Bob, if you follow the analysis through, you should notice there is no consumption of materials, only production. This is the whole point, we move from consumption to true production, adding to the creation of nature. What materials do plants consume? You won't be able to identify why exactly you believe that we can't create faster than nature, because it isn't true, just a belief founded maybe on some bad experiences that you maybe blame on technology, but actually the real culprit of all the harm done, is the energy dishonesty of profit. This explains why money miraculously grows to become more money, yet we can't create energy from nothing, it has to come from somewhere. The truth is it comes partly from Earth, or whoever else is involved in the transaction. It is theft of a kind, done in a way we've become so accustomed to, we think it's normal.
The point is that the sun asks nothing in return for the energy given, and loses nothing. Everything done by it is creation, real gain, not false gain, which is what we get by dishonesty, claiming gain of energy, when actually it was loss of energy put to use, always loss, presented as gain.