Whereas many existing disciplines are reaching out so as to expand their
 coverage to meet the need, it may be a stimulus and in the tradition of
 national support of basic science to use some new name to recognize the field
 drawing from the specialties that overlap as needed. At present most of the
 disciplines that try to deal with the environmental system don't try to train
 their students to deal with all aspects, although those with long experience
 often develop the kind of knowledge and interests to advance understanding.
 Defining the field at the appropriate time should help generate new
 contributions to a science vital to national futures.



 Energy Analysis and Models for Basic Understanding

 Energy analysis traces networks by which energy flows and is transformed,
 generating structure and processes. By tracing the energy required directly
 and indirectly, numbers are obtained that can be used to estimate what is
 possible from known energy sources. At least, energy analysis is a tool for
 quantifying resources required for technology and for the work of nature.
 According to some enthusiasts, energy analysis predicts value. It is
 reasoned that things requiring more energy come to be used only for products
 that have greater effect, although there may be considerable trial and error
 in self organizational evolution towards such consistent usages.

 Energy analysis is now a field with many approaches and techniques.
There are several new books (Slesser, 1978; Pimentel, 1979; Baustead and
Hancock, 1979). At the Louisville Conference on International Ecological
Modelling there were several energy analysis sessions in which progress
in communication seemed to be made in relating various competing measures.
In its broadest sense energy analysis is quantitative modelling of systems
so as to understand them. Developing overview models helps unify and clarify
our concepts about environmental systems. Simulation can go along with
analysis, both tools for basic science study of landscapes.

 The quantification of these systems will help test further the theories
about self design criteria such as maximum power, maximum entropy, or
maximum structure.

 Specifically, energy analysis research needs to develop tables of
energy transformation ratios so that calculating energy requirements is easy.
Energy transformation ratio from coal to electricity, for example, is known
to be 4 Cal CE/Cal. Main classes of environmental land use need evaluation
on the embodied energy scale and these related to hierarchy of human use. For
these concepts see Odum and Odum (1981).

 Relations between energy analysis and economic analysis need further
study. The spatial distribution of human concentration relative to embodied
energy values may provide new principles in planning.