The Role of Energy Return on Energy Invested (EROEI) in Complex Adaptive Systems

Ilaria Perissi, Alessandro Lavacchi and Ugo Bardi
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Ilaria Perissi: Dipartimento di Chimica, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Via della Lastruccia 3, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy
Alessandro Lavacchi: Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR)—Istituto di Chimica dei Composti Organo Metallici (ICCOM), Area della Ricerca di Firenze, via Madonna del Piano 10, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy
Ugo Bardi: Dipartimento di Chimica, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Via della Lastruccia 3, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 24, 1-15

Abstract: The energy return on energy invested, EROI or EROEI, is the ratio of the energy produced by a system to the energy expended to build, maintain, and finally dismantle the system. It is an important parameter for evaluating the efficiency of energy-producing technologies. In this paper, we examine the concept of EROEI from the general viewpoint of dynamic dissipative systems, providing insights on a wider range of applications. In general, natural resources can be assimilated to energy stocks characterized by a potential that can be exploited by creating intermediate stocks. This transformation is typical of dissipative systems and for the first time, we report that the Lotka–Volterra model, usually confined to the study of the biology of populations, can represent a powerful tool to estimate the EROEI of dissipative systems and, in particular, those systems subjected to depletion. This assessment is important to evaluate the ongoing energy transition since it provides us with a model for the decline of the EROEI in the exploitation of fossil fuels.

Keywords: EROEI; Lotka–Volterra; dissipative systems; resource exploitation; energy transition (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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