How do I progress with my energy research?
What are the questions I’m trying to answer?
There’s an element of execution involved here, to slog through the research etc. Mindful of the questions I’m trying to answer is important though.
Can I establish a coherent energy ‘world view’?
Is there a way to model behaviour in the world in energy theoretic terms. Can I identify where this model fails and why. An example of this might be looking at economic growth and the finite resources of our planet.
How does energy limit our actions as a civilization?
How do we use measures like power density to compare and contrast renewable technologies?
How do we identify potential renewable technologies?
How do we identify the role of electricity markets, how do we measure their success.
What is climate finance?
What might a super abundant energy future look like?
I need to start building up a mental model. Most likely I can accumulate this by answering problems. I think one of the first places to start would be picking common questions in this space and trying to answer them. Once again, there’s a dunner kruger affect. It’s more about incorporating reading into some internal model.
Hierarchy
- Fundamental energy limitations (dynamics in the Earth/Sun system).
- How we escaped/reshaped these limitations and achieved growth.
- Why growth can’t continue forever.
- How we can equate our intuitive notion of ‘cost’ with energy.
- Why technology might help it continue forever.
- How climate finance plays a role in reshaping the world.