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),
but through specifi c fl ows of matter and energy characteristic of capitalist develop-
ment and change at any time (cf. Benton, 1996b). Fossil fuel, he argues, has been
the perfect energy source for industrial capitalism because of the physical properties
of fossil fuels themselves. (See Box 17.1).
to be understood not only through the value chain in general ( M . . . C . . . M
+
Δ
Box 17.1 The congruence between fossil fuels and industrial capitalism
Petroleum in particular has a high Energy Return on Energy Input (EROEI). That
is, 'only a small amount of energy needs to be invested in order to harvest much
greater amounts of energy, because the entropy of petroleum is very low and its
energy concentration is very high, yielding a high energy surplus' (Altvater 2006:
39). Moreover, there is a specifi c congruence between the physical properties
of fossil fuel and the 'requirements of the capitalist process of accumulation'
(Altvater, 2006, p. 41). First, fossil energy eases the transformation to capitalism
in places where it did not exist before. This energy resource can be transported
almost anywhere, which means capitalist production is free to move around
globally, other things being equal. Local resource limitations are no longer a
fetter. Second, unlike solar radiation, a major source of energy in the past, fossil
energy is available non-stop, year round, and at 'constant intensity' irrespective
of seasons and biological rhythms. Production (and productivity) can be acceler-
ated and the friction of distance reduced by temporal speed-up: the times and
spaces of nature can be altered by the times and spaces of capital (see David
Harvey [1989] on time-space compression). Third, fossil energy can be used and
diverted fl exibly, so that its consequences are multiplied. It allows for the expan-
sion of electricity-based motors and illumination, as well as the internal combus-
tion engine and its diffusion. These developments have magnifi ed the effect that
capital is seemingly freed from natural constraints. This freedom is more relative
than absolute, Altvater cautions. But still it is impressive. 'Although something
like capitalist social forms occasionally could be found in ancient societies (in
Latin American and Asia as well as in Europe), they could not grow and fl ourish
without fossil energy. The entropy of the available energy sources was too high,
and the EROEI too low, to allow signifi cant surplus production. Therefore,
growth was limited, and in fact the annual growth rate was close to zero before
the industrial revolution of the late 18th century. But in the course of the indus-
trial revolution economic growth rates jumped from 0.2 percent to more than
2 percent a year until the end of the 20th century; world population increased
faster than ever before' (Altvater, 2006, p. 42). While Altvater is careful to note
that fossil energy is not the sole or even primary cause of growth (he points
additionally to capitalist social relations as such, European rationality and colo-
nialism, and the disembedding of the market from society), he is emphatic on
the point that fossil fuel-led growth is not possible forever. In that sense too the
advantages of fossil capitalism are purely relative. 'The limits of growth are
among the conditions of life and the laws of evolution on planet Earth, and are
a direct consequence of the limits of the resources - and especially fossil resources
- which fuel growth' (p. 43). To return then to the notion of EROEI, it decreases
'in step with the exhaustion of global oil reserves' (p. 39). And yet oil extraction
may still be profi table.
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