Re: Collapse of complex societies
Actually, while energy is needed in growing amounts, technological progress also allows you to do more with less. While we still have to deal with increasing population, energy use per capita in advanced nations has been essentially flat for over thirty years.
The question that should be asked right now is "what's the best way to get a lot more energy as quickly as possible?" So far, we aren't getting very good answers. Come to that, we're not getting the right answers for "what's the best way to get a lot more money as quickly as possible" either.