Reply #24: Once One Understands EROEI, Technology Arguments Become Mute.

[mhr]

EROEI - Energy Returned On Energy Invested.

Simple Idea. Take all the energy invested to produce a given amount of energy and then measure the energy created.

If it takes more energy to produce than is generated, that means you have a net loss of energy, or negative EROEI.

None of the alternatives developed so far produce more energy than was used to create the energy, including Hydrogen.

Technology only makes the process more efficient and possibly economically viable for a short period of time.

Then what about oil. When one investigates the oil industry one discovers that the amount of energy used to explore, drill, pump, refine, and distribute the gas was less than the energy contained in the final product.

In other words, the endowment of the worlds oil from dead dinosaurs represented a massive stored source of concentrated energy. So far we have NO technology that can recreate this amount of energy without consuming more energy than will be created.

Start reading the links provided and decide for yourself.