ABSTRACT
This chapter synthesises and understands disparate ideas and offers a comprehensive overview of the relationships between energy, economic growth, and social development. Coal and crude oil are primary forms of energy while electricity and gasoline are considered secondary forms. The secondary sources can also be converted into other tasks and end uses, collectively known as tertiary sources. The electrical energy produced by renewables came from dynamical flows in nature, such as sunlight hitting the earth and rivers roaring through dams. In the 1950s, the economist Robert Solow developed one of major models to describe how economic growth happens. In these versions of neoclassical theory, the production inputs of capital and labour combine to produce outputs, or finished goods, that are traded in the economy. An analysis of class and society remains critical to understanding horizon of crisis spearheaded by capitalism. In large part, the ecological crisis is a product of very rich people using and consuming vast amounts of energy.
