"Energy and Culture: perspectives on the Power to Work"

Future projectors have made some thought provoking speculations, for instance that a long term transition to a solar based system could produce ominous societal consequences -- possibly a return to feudalism and energy sources based on
territoriality.

Perelman, L.J., et al "Energy Transitions: Long term perspective", Westview Press, 1981, P5

Spaceship economy, an early form of ecological economics  P11 / human engergy efficiency, p34 / at low entropy level P35
/ intergenerational justice / energy rents: the difference b/w the marginal revenue product of energy and its costs. The notion of energy rents underlies the Physiocratic belief that agriculture was the only sector in the economy that could generate s surplus. P76 /

"The energy-organization framework presented earlier addresses these and other questions regarding information. Drawing from classical mechanics and thermodynamics, it sees information as an organization-related factor input. As such, it, like capital and labour, is organizationally productive, but not physically productive. This follows from the fact that it is not a source of energy. Better information will, as such, serve to increase second law efficiency; however, more of the same information will be of little to no incremental value.

This has a number of implications for the cause of the 'third industrial revolution'. ... ICT revolution cannot and, more importantly will not, caeteris paribus, contribute to an increase in the growth rate of productivity and output. Second, information and energy are not comparable; hence, comparisons between the first, second, and third industrial revolutions are of no apparent consequence. Lastly, the recent stock market crash (technology sector) is not an anomoly, but instead, perfectly consistent with classic mechanics and thermodynamics. Unfortunately, information has not been productive, is not productive and will never be productive." P86

Sustainable development is development the meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. (World Commission on Environment  and Development: Our Common Future, 1987). Sustainable development thus centres on a fiduciary use and at the same time on the conservation of the basis for life available to humans for future generations. P50


"Energy and Culture: perspectives on the Power to Work", Brendan Dooley, 2006