undefined | Better HN

0 pointswazoox6y ago0 comments

As I understand it, a service-based economy is more energy-intensive. A service based economy requires a pre-existing industrial base; services activity are actually managing actual stuff streams, and streams about these streams. Plus, you need heating, transportation, internet etc for all of your office workers, which requires energy.

The absence of obvious correlation doesn't remove the need. Just like there would be no advanced economy without a working agricultural infrastructure to provide food to everyone...

0 comments

freeflight6y ago

Doesn't that really depend on what the services are based?

Driving food around in a gig economy is just another logistics jobs, driving refined metals around between different refining processes is also just another logistics job, but one with more "energy-intensive cargo".

All that tech, the cars, the infrastructure, they need those base materials you can't just "service into existence" as you can do with IP and copyrights.

Sure, all that tech needs electricity to run, but the really big emission and energy footprint they create during their creation, not during their use.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse