Resource acquisition, distribution and end-use efficiencies and the growth of industrial society
A key feature of the growth of industrial society is the acquisition of increasing quantities of resources from the environment and their distribution for end-use. With respect to energy, the growth of industrial society appears to have been near-exponential for the last 160 years. We provide eviden...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2015-10-01
|
| Series: | Earth System Dynamics |
| Online Access: | http://www.earth-syst-dynam.net/6/689/2015/esd-6-689-2015.pdf |
| Summary: | A key feature of the growth of industrial society is the acquisition of
increasing quantities of resources from the environment and their
distribution for end-use. With respect to energy, the growth of industrial
society appears to have been near-exponential for the last 160 years. We
provide evidence that indicates that the global distribution of resources
that underpins this growth may be facilitated by the continual development
and expansion of near-optimal directed networks (roads, railways, flight
paths, pipelines, cables etc.). However, despite this continual striving for
optimisation, the distribution efficiencies of these networks must decline
over time as they expand due to path lengths becoming longer and more
tortuous. Therefore, to maintain long-term exponential growth the physical
limits placed on the distribution networks appear to be counteracted by
innovations deployed elsewhere in the system, namely at the points of
acquisition and end-use of resources. We postulate that the maintenance of
the growth of industrial society, as measured by global energy use, at the
observed rate of ~ 2.4 % yr<sup>−1</sup> stems from
an implicit desire to optimise patterns of energy use over human working lifetimes. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 2190-4979 2190-4987 |