Technology comes at a cost. Its energy cost is quantifiable and we can use this knowledge. Mexico city’s 20 million people strive daily to make the best of their lives. If they were to live at the standards of the United States, they’d consume 7.4e18 joules of energy annually or about 2% of today’s global consumption. This is huge! But this assumes a layered society, can we foretell a better future.
Let’s assume we have a slice of Utopia. Here everyone is at the topmost level of energy consumption. How do we determine how much energy is needed. We’ll make some gross assumptions. One is to assume that there are roughly five levels within the city. These levels corroborate with the civilization levels discussed in the book. Next, assume that each level has a 10:1 relationship with its lower level, much as with ecosystems. With this, we know that 18 million people of Mexico live at the lowest level while only 1800 people live at the highest level. This is reasonable.
Last, assume that each level of society uses energy in ratios that are also provided in the book. That is, the most energy intensive level uses 35 times as much energy as those at the lower level. With this in mind, and using some simple math, the total energy consumption for the people of Mexico city is 2.3e20 joules per annum. Wow!! This is close to today’s global energy consumption.
Effectively, this shows today’s population can’t live in Utopia. That is, we can’t live at the highest level of technology and energy consumption given the current supplies of energy. And, as the supplies are expected to decrease, what then?
This simple calculation puts spade to the dreams of everyone living at equal levels of energy squandering. Further, most people naturally work toward a layered level of society though they may not readily acknowledge it. The idea of equality, at least with regards to energy, is not conceivable with today’s population. What do we want for the future?
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