Part I: Surplus of Energy as The Key to The Development of Civilization

Development of Agricultural Method Has Enabled Energy Surplus Which Allowed Human Civilizations to Flourish 

Source : geneticliteracyproject.org

Introduction

In this article and the next five articles, I would like to explain you of what really drives our economy and would they be likely to continue to be able to drive our economy onwards? 

I divide this discussion separately into 6 articles so that it can be explained more comprehensively and sequentially. First, let's  understand what energy surplus is.

Energy Surplus as The Key 

So far, what we have known about the key to economic development and human civilization is capital investment or innovation. However, it turns out that economic development and human civilization began with an energy surplus come into reality.

According to Tim Morgan in his book "Life After Growth", he argues that the economy is an energy system not a monetary one. We tend to assume that energy only makes a smaller contribution to the economy. In fact, it is energy that is the real driving factor of the economy.

Energy surplus is a state in which the energy output is always greater than the input. This energy output is used to run the wheels of the economy which in turn plays a significant role in economic development. If the energy-surplus ratio is high then the economy will prosper and flourish.

During early days of human history, there is no energy surplus. At that time, humans were still hunting and gathering food and living nomadically. The energy they spent on hunting for food was equal to the energy they gained from the food they hunted.

Consequently, there was no surplus of energy because their time and energy were only spent hunting for food. As a result, there was no development of civilization, no time for holidays, no economic development, and no particular social group.

Surplus of energy first occurred when agriculture had been discovered and established. Agriculture makes humans can produce an abundant amount of crops, so that we no longer need to exert harsh physical exercises to expend large amounts of energy to produce food.

Human dependency on hunting decreased drastically, as a result humans have more time to produce other goods to support life.

When our civilization was becoming more advanced and the increased population, another breakthrough occurred. The invention of mechanical power and discovery of another new resources in the form of coal and oil, have brought humanity to an unprecedented level of economic prosperity. However, It is all about productivity. How we can do less with more results.