Energy has been a weird resource from the very beginning. I don't hate it as much as food, because food is just ridiculous, but it's still nonsensical if interpreted literally. This is because, for example: a Dyson Sphere would realistically outproduce a billion planets covered in power plants by a significant factor, and there's nothing stopping a space-faring civ from building 10 or ten thousand solar panels on their spaceport instead of just the one the game limits you to. Energy production is mostly linear and thus its growth should limited only to Minerals.
Alternative: Interpret 'Energy' as a vague combination of "trade, transport and organization"
This makes more sense out of trading posts producing energy; fleets requiring energy for upkeep (logistics); leader recruitment requiring energy (organization); settlement and colonization requiring energy (transport/logistics); building upkeep; and the fact that some species produce more energy than others despite both using a Lvl X "power plant".
Challenges involved in alternative: adjusting traits to reflect new interpretation.
Energy has been a weird resource from the very beginning. I don't hate it as much as food, because food is just ridiculous, but it's still nonsensical if interpreted literally. This is because, for example: a Dyson Sphere would realistically outproduce a billion planets covered in power plants by a significant factor, and there's nothing stopping a space-faring civ from building 10 or ten thousand solar panels on their spaceport instead of just the one the game limits you to. Energy production is mostly linear and thus its growth should limited only to Minerals.
Alternative: Interpret 'Energy' as a vague combination of "trade, transport and organization" This makes more sense out of trading posts producing energy; fleets requiring energy for upkeep (logistics); leader recruitment requiring energy (organization); settlement and colonization requiring energy (transport/logistics); building upkeep; and the fact that some species produce more energy than others despite both using a Lvl X "power plant".
Challenges involved in alternative: adjusting traits to reflect new interpretation.