Ed,
The penny didn't drop until this morning that the simplest way of
describing the difference between free energy and other free goods as in
the textbooks (air, water, etc.) is the obvious one that the latter consist
of atoms and molecules that can be recycled within a closed system (the
world economy). However, energy can't be recycled. Energy consists only of
the vibrations of atoms and molecules and once the energy has been used to
do a job it has gone forever. The only way that work (that is, the world
economy) can continue is for more energy to enter the system from outside.
(Fossil fuels are still sources of energy "from outside" because they
contain locked-in energy received from the sun in previous eras.)
(Also, because fossil fuels also consist of molecules it may be thought
that they are not "free energy" in the sense I describe above. It's true
that the molecules themselves [albeit broken down into atoms which then
recombine] can be recycled, but it is now the case that most of the energy
has gone as waste [some of it is actually radiated into space] and can
never be reconstituted. Fresh energy has to be brought in for the economy
to continue.)
(The Laws of Thermodynamics have the same role in chemistry and physics as
the Laws of Comparative Advantage have in economics. Both laws are basic
and incontrovertible. Interestingly, they were both formulated by
individuals who were contemporaries, as close to genius as anyone could be,
but whose names are now rarely mentioned by modern practitioners of their
subjects. For those who are interested, they are Josiah Gibbs and David
Ricardo. They lived on different continents and never met. Perhaps if they
had done then economics would not have been severely disorientated by Marx
and it might have had a clearer development as a scientific subject since
then.)
Keith
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Keith Hudson, General Editor, Handlo Music, http://www.handlo.com
6 Upper Camden Place, Bath BA1 5HX, England
Tel: +44 1225 312622; Fax: +44 1225 447727; mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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