From dollars to Joules: Integrating energetics into economic theory

Abstract

For as long as ecological economics has existed, non-economic, physical quantities have played a crucial role in it, in particular the energy metric. However, the correct systematic place of these quantities in economic theory, in particular their relation to the metric of economic value, remains one of the unsolved problems of the ecological approach to economics. In this article, I aim to make progress on this issue by systematically exploring the possible roles of energy and related metrics in economics, drawing on both historical and current literature. Two applications stand out: energetics as a general framework for an evolutionary and historical approach in economics and energetics as an analytical tool for critiquing monetary metrics.