This is one of the areas of net energy analysis that needs to be expanded upon. We live in an interconnected world where it is increasingly difficult to parse everything into one common denominator. Society has attempted to do this using a global monetary system, but its proving difficult to put proper dollar values on air, water, ecosystem services, etc. Would you rather a new $50,000 mercedes or clean air to breathe for the next 10 minutes?

Net energy analysis in my opinion, will be critical in the coming transition from fossil fuels to renewables (irrespective if there ends up being 10 billion people or 1 billion). But to parse everything into energy terms is not paying attention to systems analysis. We need to consider the impact on land, on labor, on soil, etc as well as energy. We still dont have a mechanism to synthesize and compare all these things. EROI is one measure. Dollars are another. We need something better.