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I once tried to come up with a reasonable number and ended up with something like 24 slaves per person given a central European living style, Do you have a lin

• aksss 3y ago
  I believe it's in "Energy and Civilization: A History", and probably reprised in "How the World Really Works". This is rando google search for it (so double check) but material looks correct to me: "An average inhabitant of the Earth nowadays has at their disposal nearly 700 times more useful energy than their ancestors had at the beginning of the 19th century. Moreover, within a lifetime of people born just after the Second World War the rate had more than tripled, from about 10 to 34 GJ/capita between 1950 and 2020. Translating the last rate into more readily imaginable equivalents, it is as if an average Earthling has every year at their personal disposal about 800 kilograms (0.8 tons, or nearly six barrels) of crude oil, or about 1.5 tons of good bituminous coal. And when put in terms of physical labor, it is as if 60 adults would be working non-stop, day and night, for each average person; and for the inhabitants of affluent countries this equivalent of steadily laboring adults would be, depending on the specific country, mostly between 200 and 240." So looks like my number was quite low. The references to "Earthlings" makes me suspect this quote was pulled from "How the World Really Works", since it starts out with a thought exercise using an extraplanetary observer watching the progress of human civilization over millennia. If you like this kind of information, I would highly recommend Energy and Civilization, it's a fantastic and eye-opening book. Edit: confirmed, above quote is from "How the World..".
  • esarbe 3y ago
    Awesome, thanks a bunch!