[Gecko]

As I understand it the life cycle theory of M. King Hubbert (who came up with the peak oil concept) can be modelled using systems dynamics tools and techniques.

Attached is a link to an article that reviews work on systems dynamics and energy modeling:
[web]http://www.hubbertpeak.com/hubbert/SystemDynamicsEnergyModeling/[/web]

I find the notion of systems modeling fascinating, especially within the context of energy modeling. The only problem, though, is that I have not been able to find recent references to work in this regard. The linked article above summarises work that has been done but it seems that most of the work took place in the 70's and 80's, with the most recent work referenced dating back to 1996.

Does anyone know of more recent work on energy modeling - I would have thought this to be highly topical given very high oil prices - or has systems dynamics approaches been discarded/abandoned?

[EnergySpin]

On the contrary, they are out there but the field's terminology has diversified.
In essence, systems dynamics is nothing more than modelling using ordinary differential equations. So you could try searching for these terms along with "exergy".
IIRC there are a couple of open source software packages that allow one to do emergy modelling (emergy is a concept that Odum put forward in the 60s-70s) at home. If you are looking for something with a GUI that can run everywhere you may try: http://emsim.sourceforge.net/
If you want to do something more interesting than the mental masturbation that people usually do with these tools, you should consider purchasing an introductory text in difference/differential equations.

[jimk]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Gecko', '
')
Does anyone know of more recent work on energy modeling

[Doly]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('EnergySpin', 'I')f you want to do something more interesting than the mental masturbation that people usually do with these tools, you should consider purchasing an introductory text in difference/differential equations.