Download or read book Entropy And Sustainable Growth written by Guy Deutscher and published by World Scientific. This book was released on 2018-03-20 with total page 147 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While the possible depletion of energy sources has been emphasized in most literatures, this book aims to show that the increase of entropy in the biosphere, resulting since the dawn of industrial era, is a cause for urgent concern.As the entropy release puts a limit on sustainable growth, and the CO₂ atmospheric content is a reliable indicator of global entropy release that threatens the biospheric balance, a change of paradigm is necessary with the need to switch from an economy of exploitation to an economy of entropy.
Download or read book Entropy Law Sustainability and Third Industrial Revolution written by Ramprasad Sengupta and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2020-02-22 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In mankind’s relentless quest for prosperity, Nature has suffered great damage. It has been treated as an inexhaustible reserve of resources. The indefinite scale of global expansion is still continuing and now the earth’s very survival is under threat. But against this exploitation of nature, there is the concept of entropy, which places a finite limit on the extent to which resources can be used in any closed system, such as our planet. Considering the impact of entropy, this book examines the key issues of sustainability—social, economic, and environmental. It discusses the social dimension of sustainability, showing how it is impacted by issues of economic inequality, poverty, and other socio-economic and infrastructural factors in the Indian context. It also highlights how Indian households suffer from clean energy poverty and points to the inequality in distribution of different fuels and of fuel cost among households. It assesses India’s power sector and its potential to be a significant player in bringing the Third Industrial Revolution to India by replacing fossil fuels with new renewables. It concludes by projecting power sector scenarios till 2041–42 achievable through alternative, realizable policy with respect to energy conservation and fuel substitution, and thus paves the way for the green power.
Download or read book Towards an Ecologically Sustainable Growth Society written by Bruno Fritsch and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 198 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is the work of three specialists from the field of Economics (B.F), Business (S.S.) and the Natural Sciences (W.S.). While each chapter concentrates more or less on one or other of these areas, with varying degrees of complexity, it is hoped that the readers whatever their background will fmd something of value in each section, in particular those outside their own disciplines. The authors believe that such cross fertilization of ideas will become increasingly needed in the coming development of a sustainable growth society and it is therefore their hope that this book, as a first example of its kind, will thereby contribute in an interdisciplinary way to the general understanding of the issues of sustainable growth. The authors divided their main contributions to the book as follows: Bruno Fritsch Chapters 1,2,3,4,5 and 8 Stephan Schmidheiny Chapter 7 Walter Seifritz Chapters 2, 3, 4 and 6 They would like to thank in particular Lloyd Timberlake for his editorial advice and his assistance on chapter 7. Special thanks are due to Irena Kusar for preparing the original figures and diagrams and to the Paul Scherrer Institute for permission to use the illustration, printing and copying facilities during preparation of the manuscript. They would also like to thank Richard Stratton for assembling, typing and correcting the text, editing and final layout and for his helpful advice and contributions to organising the presentation of the material.
Download or read book The Second Law of Economics written by Reiner Kümmel and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2011-06-24 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nothing happens in the world without energy conversion and entropy production. These fundamental natural laws are familiar to most of us when applied to the evolution of stars, biological processes, or the working of an internal combustion engine, but what about industrial economies and wealth production, or their constant companion, pollution? Does economics conform to the First and the Second Law of Thermodynamics? In this important book, Reiner Kümmel takes us on a fascinating tour of these laws and their influence on natural, technological, and social evolution. Analyzing economic growth in Germany, Japan, and the United States in light of technological constraints on capital, labor, and energy, Professor Kümmel upends conventional economic wisdom by showing that the productive power of energy far outweighs its small share of costs, while for labor just the opposite is true. Wealth creation by energy conversion is accompanied and limited by polluting emissions that are coupled to entropy production. These facts constitute the Second Law of Economics. They take on unprecedented importance in a world that is facing peak oil, debt-driven economic turmoil, and threats from pollution and climate change. They complement the First Law of Economics: Wealth is allocated on markets, and the legal framework determines the outcome. By applying the First and Second Law we understand the true origins of wealth production, the issues that imperil the goal of sustainable development, and the technological options that are compatible both with this goal and with natural laws. The critical role of energy and entropy in the productive sectors of the economy must be realized if we are to create a road map that avoids a Dark Age of shrinking natural resources, environmental degradation, and increasing social tensions.
