The Oil Drum

56 comments on Unconventional Oil: Tar Sands and Shale Oil - EROI on the Web, Part 3 of 6

Comments can no longer be added to this story.

davebygolly on April 15, 2008 - 1:53pm

We are at the point of eating the bark off the trees. Woe betide us.

What's worse, as we desperately struggle to sustain the unsustainable (our present way of life), we have to climb farther and farther up the tree to get the bark.

What's the value of the tree we are denuding? How does one include this in the EROI calculations?

At some point this desperate and futile struggle will collapse because of ever rising costs, and then we will be left with that which we have not yet destroyed, the water, the soil, the forests, etc. How much will be left?

That's the limitation of EROI. It seems to improve on dollar ROI in dealing directly with the resource. But it still does not properly account for the destruction of resources that are of essentially infinite value (depending, of course, on how much value one assigns to future human existence).

Comments can no longer be added to this story.

darwinsdog on April 15, 2008 - 4:46pm

EROI... still does not properly account for the destruction of resources that are of essentially infinite value (depending, of course, on how much value one assigns to future human existence).

You're right davebygolly. I don't place much value on the continued existence of any one species - especially one whose census number already so grossly exceeds K. But I do value ecosystem integrity & biodiversity. Both Nate & Dr. Hall have promised to address the issue of how they would go about valuing diversity & ecosystem services but I'm skeptical about them being able to do so in any but an incomplete & arbitrary manner. I'm waiting to see what they have to say in this regard. Good post!