thermodynamics Archives

ALTERNATIVES

Ecologies of scale: An interview with ecological economics guru Herman Daly

30th June 2018

From The New Left Review: If fidelity to GDP growth amounts to the religion of the modern world, then Herman Daly surely counts as a leading heretic. Benjamin Kunkel interviews the preeminent figure in ecological economics, and the author of perhaps the most fundamental and eloquently logical case against endless economic growth that’s yet produced….

Countercurrents.org

ALTERNATIVES

Information theory pioneer John Scales Avery on the planet’s converging crises

21st March 2017

From Countercurrents.org: Human cultural evolution can be regarded as an enormous success in many respects. However, thoughtful observers agree that civilization is entering a period of crisis. As all curves move exponentially upward: population, production, consumption, etc, one can observe signs of increasing environmental stress, while the existence of nuclear weapons threaten civilization with destruction….

Economy

Gail Tverberg: The Physics of Energy and the Economy

24th April 2016

The physics of energy and the economy evokes some trepidation. An economy seems to be a dissipative system, but what does this really mean? Not many people understand dissipative systems, and very few understand how an economy operates. The combination leads to an awfully lot of false beliefs about the energy needs of an economy….

Conflict/Dispossession

News update

15th October 2014

U.S. Streaks Past Saudi Arabia as World’s Largest Oil Producer Breitbart News The United States surpassed all other countries this year with daily crude oil and other petroleum liquids reaching 11 million barrels per day (mbd). Since the beginning of 2011, U.S. liquid fuels grew by more than 4 mbd, including 3 mbd of crude…

CLIMATE CRISIS

News update

7th October 2014

Ebola: Uncharted territory for a system in overshoot Mary Odum, Prosperouswaydown.com We are in uncharted territory with the Ebola virus disease (EVD). This pandemic signifies a turning point for society in response to peak oil, highlighting the problem of globalization for a planet of 7 billion people. We have lost control of a deadly outbreak, and our responses to…