A S P E C I A L A D V E R T I S I N G F E A T U R E
SINCE EARLY MAN FIRST STEPPED OUT OF THE SHADOWS AND INTO THE LIGHT,
THE SEARCH FOR ENERGY HAS BEEN A CONSTANT. ENERGY IN ITS MYRIAD FORMS
HAS DOMINATED HUMAN ENDEAVOR SINCE BEFORE THE DAWN OF RECORDED
TIME. BUT ONLY QUITE RECENTLY HAS ENERGY COME TO BE VIEWED AS NOT
JUST THE BACKBONE, BUT THE ACTUAL BASIS OF OUR WORLD’S ECONOMY.
IN THEIR BOOK
Energy and the Wealth
of Nations
,
ecologist Charles Hall and
economist Kent Klitgaard postulate what
they call a biophysical approach to econom-
ics. “Economic production is a work process,
and economies are about transforming
rawmaterials into what we perceive as
goods and services,” says Hall, who has
authored numerous other books as well as
hundreds of scientific papers on the topic.
“
That takes work, and work takes energy.”
In a biophysical approach to economics, he
says, youmust first understand that the
development of human culture is about
developing energy technology.
“
In our book, we go back to essentially
prehistoric times and argue that human
development has been largely [about]
newways of appropriating energy, from
fashioning spear points to coming up with
bows and arrows,” says Klitgaard. “For the
vast majority of our time on earth as a
species, we got our energy, like every other
species, from the sun. And then, for a very
brief narrow band of human history, we got
our energy from fossil hydrocarbons. The
problem is that at some point we will be
halfway through the available energy. Then
we will have to go back to some form of
ge ing energy from the sun again.”
Energizing the Planet
