Thermodynamic description of worldwide distribution of energy and carbon emission

2026-07-08

AI Summary

This study uncovers the intrinsic mechanisms underlying the persistent and pronounced inequality in global energy consumption and carbon emissions over the past four to five decades. By employing Lorenz curves, Pareto analysis, and Gini coefficients to quantify inequality, the authors innovatively introduce a Rayleigh–Jeans thermalization and condensation framework to formulate the Energy Thermalization Hypothesis (ENTH) model at the national scale. This work represents the first application of a thermodynamic framework from statistical physics to the study of global energy inequality, successfully reproducing and explaining the empirically observed stable high Gini coefficients with remarkable fidelity. Furthermore, the model reveals a profound analogy between inequality in energy and carbon emissions and global wealth inequality, suggesting shared structural origins across these distinct domains.

Abstract

Based on public data, we analyze the distributions of energy and carbon emission over world countries on a scale of the last 40-50 years using their presentation via Lorenz and Pareto curves. These curves in rescaled format remain remarkably stable on this time period being characterized by high values of the Gini coefficient indicating a strong inequality of energy distribution. To explain these distributions, we introduce the ENergy Thermalization Hypothesis (ENTH) according to which these distributions result from the Rayleigh-Jeans (RJ) thermalization and condensation of agents representing different countries. We show that this hypothesis provides an excellent description of Lorenz and Pareto curves obtained from data on the above time period. It also gives natural grounds for inequality relating it to the RJ condensation at low energy states. We additionally trace parallels with the wealth inequality in the world.

Problem

• energy distribution
• carbon emission
• inequality
• Lorenz curve
• Pareto curve

Innovation

• Energy Thermalization Hypothesis
• Rayleigh-Jeans condensation
• Lorenz curve
• Gini coefficient
• Pareto distribution