Both Neoclassical and Post Keynesian economic models have been "energy blind": postulating output from inputs of Technology, Labor and Capital, but ignoring energy (and matter, for that matter...).
If you are not already aware of it, consider some of Daniel Nocera's thoughts and calculations for world energy usage, GDP, and population. For one fairly succinct presentation of this see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXBQjhXCydg. He goes into more detail in other presentations.
To save you some search time looking for talks that include the economic theory underpinning his research (rather than just the science), here is a link to a 2015 talk he gave:
If you are not already aware of it, consider some of Daniel Nocera's thoughts and calculations for world energy usage, GDP, and population. For one fairly succinct presentation of this see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXBQjhXCydg. He goes into more detail in other presentations.
Thanks Paul. I wasn't aware of his work, so I'll follow up.
To save you some search time looking for talks that include the economic theory underpinning his research (rather than just the science), here is a link to a 2015 talk he gave:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVWgghOJQWQ
and for a little more detail on why other technologies aren't sufficient to solve the problem, here is a link to a 2008 talk:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTtmU2lD97o