| This dissertation is comprised of an introduction and five manuscripts split into two main sections: theory and application. Manuscripts one and four have been published, manuscript three has been accepted for publication, and manuscripts two and five are currently in review for publication. The theory sections contains the first two manuscripts.;The first manuscript is a review of the literature on Energy Return on Investment (EROI) analysis. I cover five areas in this manuscript, including: (1) EROI and corn ethanol, (2) EROI for most major fuels, (3) alternative EROI applications, (4) EROI and the economy, and (5) the minimum EROI for society.;The second manuscript provides a methodological framework for performing EROI analysis. I cover the following areas in this manuscript: (1) boundaries of analysis, (2) energy quality corrections, (3) energy intensity values, and lastly (4) alternative EROI statistics.;The applications section contains manuscripts three through five. The third manuscript provides a biophysical model of economic growth indicating that the feedback mechanisms between oil supply and oil price have created a growth paradox: maintaining business as usual economic growth will require the production of new sources of oil, yet the only sources of oil remaining require high oil prices, thus hampering economic growth.;The fourth manuscript is a study on the geographic variability of corn ethanol production. The main conclusions of this study were: (1) the statistical error associated with calculating the EROI of corn ethanol was enough to cast doubt as to whether corn ethanol yields net energy, and (2) failure to account for the geographic variation in corn yields and fertilizer inputs artificially inflated previous estimates of the EROI or corn ethanol.;In the fifth manuscript I measure the impact of the Urban Heat Island within the metropolitan area of San Juan, Puerto Rico, on the electricity demand within the city. I calculated that the UHI within the San Juan area accounts for about four percent of the electricity demand every day, which accumulates to roughly 2.2 million dollars a month or 26 million dollars a year in electricity charges.;Keywords: EROI, Energy, oil, economic growth, peak oil, corn ethanol, protocol, UHI, electricity demand, minimum EROI, net energy, oil price... |
