Energy Analysis: Its Utility and Limits

Slesser, M. (1978). Energy Analysis: Its Utility and Limits. IIASA Research Memorandum. IIASA, Laxenburg, Austria: RM-78-046

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Abstract

Energy analysis -- the analysis of the energy "content" of goods and services -- in the sense of considering economic issues in energy terms, is a comparatively recent development. While the conventions of accounting in energy terms are broadly agreed by workers in the field, the question of economic interpretation is still a matter for dispute. Energy analysis throws light upon how energy enters the economic process, and can therefore usefully supplement economic analysis. For example, while the minimum energy requirement for a transformation process is set by thermodynamic considerations, little is known how these relate to production in a finite time world. It is shown that money can be treated as the derivative of two fundamental resources, energy and labour and that energy analysis is not an energy theory of value. Energy should not be treated simply as heat,but as providing both negentropy and heat. Accounting in energy terms does involve a loss of information over that of money accounting with respect to current activities, but may provide more precise statements about future costs.

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