Social metabolism

These human-controlled material and energy flows are a basic feature of all societies but their magnitude and diversity largely depend on specific cultures, or sociometabolic regimes.

In capitalist societies, humans build and operate mines and farms, oil refineries and power stations, factories and infrastructure to supply the energy and material flows needed for the physical reproduction of a specific culture.

In-use stocks, which comprise buildings, vehicles, appliances, infrastructure, etc., are built up and maintained by the different industrial processes that are part of social metabolism.

"A common paradigm can facilitate model combination and integration, which can lead to more robust and comprehensive interdisciplinary assessments of sustainable development strategies.

Eventually, the Neolithic Revolution allowed societies to switch to an agrarian regime based on "active solar energy utilization".

This led to sedentary societies, increased human labour burden and to higher population growth, which in turn boosted the development of more structured social hierarchies and dynamics.

Finally, the invention of the steam engine in the 16th century triggered the emergence of the industrial regime, that relies on fossil fuels as its main energy source.

Using energetic metabolism as a proxy for human development has important implications not only for historical analysis, but also for the elaboration of future scenarios.

Understanding what will be the next main energy source and conversion technology of human societies in the future has important policy and societal implications.

Studies of social metabolism can be carried out at different levels of system aggregation, see material flow analysis.