Victor Court

Researcher & Lecturer, Center for Energy Economics and Management (IFP School)

Summary

Victor Court joined the Center for Energy Economics and Management of IFP School as a Researcher and Lecturer in March 2020. He is involved in the teaching and organization of three of the Center's programs: the specialized engineering programs "Energy and markets" and "Energy technology economics and management", as well as the master's degree in "Environment, energy and transport economics". Victor is also a research associate at the Chair Energy and Prosperity (hosted by the Fondation du Risque), and a research associate at the Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire des Énergies de Demain (Université Paris Cité). His main interests concern the interactions between technical change, energy transition and economic prosperity in the long run.

After his engineering studies in environmental sciences (AgroParisTech) and his master's degree in energy economics (IFP School), Victor completed a PhD in economics (Université Paris Nanterre), with a thesis dedicated to the role of energy in the economic growth process. This analysis focused on the concept of Energy-Return-On-Investment (EROI), which is a measure of energy accessibility. During the three years following this PhD, Victor conducted research at various institutions. First in the Chair Energy and Prosperity and the Environment and Society Training Center of ENS Ulm. Then in England, in the Science Policy Research Unit of the University of Sussex in Brighton, where his work focused on the energy impact of digital technologies.

In addition to his courses and publications in various academic journals, Victor is now writing books dedicated to a wider audience. The first of these, L'Emballement du monde, was published in November 2022 by Écosociété. Through the prism of energy, this essay proposes a world history of human societies, from the Paleolithic to the present day.

Disciplinary fields

Economics
Macroeconomics
Economic modeling
Forecasting and scenario modeling

Research topics

Economic prosperity
History of energy
Ecological sustainability
Energy and material sufficiency
Climate change

Publications

Books:

- Court, V. L’Emballement du monde : Énergie et domination dans l’histoire des sociétés humaines, éd. poche, coll. « Terre », Paris, Points, 2025.

- Court, V. L’Emballement du monde : Énergie et domination dans l’histoire des sociétés humaines, Montréal, Écosociété, 2022.

Peer-reviewed journals:

- Pellegris, A., Court, V. (2025). The rise and fall of neoliberalism: Evidences from an ecological and regulationist analysis of France (1960-2020). Ecological Economics, vol. 230, 108488.

- Delannoy, L., et al. (2024). Emerging consensus on net energy paves the way for improved integrated assessment modeling. Energy & Environmental Science, vol. 17, n°1, pp. 11-26.

- Court, V., Fizaine, F. (2023). EROI minimum et croissance économique. Annales des Mines – Responsabilité & Environnement, vol. 111, pp. 74–79.

- Brockway, P. E., et. al. (2021). Energy efficiency and economy-wide rebound effects: A review of the evidence and its implications. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 141, 110781.

- Creutzig, F., et al. (2021). Reviewing the scope and thematic focus of 100,000 publications on energy consumption, services and social aspects of climate change: A big data approach to demand-side mitigation. Environmental Research Letters, vol. 16, n°3, 3001.

- Court, V. (2020). A reassessment of the Great Divergence debate: towards a reconciliation of apparently distinct determinants. European Review of Economic History, vol. 24, n°4, pp. 633–674.

- Hook, A., Court, V., Sovacool, B., Sorrell, S. (2020). A systematic review of the energy and climate impacts of teleworking. Environmental Research Letters, vol. 15, n°9, 3003.

- Court, V., Sorrell, S. (2020). Digitalisation of goods: a systematic review of the determinants and magnitude of impacts on energy consumption. Environmental Research Letters, vol. 15, n°4, 3001.

- Court, V., McIsaac, F. (2020). A representation of the world population dynamics for integrated assessment models. Environmental Modeling & Assessment, vol. 25, n°5, pp. 611–632.

- Court, V. (2019). An estimation of different minimum exergy return ratios required for society. Biophysical Economics and Sustainability, vol. 4, n°3, 11.

- Court, V. (2018). Energy capture, technological change, and economic growth: an evolutionary perspective. Biophysical Economics and Sustainability, vol. 3, n°3, 12.

- Court, V., Jouvet, P.-A., Lantz, F. (2018). Long-term endogenous economic growth and energy transitions. Energy Journal, vol. 39, n°1, pp. 29–57.

- Court, V., Fizaine, F. (2017). Long-term estimates of the energy-return-on-investment (EROI) of coal, oil, and gas global productions. Ecological Economics, vol. 138, pp. 145–159.

- Fizaine, F., Court, V. (2016). Energy expenditures, economic growth, and the minimum EROI of society. Energy Policy, vol. 95, pp. 172–186.

- Fizaine, F., Court, V. (2015). Renewable electricity producing technologies and metal depletion: a sensitivity analysis using the EROI. Ecological Economics, vol. 110, pp. 106–118.

Working papers:

- Bovari, E., Court, V. (2020). Energy, knowledge, and demo-economic development in the long run: a unified growth model. IFPEN Economic Papers, n°134.

Press (in French):

- Court, V. « Le chant des aérotrains: Et si le pétrole n'avait jamais existé ? », Flaash, n°5, décembre 2024.

- Court, V. « Synergie entre énergies fossiles et décarbonées, frein à la transition énergétique », Polytechnique Insights, janvier 2024.

- Court, V. « La Terre à l'époque de l'Antropocène: comment en est-on arrivé là ? Peut-on en limiter les dégâts », The Conversation, juillet 2023.

- Court, V. « S ortir du capitalisme, condition nécessaire mais non suffisante face à la crise écologique », The Conversation, novembre 2022.

- Court, V. « L'énergie fossile, cette drogue dont nous n'arrivons pas à nous sevrer », The Conversation, juin 2021.

- Court, V. « La demande énergétique mondiale est sous-estimée, et c’est un vrai problème pour le climat », The Conversation, avril 2021.

- Court, V. « La dure loi de l’EROI », Reporterre, le quotidien de l’écologie, octobre 2017.

Interviews (in French):

- Beaujon, A. « "L’Histoire nous prouve qu’on ne pourra pas décarboner sans revoir nos modes de vie" : l’analyse sans concession de l’économiste Victor Court », Challenges, septembre 2025.

- Pagès, N. « L’effet rebond, ce phénomène insidieux qui complexifie encore la transition écologique », Radio France Internationale, décembre 2024.

- Lucchese, V.. « La transition énergétique n’est-elle qu’un mythe ? », reprise de certains propos de ma tribune pour Reporterre, Usbek & Rica, septembre 2019.

- Nouel, J. « Les heures sombres de la transition énergétique », entretien pour L'Actuariel, n°29, juin 2018.

Video/podcast (in French):

- Limit, chaîne Youtube.

- Ozé, podcast

-Curieux, podcast