Download or read book Entropy Man written by John Bryant and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a voyage of exploration among the connections between economics and the science of energy - thermodynamics. Readers are taken through progressive scenes illustrating how entropy impacts on every part of the world in which we live, and through a history of economic development to the present day. The central part of the book deals with how economic topics such as production, consumption, money, employment, resources and growth, mimic thermodynamic processes, backed up by some real numbers to go with the theory. A major part of the book is devoted to analysis, over half a century, of many of the world's key renewable and non-renewable resources, from water, soil, foods and minerals to all forms of energy, coupled with a look at climate change. The book concludes with an assessment of the main factors that will impact on human economic development and on sustainability over the coming decades. John Bryant is an economist, engineer and expert witness, with a business, consulting and research background spanning five decades, including working for several of the world's leading technology corporations.
Download or read book Organicity written by Dobereiner David Dobereiner and published by Black Rose Books Ltd.. This book was released on 2019-10-15 with total page 150 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nature is endlessly reinventing itself in a constant flux of movement and diversity. Yet the advancement of modern civilization has engendered extreme inequality, social division, and an imbalance between society and nature. Our technological proficiency has given our species the illusion of omnipotence; in our efforts to build robots more like us, we have not noticed how robotic we ourselves have become. To deal with this profound crisis, we must understand this problem at its roots. Could the origins of social domination and ecological exploitation be related? Is it possible for us to transform these dynamics and design society in a way that is cognizant of, and harmonious with, the Earth? In this visionary book, David Dobereiner lucidly delves into the present urban and ecological impasse and examines the prospects for our future. Laced with insights into social and political ecology and written with a lifetime's experience of innovating in ecological design, Organicity shows that there is still hope to build a more humane, egalitarian, and sustainable system, but it requires a fundamental shift in the way we do civilization. At the crossroads of creation and destruction, will evolution or entropy triumph?
Download or read book The Entropy Crisis written by Guy Deutscher and published by World Scientific. This book was released on 2008-10-22 with total page 185 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book aims to prove that the so-called “energy crisis” is really an entropy crisis. Since energy is conserved, it is clear that a different concept is necessary to discuss meaningfully the problems posed by energy supplies and environmental protection. This book makes this concept, entropy, accessible to a broad, nonspecialized audience.Examples taken from daily experiences are used to introduce the concept of entropy in an intuitive manner, before it is defined in a more formal way. It is shown that the entropy increase due to irreversible transformations (or “unrecoverable” energy) simultaneously determines the level of fresh energy supplies of our society and the damage that it causes to the environment. Minimizing the rate of entropy increase with advanced technologies and society organizations, and keeping it in check with appropriate energy sources, is the key to a sustainable development.
Download or read book Entropy Water and Resources written by Horst Niemes and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2010-05-30 with total page 219 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book lies at the intersection of natural sciences, economics, and water en- neering and is in line with the long tradition of environmental economics at the University of Heidelberg. In the 1970s, the Neo-Austrian Capital Theory was developed using the fundamental laws of thermodynamics as a common language between the natural and social sciences. Niemes (1981) integrated the dynamic and irreversibility characteristics of the natural environment into the Neo-Austrian c- ital theory. Faber et al. (1983, 1987, 1995) then extended this interdisciplinary approach further to create a comprehensive, dynamic, environmental resource model. Over the last 3 decades, the theoretical foundations of environmental economics have been modi ed and there have been an impressive variety of applications. This book aims to reduce the gaps between economic theory, natural sciences, and engineering practice. One of the reasons these gaps exist is because economic assumptions are used to construct dynamic environmental and resource models, which are not consistent with the fundamental laws of the natural sciences. Another reason for the gap might be the distance between academic theory and real world situations. Based on an extended thermodynamic approach, the authors explain which economic assumptions are acceptable for constructing a dynamic model that is consistent with the natural sciences. In particular, the special role of water in the production and reproduction activities will be considered as an integral component.
