Your answer to my question is actually not correct. I did some more research on the data, and actually global energy use per capita has been increasing just about every year since 1980 (except for recession years like 2008-2009.) In 1980 world energy usage per capita was 63.6 million BTU per person; in 2010 it was 74.4 . You can look at the data yourself here, at EIA.GOV:
http://www.eia.gov/cfapps/ipdbproject/iedindex3.cfm?tid=44&pid=45&aid=2&cid=regions&syid=1980&eyid=2011&unit=MBTUPP
As mentioned, in the US this has actually been dropping, but globally is has been RISING.
I don't know what you mean by my post being "intended to deceive us." Confused about that one.
I can't argue with Chris on any of this very much.
However, my question was SPECIFICALLY about per capita energy use ONLY. The data I've read does not correlate with what Gregor stated, that per capita energy use is FALLING.
Where is the data that shows that? What I found actually shows the opposite.
See this link:
http://www.eia.gov/cfapps/ipdbproject/iedindex3.cfm?tid=44&pid=45&aid=2&cid=regions&syid=1980&eyid=2011&unit=MBTUPP
(I do have a quibble with the arable farmland point. While obviously if we don't increase the net number of acres we farm and yet population increases, then acres farmed per capita declines. However, we have been increasing farmland YIELDS for decades. See the following graph. In 1980 we were producing about 100 bushels of corn per acre in the US; in 2010 we produced 165, a 65% increase in 30 years. US population has not increased by 65% in the same time period, so, actually, we are now producing more corn per person in the US than we were 30 years ago, by a wide margin.
http://www.agweb.com/assets/import/images/Farmland%20Forecast%20-%20USDA%20NASS%20US%20Corn%20Yield%20Per%20year%201979%20to%202009%20wasde%20report%20164_9%20bhushels%20per%20acre.gif
My conclusion after reading Gregor's article again is that his main point is in this sentence he wrote: "The NET energy available to society is in decline." The data I found is, perhaps, presented as a different thing. While total energy used per capita is actually INCREASING, this does not present NET energy used per capita AFTER accounting for the energy you used to get the rest of the energy.
In short, EROEI is declining even while TOTAL energy per capita is increasing.
I'm not actually SURE this is what Gregor meant, but it's my best guess.