A recent paper by Steve Sorrel, Senior Fellow, Sussex Energy Group (University of Sussex, Brighton), outlined 5 main propositions relevant to energy scarcity and sustainability:
1. The rebound effects from energy efficiency improvements are significant and limit the potential for decoupling energy consumption from economic growth. (Also known as Jevons paradox.)
2. The contribution of energy to productivity improvements and economic growth has been greatly underestimated.
3. The pursuit of improved efficiency needs to be complemented by an ethic of ‘sufficiency’.
4. Sustainability is incompatible with continued economic growth in rich countries.
5. A zero-growth economy is incompatible with a debt-based monetary system.
This final proposition is the most significant to our daily lives. If growth were to flatline the giant ponzi scheme we call an economy would cease to exist.
click for full paper
