ENERGY

Energy is the currency of life. All organisms invest energy to gain more energy in return. Likewise, every single good in the world economy requires energy at each step of the economic process—to develop, mine, assemble, refine, deliver, maintain, repair, and dispose of. For most of history, energy came from natural flows, but fossil carbon changed everything. The material wealth much of the world enjoys today is a product of the Carbon Pulse.

Humans began to use cheap fossil energy to power machines that replace manual labor and draft animals. Our economies have benefitted massively from this: higher wages, higher profits, cheaper stuff, and more people. This one-time energy surplus, particularly oil, is indistinguishable from magic.

We take energy availability for granted, and our economic expectations assume an uninterrupted, growing supply of cheap energy. But these fossil hydrocarbons are finite—they won’t regenerate on any human timescale. They are like a bank account we are treating as “interest,” as if they’re endless. We are energy blind.