روند صنعتی سازی از دیدگاه متابولیسم انرژی: جریان انرژی اجتماعی و اقتصادی در اتریش 1830-1995

This paper empirically analyzes the socioeconomic energy metabolism of Austria in the period 1830–1995. During this period Austria underwent a transition from being a largely agricultural society to being an industrial society. We describe the changes associated with this transition in terms of the ‘physical economy,’ or more precisely, in terms of changes in the throughput of energy, assessed in physical units (J per year). In accordance with currently used methods of material flow accounting (MFA), we define the indicators ‘direct input’ and ‘domestic consumption’ with respect to socioeconomic energy flows. Using these indicators, we analyze the transition from 1830, at which time biomass provided more than 99% of Austria's domestic energy consumption (DEC), to 1995, when biomass accounted for 30% and fossil energy for 60% of DEC. Total DEC in Austria increased by a factor of 6 in this period. The paper discusses the relevance of these changes for processes of interaction between society and its natural environment, focusing on the interrelations between energy metabolism and changes in land use.