Scale: The Universal Laws of Growth, Innovation, Sustainability, and the Pace of Life, in Organisms, Cities, Economies, and Companies

by Geoffrey West

As social animals now living in cities we still need just a lightbulb equivalent of food to stay alive but, in addition, we now require homes, heating, lighting, automobiles, roads, airplanes, computers, and so on. Consequently, the amount of energy needed to support an average person living in the United States has risen to an astounding 11,000 watts. This social metabolic rate is equivalent to the entire needs of about a dozen elephants. Furthermore, in making this transition from the biological to the social our overall population has increased from just a few million to more than seven billion. No wonder there’s a looming energy and resource crisis.