Fuels used to provide concentrated energy (it is, of course, the concentration being purchased, since the energy itself is conserved) are goods.

Electricity is a service, of course ... sometimes its a service produced from a mix of fuels and capital goods. sometimes its a service produced primarily from capital goods harvesting a sustainable renewable source of concentrated energy.

Because of the dominant important of transmission infrastructure, natural gas is a good that acts very much like a service.

Because of the dominance of fossil fuels as concentrated energy sources, we treat energy primarily as a good, but if we shift to a sustainable, renewable Energy Economy (and the alternative is, of course, economic collapse), we must also shift to treating energy primarily as a service.


I've been accused of being a Marxist, yet while Harpo's my favourite, it's Groucho I'm always quoting. Odd, that.