The Energy Ostrich

We are all aware, because we hear about it almost everyday, that economic growth has been and still is very important for our well-being. Especially after the industrial revolution, we know very well that economic growth produced many innovations, which in turn have allowed an increase in life expectancy, a decrease in children mortality, and the possibility for an increasing number of people to have free time they can spend in study, travel, and culture in general [1]. It does not seem to me that the awareness about the role energy had and still has in all that has been equally widespread. Most of us are accustomed to think that energy is something very simple and obvious: when we need it, just plug in a wire, or flip a switch, and almost magically the light turns on or an engine starts. The availability of cheap fossil fuels led people to believe that energy is so plentiful there is no need to worry about it. Energy is something that we don’t much care about, as compared with the air we breathe. It seems that we do not realize even how cheap energy makes our life easier.