Emerging consensus on net energy paves the way for improved integrated assessment modeling

Louis Delannoy (1) , Matthieu Auzanneau (2) , Baptiste Andrieu (3, 2) , Olivier Vidal (3) , Pierre-Yves Longaretti (1, 4) , Emmanuel Prados (1) , David J Murphy (5) , Roger W Bentley (6) , Michael Carbajales-Dale (7) , Marco Raugei (8, 9) , Mikael Höök (10) , Victor Court (11, 12, 13, 14) , Carey W King (15) , Florian Fizaine (16) , Pierre Jacques (17) , Matthew Kuperus Heun (18) , Andrew Jackson (19) , Charles Guay-Boutet (20) , Emmanuel Aramendia (21) , Jianliang Wang (22) , Hugo Le Boulzec (3, 23) , Charles A.S. Hall (24)

1 STEEP - Sustainability transition, environment, economy and local policy
2 The Shift Project. Redesigning the economy to achieve carbon transition
3 ISTerre - Institut des Sciences de la Terre
4 IPAG - Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble
5 St. Lawrence University
6 Petroleum Analysis Center [Irlande]
7 Clemson University
8 Columbia University [New York]
9 Oxford Brookes University
10 Uppsala Universitet [Uppsala]
11 IFP School
12 Chaire Energie & Prospérité
13 LIED (UMR_8236) - Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire des Energies de Demain
14 IFPEN - IFP Energies nouvelles
15 University of Texas at Austin [Austin]
16 USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry] - Université Savoie Mont Blanc
17 UCL - Université Catholique de Louvain = Catholic University of Louvain
18 Calvin University [Grand Rapids]
19 UNIS - University of Surrey
20 McGill University = Université McGill [Montréal, Canada]
21 University of Leeds
22 China University of Petroleum
23 GAEL - Laboratoire d'Economie Appliquée de Grenoble
24 SUNY - State University of New York

Extracting, processing, and delivering energy requires energy itself, which reduces the net energy available to society and yields considerable socioeconomic implications. Yet, most mitigation pathways and transition models overlook net energy feedbacks, specifically related to the decline in the quality of fossil fuel deposits, as well as energy requirements of the energy transition. Here, we summarize our position across 8 key points that converge to form a prevailing understanding regarding EROI (Energy Return on Investment), identify areas of investigation for the Net Energy Analysis community, discuss the consequences of net energy in the context of the energy transition, and underline the issues of disregarding it. Particularly, we argue that reductions in net energy can hinder the transition if demand-side measures are not implemented and adopted to limit energy consumption. We also point out the risks posed for the energy transition in the Global South, which, while being the least responsible for climate change, may be amongst the most impacted by both the climate crisis and net energy contraction. Last, we present practical avenues to consider net energy in mitigation pathways and Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs), emphasizing the necessity of fostering collaborative efforts among our different research communities.

Domains: Environmental Sciences

Louis Delannoy, Matthieu Auzanneau, Baptiste Andrieu, Olivier Vidal, Pierre-Yves Longaretti, et al.. Emerging consensus on net energy paves the way for improved integrated assessment modeling. Energy & Environmental Science, 2024, 17 (1), pp.11-26. ⟨10.1039/D3EE00772C⟩. ⟨hal-04328785⟩