Download or read book Entropy Environment and Resources written by Malte Faber and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 213 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book analyzes environmental protection and resource use in a comprehensive framework where not only economic but also natural scientific aspects are taken into consideration. The special features of the book are (i) that the authors utilize a natural scientific variable, entropy, to characterize the economic system and the environment, (ii) that environmental protection and resource use are analyzed in combination, and (iii) that a replacement of techniques over time is analyzed. The authors investigate the use of the environment both as a supplier of resources and as a recipient of pollutants with the help of thermodynamic relationships. The book therefore provides a new set of tools for environmentalists and economists.
Download or read book Beyond Growth written by Herman E. Daly and published by Beacon Press. This book was released on 2014-09-30 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Daly is turning economics inside out by putting the earth and its diminishing natural resources at the center of the field . . . a kind of reverse Copernican revolution in economics." --Utne Reader "Considered by most to be the dean of ecological economics, Herman E. Daly elegantly topples many shibboleths in Beyond Growth. Daly challenges the conventional notion that growth is always good, and he bucks environmentalist orthodoxy, arguing that the current focus on 'sustainable development' is misguided and that the phrase itself has become meaningless." --Mother Jones "In Beyond Growth, . . . [Daly] derides the concept of 'sustainable growth' as an oxymoron. . . . Calling Mr. Daly 'an unsung hero,' Robert Goodland, the World Bank's top environmental adviser, says, 'He has been a voice crying in the wilderness.'" --G. Pascal Zachary, The Wall Street Journal "A new book by that most far-seeing and heretical of economists, Herman Daly. For 25 years now, Daly has been thinking through a new economics that accounts for the wealth of nature, the value of community and the necessity for morality." --Donella H. Meadows, Los Angeles Times "For clarity of vision and ecological wisdom Herman Daly has no peer among contemporary economists. . . . Beyond Growth is essential reading." --David W. Orr, Oberlin College "There is no more basic ethical question than the one Herman Daly is asking." --Hal Kahn, The San Jose Mercury News "Daly's critiques of economic orthodoxy . . . deliver a powerful and much-needed jolt to conventional thinking." --Karen Pennar, Business Week Named one of a hundred "visionaries who could change your life" by the Utne Reader,Herman Daly is the recipient of many awards, including a Grawemeyer Award, the Heineken Prize for environmental science, and the "Alternative Nobel Prize," the Right Livelihood Award. He is professor at the University of Maryland's School of Public Affairs, and coauthor with John Cobb, Jr., of For the Common Good.
Download or read book Thermodynamics and Sustainable Development written by Reinerus Louwrentius Cornelissen and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 150 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book From Bioeconomics to Degrowth written by Nicolas Georgescu-Roegen and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2011-03-28 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nicolae Georgescu-Roegen (1906-1994) is considered today as perhaps the chief founder of the transdisciplinary field today known as Ecological Economics, but that he defined himself as Bioeconomics. In his later years Georgescu-Roegen intended to write a book of this title that would systematize what he considered to be the most significant results of his work. This project intends to resume this project, publishing a collection of the most relevant Georgescu-Roegen essays on Bioeconomics, including previously unpublished papers.
