Energy Return On Investment with the concept of EROI. Applications, criticism and implications

Seminararbeit , 2016 , 20 Seiten , Note: 1,0

Ingenieurwissenschaften - Energietechnik

This paper is about the energy return of investment.

Energy has a significant impact on economic growth and is a key driver for the wellbeing of a society. The less a society has to spend on energy, the more remains for consumption and discretionary spending that is directly translated into economic growth.

This impact can be assessed with the help of the net energy analysis that makes use of the concept of EROI. The Energy Return On Investment is the ratio of the quantity of energy delivered to the quantity of energy consumed in a given process. Thus, this metric serves to measure the accessibility of a resource, meaning that the higher the EROI, the greater the amount of net energy delivered to society in order to support economic growth. This goes hand in hand with the finding that there is a minimum level of EROI that has to be reached, otherwise economic growth cannot be possible.

Given that net energy analysis is going to be one of the most fundamental concepts in academic and policy discussion in view of the future of the energy mix there is still a clear need for a standardized and independent framework to calculate EROI.

Table of contents

Abstract

Table of contents

Table of figures

1. Motivation
1.1. Energy as an essential factor of production
1.2. Energy surplus as a necessary criterion for survival

2. EROI and its implications
2.1. The concept of EROI
2.1.1. Definition of EROI
2.1.2. Consistent framework for EROI
2.1.3. Different versions of EROI
2.1.4. EROI trends for oil
2.2. The minimum EROI for society
2.2.1. Bottom-up approach: Energy value chain
2.2.2. Top-down approach: Economic cost of energy
2.3. Applications
2.3.1. Corn-based ethanol
2.3.2. Comparison of alternative energy sources
2.3.3. Ideal EROI
2.4. Criticism
2.4.1. Lack of standardization
2.4.2. Disregard of energy quality
2.4.3. Lack of objectivity
2.4.4. Insufficiency of the concept
2.5. Implications
2.5.1. EROI and economic growth
2.5.2. EROI and Monetary Return On Investment
2.5.3. The paradox of oil

3. Conclusion

Bibliography

Appendix 1

Appendix 2

• Hochschule: Technische Universität München (Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering)
• Veranstaltung: Advanced Seminar on Renewable and Sustainable Energy Systems
• Note: 1,0
• Autor: Anna Szujo (Autor:in)
• Erscheinungsjahr: 2016
• Seiten: 20
• Katalognummer: V992623
• ISBN (eBook): 9783346382191
• ISBN (Buch): 9783346382207
• Sprache: Englisch
• Schlagworte: energy return on investment, energy, levelized cost of electricity, lcoe, factor of production, energy value chain, economic cost of energy, ethanol, corn-based ethanol, alternative energy sources, renewable energy, sustainability, decarbonization, carbon emission, economic growth, monetary, return on investment, EROI, ROI, paradox of oil, oil, energetic needs, net energy analysis, fossil fuels, energy production