Some inconvenient theses

There is a strong tendency for energy technologists and policy analysts to believe that energy demand can be met and associated problems including climate change can be solved, and to focus attention on finding the best technologies to achieve these goals. They tend not to be comfortable with any suggestion that there might be insurmountable limits and insoluble problems, or that the problems they are working on require social solutions rather than technical solutions. Various contributions to this Special Edition provide illustrations. This paper explores some challenges to the dominant Promethian world view. These include a consideration of the magnitude of the energy and other problems, the possibility that renewable energy cannot solve them, the significance of energy and of declining EROI for economic growth, and the possible effects of rising resource input costs and unstable capital markets for energy investment. Finally the ultimate heresy is considered, the possibility that access to abundant energy would not be good for us. In summary, it is suggested that coercive limits to growth are being encountered and that the resulting problems cannot be solved by action on the supply side but will require a radical rethinking of social goals, systems and values.