Fig. 12. “Pyramid of Energetic Needs” representing the minimum EROI required for conventional oil, at the well-head, to be able to perform various tasks required for civilization. The blue values are published values, the yellow values increasingly speculative. If the EROI of a fuel (say oil) is 1.1:1 then all you can do is pump it out of the ground and look at it. Each increment in EROI allows more and more work to be done .