In addition to providing a scientifically consistent theory of income distribution, the energy rentsenergy rents approach provides important insights into two main developments of the current era, namely the increasing presence of automation in factories and secondly, the delocalization of manufacturing in Western industrialized countries to low-wage countries. In essence, both of these are shown to be energy rent-seeking strategies on the part of large, multinational enterprises. By automating material processes and/or delocalizing production, the owners of capital are able to appropriate a larger share of the available energy rents.