE approach to modelling economic impacts of Climate Change.
Economists Are Vastly Underestimating the Economic Impact of Climate Change – summary article of the paper
MMT, Limits to Growth, and Climate Accounting – 2 hour interview which is a broad overview of Steve’s current thinking (first hour on macroeconomics and climate change, second hour on biophysical limits and implications).
The Economics of Scarce Resources – 11 min preview discussion
The macroeconomics of degrowth: can planned economic contraction be stable? – draft chapter – Post Capitalist Futures book
Thermodynamics And Value (pptx) – Lecture Notes
Lecture06ThermodynamicsAndValue.pdf – slides printout
KeenEconophysics.ppt – Lecture Notes
KeenEconophysics.pdf – slides printout
Debunking Economics – Revised and Expanded Edition: The Naked Emperor Dethroned? – book
Lastly a fantastic and fairly personal interview with Steve by Michael Dowd.
Research on resource limits, that in turn limit the potential roll out of renewables, by Simon Michaux:
Oil from a Critical Raw Material Perspective 2019
1 hour video – overview of the report
The Mining of Minerals and the Limits to Growth 2021
15 min video – summary of the report
45 min interview – summary of the report and implications
Time to Wake Up - overview of his research to 2022
And here's an interview with Simon on Nate Hagen's podcast talking about his research, and our 'Minerals Blindness': https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/episode/19-simon-michaux
The Wise Response Society (I’m a committee member) hosted Simon Michaux and Steve Keen for a workshop in Wellington in 2021 aimed at growing policy makers' understanding of resource limits. We held the second workshop in the series at the Beehive.
Other critically important thinkers that I’ll add more to as I can find time:
The Great Simplification - Nate Hagens (includes a nice short set of videos as an overview) and his podcast of the same name.
Surplus Energy Economics - Tim Morgan's blog
Beyond This Brief Anomaly - Josh Floyd
Vinay Gupta - Time to Stop Pretending - one of my favorite short talks of all time!
NZ / Aotearoa organisations talking about this stuff:
There is the equivalent of 12 blog posts worth of reference information in this one post alone.