Subject: Re: [permaculture] more re ethanol production
Date: Thu, 02 Feb 2006 20:04:18 -1000
Aloha,
I see a clear pattern in all of the institutional citations - newspaper
articles, W's speech, Lester Brown, etc. - regarding biofuels/bioenergy.
The pattern is only asking the question "how and with what do we replace
fossil fuel?" and the consistent avoidance of any possibility of
actually having to get used to (or better yet designing for) declining
energy usage.
Avoidance of even asking the most fundamental question:
Are we using more energy per unit of time than we are getting from the
sun per unit of time?
If we are - then 'replacing' fossil fuels with biofuels and whatever
else is just rearranging those 'ol deck chairs on that big big
unsinkable ocean liner.
What is our (very localized) solar gain, and what portion of that could
be harvested to support humans in the long term (which of course means
allowing all the living systems we need to support us to have at least
their necessary share).
Answering these questions - in macro and micro contexts - is the
*beginning* of figuring out how much energy use by humans might
theoretically be sustainable.
hi ho,
John S.
--
John Schinnerer - MA, Whole Systems Design
------------------------------------------
- Eco-Living -
Whole Systems Design Services
People - Place - Learning - Integration
john@eco-living.net http://eco-living.net