Benjamin Leiva PhD Student University of Georgia Athens, GA, United States Abstract Using marginal analysis, we develop a theoretical framework to study the economic importance of energy without considering it a factor of production. Instead, for an autarkic agent, energy is considered a constraint in consumption and an objective in production. Despite such roles, which are meaningfully justified, the framework implies that power —and not energy— is generally the limiting res

Nicholas Walldorff Chief Information Officer Covington Investments, LLC Atlanta, GA Abstract The modern central banking system is responsible for many activities including payment settlement and regulatory oversight of the modern financial system. Central bank policy seeks to optimize macro economic output around certain unique mandates however control over the economy is limited. Currently a prevailing mandate among central bank institutions is the objective of “price stabil

Jessica Lambert Chief Information Officer Next Generation Energy Initiative Marcellus, NY Abstract In a previous paper (Lambert et al. 2014) we examined the link between declining EROI and quality of life indicators for average citizens within a select group of societies and found that EROI is correlated with standard of living; suggesting that decreasing net available energy adversely impacts the standard of living of an average citizen. This work extends the analysis of thi

Salvador Peniche Professor University of Guadalajara Mexico Abstract The presentation explores the importance of petroleum in the development of Mexico. Special emphasis is made on the economic aspects of development, but also we analyze the impact of petroleum exploitation in population growth, land use change, and public health. We argue that the new reality of Mexico's oil situation inevitably leads us to the need to understand the relation of less cheap oil to all things

Kent Klitgaard Professor Wells College Aurora, NY Abstract In 1865, at the behest of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, British economist William Stanley Jevons published The Coal Question. In this work, he raised many issues familiar to contemporary biophysical economists. The maintenance of British prosperity and industrial power depended upon the expansion of heavy industry, which itself depended upon an increase in the scale of coal production. For Je

Charles A. S. Hall Professor Emeritus SUNY - Environmental Science and Forestry Syracuse, NY chall@esf.edu Abstract Hydraulic fracturing for shale (tight) oil in the United States, commonly known as “fracking,” has postponed (or extended) the global peak of oil, and, for some, discredited the concept of “peak oil”.  The multi-trillion dollar question for the global economy is for how long will this “revolution” in unconventional oil (and gas) last?  Official government and in

David Murphy Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies St. Lawrence University Canton, NY dmurphy@stlawu.edu Abstract Energy and food represent essential items for complex societies, as energy is required to maintain societal function – i.e. the societal metabolism – while food is required to feed the population. Deficits in either one of these categories can quickly lead to destabilized societies. Modern societies utilize globalization and trade to survive, and in some ca

Carey King Research Scientist & Assistant Director University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX, 78712-1718, United States careyking@mail.utexas.edu Abstract Long-term economic growth models often assume that energy resources and technology are not constraints on the economy. Energy transition scenario models often assume that economic growth will not constraint an energy transition. Both types of models often neglect fundamental dynamics and the influence of debt and subsequent