@LinusEkenstam: China is adding a Germany sized grid in 2025. Made up almost entirely from wind and solar. If we look at overall energy…

China is adding a Germany sized grid in 2025. Made up almost entirely from wind and solar. If we look at overall energy production, China has been accelerating since 2000. The US is now starting to bend the curve, and if they could match China, it would still take them 25 years to catch up. Energy dominance will be the determining factor for the future. If we look at per capita use tho the US is still in the lead, but that could also be a sign of waste as seen in the 3rd chart. My thesis is that countries like Switzerland, Ireland, Austria, Sweden etc are showing where we are headed. It's not just about wasteful energy use, it's about smart use. When you upgrade your entire country to be more energy efficient, you can reap the benefits of lower overall per capita use and still lead over someone thats wasting energy. We can see clearly that Ireland has higher GDP than the US, while using only 27.000 kilowatt per person a year, compared to the US at a whopping 75.000 per person a year. While I still argue the ultimate measure of a countries success will be its energy output per capita. I do believe at the same time we might need a better way to meassure this, and GDP won't cut it.