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Re: Ecological Economics and Entropy



Jay Hanson <jhanson@ilhawaii.net> writes:

> Here a explanation of how thermodynamics is used in
> ecological economics:
> ------------
> All matter and energy in the universe are subject to
> the Laws of Thermodynamics. In the discipline of Ecological
> Economics, systems are delimited so that they are meaningful
> to our economy. What does thermodynamics have to do with the
> sustainability of food production?

Life works "uphill" and gives matter a higher "order". It does that
with the help of external energy from the sun and chemical energy like
in volcanic ocean floor vents. That energy is dissipated and the
overall "disorder" increases. There is plenty of sunshine to drive
this so plants and animals keep on living.

The same reasoning applies to our technical culture. It needs external
energy to produce things and turn disorder, like trash, into order,
like usefull products. The more energy we got the easier it is to
counter "disorder". That is one good reason to appreciate nuclear
energy since it gives enormous ammounts of energy from tiny ammounts
of fuel. This works until we run out of Uranium and Thorium and that
wont happen for millenia.

Regards,
--
--
Magnus Redin  Lysator Academic Computer Society  redin@lysator.liu.se
Mail: Magnus Redin, Björnkärrsgatan 11 B 20, 584 36 LINKöPING, SWEDEN
Phone: Sweden (0)13 260046 (answering machine)  and  (0)13 214600



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