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Introduction to Special Issue on New Studies in EROI (Energy Return on Investment)

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  • Charles A.S. Hall

    (Departments of Environmental and Forest Biology and Environmental Studies, and Graduate Program in Environmental Science, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, State University of New York Syracuse, New York, NY 13210, USA)

Abstract

Energy Return on Investment (EROI) refers to how much energy is returned from one unit of energy invested in an energy-producing activity. It is a critical parameter for understanding and ranking different fuels. There were a number of studies on EROI three decades ago but relatively little work since. Now there is a whole new interest in EROI as fuels get increasingly expensive and as we attempt to weigh alternative energies against traditional ones. This special volume brings together a whole series of high quality new studies on EROI, as well as many papers that struggle with the meaning of changing EROI and its impact on our economy. One overall conclusion is that the quality of fuels is at least as important in our assessment as is the quantity. I argue that many of the contemporary changes in our economy are related directly to changing EROI as our premium fuels are increasingly depleted.

Suggested Citation

  • Charles A.S. Hall, 2011. "Introduction to Special Issue on New Studies in EROI (Energy Return on Investment)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 3(10), pages 1-5, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:3:y:2011:i:10:p:1773-1777:d:14241
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Charles A. S. Hall & Stephen Balogh & David J.R. Murphy, 2009. "What is the Minimum EROI that a Sustainable Society Must Have?," Energies, MDPI, vol. 2(1), pages 1-23, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Virginia Di Nino & Ivan Faiella, 2013. "The �new� non-conventional hydrocarbons: the solution to the energy conundrum?," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 205, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    2. Macías, Arturo & Matilla-García, Mariano, 2015. "Net energy analysis in a Ramsey–Hotelling growth model," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 562-573.
    3. Syed M Amir & Yonggong Liu & Ashfaq A Shah & Umer Khayyam & Zafar Mahmood, 2020. "Empirical study on influencing factors of biogas technology adoption in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan," Energy & Environment, , vol. 31(2), pages 308-329, March.
    4. Atlason, R.S. & Unnthorsson, R., 2013. "Hot water production improves the energy return on investment of geothermal power plants," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 273-280.
    5. Atlason, Reynir & Unnthorsson, Runar, 2014. "Ideal EROI (energy return on investment) deepens the understanding of energy systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 241-245.
    6. Galán, E. & Padró, R. & Marco, I. & Tello, E. & Cunfer, G. & Guzmán, G.I. & González de Molina, M. & Krausmann, F. & Gingrich, S. & Sacristán, V. & Moreno-Delgado, D., 2016. "Widening the analysis of Energy Return on Investment (EROI) in agro-ecosystems: Socio-ecological transitions to industrialized farm systems (the Vallès County, Catalonia, c.1860 and 1999)," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 336(C), pages 13-25.
    7. Salehi, Mohammad & Khajehpour, Hossein & Saboohi, Yadollah, 2020. "Extended Energy Return on Investment of multiproduct energy systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    8. Jónsson, Jón Örvar G. & Davíðsdóttir, Brynhildur & Nikolaidis, Nikolaos P. & Giannakis, Georgios V., 2019. "Tools for Sustainable Soil Management: Soil Ecosystem Services, EROI and Economic Analysis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 109-119.
    9. Chen, Yingchao & Feng, Lianyong & Wang, Jianliang & Höök, Mikael, 2017. "Emergy-based energy return on investment method for evaluating energy exploitation," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 540-549.
    10. Raadal, Hanne Lerche & Vold, Bjørn Ivar & Myhr, Anders & Nygaard, Tor Anders, 2014. "GHG emissions and energy performance of offshore wind power," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 314-324.
    11. Akvile Lawrence & Patrik Thollander & Mariana Andrei & Magnus Karlsson, 2019. "Specific Energy Consumption/Use (SEC) in Energy Management for Improving Energy Efficiency in Industry: Meaning, Usage and Differences," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-22, January.
    12. Hu, Yan & Hall, Charles A.S. & Wang, Jianliang & Feng, Lianyong & Poisson, Alexandre, 2013. "Energy Return on Investment (EROI) of China's conventional fossil fuels: Historical and future trends," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 352-364.
    13. Ke Wang & Harrie Vredenburg & Jianliang Wang & Yi Xiong & Lianyong Feng, 2017. "Energy Return on Investment of Canadian Oil Sands Extraction from 2009 to 2015," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-13, May.
    14. Adrien Fabre, 2018. "Evolution of EROIs of Electricity Until 2050: Estimation Using the Input-Output Model THEMIS," Policy Papers 2018.09, FAERE - French Association of Environmental and Resource Economists.

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