Sunday, August 28, 2011

Energy from Heaven and Energy From Hell

I'm not sure who said this first but, I, for one am impressed by how well this this analogy fits.

Energy taken from above the earth is a deal with God; energy taken from below the ground is what we call a Faustian bargain.

First the deal with Heaven:
Sun, wind are heavenly energy sources forever sustainable, essentially limitless energy.  The drawback is that they demand more of our virtues; more upfront work, and we must operate on heaven's terms: no sun, no wind? = no power.
Providence, humility and hard work are virtues.  However, if we play by Heaven's rules the we have boundless energy, for ever and ever, literally until the sun burns out; which is to say, eternity.

Now for the other side:
Coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear are seductively powerful and easy in the short term.  Gasoline has a stupendous energy density, I won't call it supernatural but it's close.  The corporations, countries, and people who use the most of it amass those Faustian goals of, power, wealth, & influence.  The downside to this is that the costs are deferred and we as humans aren't told exactly what the price will be.  Eventually the bargain will have to be paid, we don't know when. Maybe it's just that we use it all up and must explain our improvidence to our kids, maybe it's worse.

That's all, just impressed by how well the analogy seams to work.

No comments:

Post a Comment