The embodied energy of a phase transition does not pay attention to what path you took to cross it. There’s no “threshold” between phases of water.
For H20 to move from liquid water to vapor, energy must be added. There’s no catalyst.
So either we’ve discovered some new physics since I last studied thermodynamics, or this isn’t an accurate analogy.
Just a wild guess though. Haven't yet read the article.
I think that is a wrong assumption. Liquids will naturally evaporate even with 0 external energy, assuming there is not too much pressure in the surrounding atmosphere.
But thermodynamics still hold; the water vapor is still in a more energetic state than liquid water or ice.
Basically, some amount of a liquid will move to the higher energy state, and other parts will move to a lower energy state. The energy to vaporize some of the liquid doesn't need to come from something external to the liquid.