On this Frankly, Nate discusses a frequently used but often misunderstood way of interpreting the efficiency of an energy source: Energy Return On Investment. EROI, and its corresponding metric Net Energy, are a great way to understand the energy surplus of a technology - and ultimately of a society. However, in climate and energy spaces, it's increasingly being used as a precise instrument to compare energy technologies, especially oil, gas, coal, and renewables. In attempting to do this, there are traps that researchers can fall into, resulting in misleading conclusions that can be used to defend ideologies rather than contribute to the body of science. Understanding these analyses of energy is critical for understanding the challenges of the future, but if not used thoughtfully EROI may only end up causing more confusion.

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