Energy—The Critical Resource - Economics and Ecology: United for a Sustainable World - page 21

insurance policy—and thus a simultaneous economic insurance policy by
ensuring a continual flow of true energy. Again, the flow of dollars is merely
symbolic.
Follow the Energy—Not the Money
Instead of measuring the dollar cost of producing food, we must take note
of the energy costs, both quantity and quality, of producing a particular
amount of food calories. Rather than worrying about the shipping costs of
moving goods around, we ought to note the necessary units of energy, both
direct and indirect. Instead of simply focusing on the price tag at Walmart,
there must be concern about the amount and type of energy required to pro-
duce the product and get it to the shelves of the store.
This notion of an economy as energy flows rather than dollar flows has
profound, even revolutionary consequences—not just for understanding
the modern economy, but perhaps even for the survival of our species. At
the very least, understanding the current economic-environmental malaise
demands that we explore the implications of these ideas in much greater
depth. This chapter is devoted to that exploration, but in order to ensure the
proper depth of this effort, we must begin with the assertion of some essen-
tial first principles.
Lessons from the Laws of Thermodynamics
The first law of thermodynamics states that the total amount of energy in
the universe is constant. However, it can be transformed from one form
to another. This means that the amount of energy in the universe over-
all remains the same, even if the passage of time were allowed to vary.
Moreover, the existing energy would remain constant even if we went for-
ward or backward in time.
This has many implications for our purposes. For instance, the commonly
heard phrases of either “energy production” or “energy consumption” are
basically non sequiturs . Energy is neither produced nor consumed in the over-
all sense. It is merely transformed. We are accustomed to imagining pro-
cesses being in danger of running out of energy, or of momentarily depleting
a particular source of energy. In effect, what is really happening is that a sub-
system within which the process is operating may be experiencing a dimi-
nution of available energy, but the sources outside that subsystem need to
be examined. Although the technological challenges for accomplishing this
may seem daunting (e.g., how can we supplement with sunlight if we run out