Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

permaculture - Wealth is energy and energy is wealth

permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: permaculture

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: April Sampson-Kelly <askpv@ozemail.com.au>
  • To: "'Dave Du Toit'" <Dave.Du.Toit@enviro.iafrica.com>, "'Permacultire Mailing List'" <permaculture-mg@amani.ces.ncsu.edu>
  • Subject: Wealth is energy and energy is wealth
  • Date: Sat, 4 May 1996 19:00:45 +-1000

Wealth is an abundance of energy provided as vegeatable and animal and other
materials and or services.
Energy stores potential wealth.
A community can aim to contain its wealth by buying local products and
services. It can also maximise its natural resources such as solar and wind,
clean water and soil.
Through the passive use of free energy sources our energy supply is not
limited. We can increase the storage of the energy supplied by the use of
natural stores such as trees (which store water and sun through
photosynthesis) We can increase storage of rain water with dams and swales
and soil cover (mulch) and we can increase the capture of condensation with
canopy on food gardens.
By ensuring that all persons in the community are valued and well employed we
also maximise the communities wealth.
When we view wealth as that which comes from energy especially natural energy
sources, we can see that we all have the potential for greater clean wealth.
One of the current abuses of wealth is the use of ancient stores of wealth to
our own detriment - i.e. pollution from fossil fuels, loss of diversity from
forest destruction, loss of soil from broadacre farming and more.

Future generations are going to have two major debts to carry before they can
even store wealth:
1. They will be accustomed to the false wealth levels enjoyed by the
generations which used up fossil fuels (stored wealth)
2. They will be spending wealth cleaning up the mess. (and many today are
already doing this)

We can aim to both enjoy clean wealth and store it for future generations.
We can establish and develop cultures that are in tune with the resources
they depend upon, we can all aim to be productive in a wide range of skills
including being responsible for our food on the table.
April



  • Wealth is energy and energy is wealth, April Sampson-Kelly, 05/04/1996

Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page