&gt;&gt; &quot;Anyone who believes exponential growth can go on forever in a finite world is either a madman or an economist.&quot;<p>I am interested in hearing what people think about the claim that economic growth and growth in energy use are coupled. If the two quantities are coupled, how do you respond to arguments like this one? [0]<p><i>&quot;Let me restate that important point. No matter what the technology, a sustained 2.3% energy growth rate would require us to produce as much energy as the entire sun within 1400 years. A word of warning: that power plant is going to run a little warm. Thermodynamics require that if we generated sun-comparable power on Earth, the surface of the Earth—being smaller than that of the sun—would have to be hotter than the surface of the sun!&quot;</i><p>[0] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;physics.ucsd.edu&#x2F;do-the-math&#x2F;2011&#x2F;07&#x2F;galactic-scale-energy&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;physics.ucsd.edu&#x2F;do-the-math&#x2F;2011&#x2F;07&#x2F;galactic-scale-e...</a>