The dependence of the average personal income within countries upon the energy put in to run them

Earlier work on the relation between energy input to a community and living standard led to essentially linear relations between the two. New and more extended data from both capitalist and communist countries is analyzed here. The rate levels off beyond an energy consumption of 6 kW/person. An essential new result is found: for underdeveloped and developing countries, indeed for countries in which the energy input is up to 6 kW/person, the income of the inhabitants increases exponentially. When a country has an energy input of more than about 6 kW (i.e. 6 kJ s−1)/head, living standards no longer increase with increase of the energy put in, i.e. a limiting rate of functioning of the community is reached. This behavior is similar to that known for the variation of the rate of certain chemical processes with the energy put in, and emphasizes the importance of looking at the economy of countries as a rate which depends primarily upon the energy put in to drive it.