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<p>In biophysics and thermodynamics, organisms’ energy use is proportional to their mass, whereby larger organisms are more energy-efficient, according to the Kleiber and Constructal laws, respectively. This raises questions in energy economics about whether energy consumption is proportional to economic size, and whether larger economies are more energy efficient. To answer these questions, this research aims to examine the Kleiber and Constructal laws in the context of energy economics. To this end, it combines machine learning and econometric methods including k-clustering, Fixed Effects (FE), Random Effects (RE), Generalized Least Squares (GLS), and Driscoll and Kraay (<i>The Review of Economics and Statistics, 80</i>(4), 549–560, <CitationRef CitationID="CR13">1998</CitationRef>) standard errors (SCC). These models analyze data from 217 countries between 1974 and 2023 to estimate metabolism rate in the context of energy economics, to introduce a novel concept, called “econobolism rate”. The results of the k-clustering method accept the Constructal law of thermodynamics by indicating that countries with large economic size have more energy efficiency. Moreover, the results of econometric methods accept Kleiber’s law by showing that the estimated econobolism rates range within 81% and 85% which are, respectively, 6% and 10% greater than the metabolic rate of Kleiber’s law, 75%. This result confirms that energy consumption is a sublinear proportion of economic size, which affirms Kleiber’s law where energy consumption of a biological organism is a proportion of its mass. These findings incorporate biophysics and thermodynamics into energy economics by estimating the econobolic rate, which open new horizons in research on the nexus of energy consumption and economic development.</p>

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Biophysical and thermodynamic foundations of energy economics: introducing the novel concept of econobolism

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年3月31日

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  • Xiangdong Xu,
  • Faeze Akbariresketi,
  • Vahid Taghvaee

摘要

In biophysics and thermodynamics, organisms’ energy use is proportional to their mass, whereby larger organisms are more energy-efficient, according to the Kleiber and Constructal laws, respectively. This raises questions in energy economics about whether energy consumption is proportional to economic size, and whether larger economies are more energy efficient. To answer these questions, this research aims to examine the Kleiber and Constructal laws in the context of energy economics. To this end, it combines machine learning and econometric methods including k-clustering, Fixed Effects (FE), Random Effects (RE), Generalized Least Squares (GLS), and Driscoll and Kraay (The Review of Economics and Statistics, 80(4), 549–560, 1998) standard errors (SCC). These models analyze data from 217 countries between 1974 and 2023 to estimate metabolism rate in the context of energy economics, to introduce a novel concept, called “econobolism rate”. The results of the k-clustering method accept the Constructal law of thermodynamics by indicating that countries with large economic size have more energy efficiency. Moreover, the results of econometric methods accept Kleiber’s law by showing that the estimated econobolism rates range within 81% and 85% which are, respectively, 6% and 10% greater than the metabolic rate of Kleiber’s law, 75%. This result confirms that energy consumption is a sublinear proportion of economic size, which affirms Kleiber’s law where energy consumption of a biological organism is a proportion of its mass. These findings incorporate biophysics and thermodynamics into energy economics by estimating the econobolic rate, which open new horizons in research on the nexus of energy consumption and economic development.