UNAM
Revista Digital Universitaria
Revista Digital Universitaria ISSN: 1607 - 6079 | Publicación mensual | 1 de septiembre de 2013 vol.14, No.9

ABSTRACT

Finite energy in a finite world

Luca Ferrari



The global energy system is highly unsustainable because of its extreme reliance on non-renewable sources such as the fossils fuels, presently representing 81% of the global energy supply. The steady growth experienced since the Industrial Revolution is due to the exploitation of this finite geologic inheritance, which is being consumed at a fast rate. Conventional oil production peaked during the past decade, provoking a spectacular increase in oil price and the end of cheap energy. The best quality oil and the one easier to produce has been already discovered and mostly exploited. The high oil price of the past decade allowed the exploitation of unconventional oil, which has higher cost of production, lower energy gain, and higher environmental impact. The expansion of the global economy of the past decades relied on an ever-increasing availability of cheap oil. This era came to an end. This demand a paradigm shift, the abandon of consumerism and a transition toward a post-carbon world, which has to adapt to the lower amount of energy provided by renewable energy sources.

Keywords: Peak oil, Energy Return on Energy Invested (EROEI), unconventional oil, global economy, end of growth