3 ms·

Energy consumption seems to be increasing linearly since the 40s not exponentially and the increase has been slowing down - to 1-2% increase per year. https://

• OscarCunningham 5y ago
  Yes, but prices have also been rising over that time. I expect that if prices had remained constant our usages would have gone up exponentially (equivalently, supply would have had to increase exponentially to keep prices constant). If we have low energy usage over the next 4 billion years, but only because the price keeps going up, then it has not 'last us 4 billion years'. The price going up is precisely what 'not lasting us' looks like!
• caeril 5y ago
  We'll probably see that trend tick up again soon. Maybe you haven't been paying attention to the political climate, but there is a huge push to increase the living standards of 6 billion people up to the level of the 1 billion currently living in developed countries, whether through immigration or aid. The relationship between living standards and energy use/carbon emissions is not exactly 1:1, but it's pretty close (net of offshoring one's personal emissions to China, India, etc). Get ready for about a 4x increase in carbon emissions if our suicidal empathy trend continues. What to do, when a ship carrying a hundred passengers suddenly capsizes and there is only one lifeboat? When the lifeboat is full, those who hate life will try to load it with more people and sink the lot. Those who love and respect life will take the ship's axe and sever the extra hands that cling to the sides. ― Pentti Linkola