Download or read book From the Law of Entropy to Environmental Management Sustainable Development Paradigms and Policy Implications written by C. Strauss and published by . This book was released on with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Regenerative Design for Sustainable Development written by John Tillman Lyle and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 1996-11-08 with total page 358 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Landscape Architecture Regenerative Design for Sustainable Development Winner, 1994 MeritAward for Communications, American Society of LandscapeArchitects "Regenerative Design for Sustainable Development is nothing lessthan a user's manual for planet Earth that integrates theprinciples of ecological design with practical realities betterthan anything I've read. John Lyle has written the best book nowavailable on the theory and practice of sustainability . . .essential reading for natural resource professionals, architects,planners, educators, environmentalists, and the general public."--David W. Orr, Professor and Chair Environmental Studies Program,Oberlin College. "John Lyle has written a splendid book, Regenerative Design forSustainable Development. It is perfectly topical; it is committedto the unity of art and science, design and planning, man andnature. It is itself exemplary, and it is a repository of exemplaryadaptations. It has carried the environmental movement to a newthreshold of ecological planning and design. It should be widelyread and employed." --Ian L. McHarg, FASLA. "In these times of widespread urban stress and regional disruption,the cogent thoughts of John Tillman Lyle on sustainable cities areon target and highly constructive. They are must reading forplanning professionals and all concerned citizens." --John OrmsbeeSimonds, FASLA. "More designers need to broaden their horizons in the way John Lylehas put forth in this book. In general, there are far too few landplanners, landscape architects, or architects who have any workingprocedure that approximates what sustainable design entails. Thisbook provides important historical background and contemporaryexperience to help guide the way."--Pliny Fisk III, Center forMaximum Potential Building Systems. From the despoliation of our rivers and lakes by industrial runoffto the destruction of our atmosphere by sulphur emissions and CFCs,production cycles based on a one-way flow of materials and energyhave pushed us to the brink of environmental collapse. It is timefor a change, and in this groundbreaking book, John Tillman Lyleoffers us a blueprint for implementing that change. This book provides civil engineers, architects, land developmentplanners, and others with practical, realistic approaches toreversing this deadly course. Throughout, the emphasis is on provenregenerative practices for water use, land use, energy use, andbuilding design. Most importantly, it provides ways to reestablishconnections between people and nature, between art and science, andbetween technology and daily life.
Download or read book OUR FRAGILE WORLD Challenges and Opportunities for Sustainable Development Volume I written by M. K. Tolba and published by EOLSS Publications. This book was released on 2001-08-23 with total page 1183 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This publication, Our Fragile World: Challenges and Opportunities for Sustainable Development, presents perspectives of several important subjects that are covered in greater detail and depth in the Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS). The contributions to the two volumes provide an integrated presentation of knowledge and worldviews related to the state of: Earth's natural resources, social resources, institutional resources, and economic and financial resources. They present the vision and thinking of over 200 authors in support of efforts to solve the complex problems connected with sustainable development, and to secure perennial life support on "The Blue Planet'. These contributions are holistic, informative, forward looking, and will be of interest to a broad readership. This volume presents contributions with focus on the Natural and Social Dimensions of sustainable Development in to two sections: NATURAL SYSTEMS AND RESOURCES (Natural Systems and Climate Change ; - Natural Resources Management). - SOCIO-CULTURAL ISSUES (Human Security, Peace, and Socio-Cultural issues; Equity and Ethical issues).
Download or read book Culture Ecology and Sustainable Development written by Sukant Kumar Chaudhury and published by Mittal Publications. This book was released on 2006-01-01 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The present volume is an outcome of a national seminar organized by the Ethnographic and Folk Culture Society, Lucknow in October 1999"--Pref.
Download or read book Entropy Principle for the Development of Complex Biotic Systems written by Ichiro Aoki and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2012-01-25 with total page 123 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The concept of entropy in thermodynamics is a complex one, though it is fundamental in understanding physics, the workings of the mind, and biology. Entropy is the measure of the quality of energy, and it can also refer to the turn from order to disorder or randomness in isolated systems. In open systems, such as biology, entropy is formulated in terms of production and energy flow. This book establishes a novel view of complex biological systems and the earth using this concept of entropy, encompassing the interdisciplinary area of biology, ecology and physics. This book considers the development over time of a range of biologically complex systems such as plants, animals, humans, and ecosystems, describing them in terms of the second law of thermodynamics, entropy. With its broad coverage of biological systems, this book will be useful for students of environmental science as well as students in biology and physics. Includes discussion of multiple complex systems including the earth and biological systems within it. Suitable for those with little physics background who wish to learn how the laws of physics apply to ecological systems. Clearly organized by system, making information easy to access.
