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Sloppy rhetoric on his part.

I'll say.  To be fair, though, it seems he wrote this in the context of ongoing discussions in pre-existing threads.

Having said that, I wish he would have unpacked strange insinuations like the following:

... the same kind of leap of faith which Yoshie Furuhashi reminded us was the great French mathematician Pascal's definition of Christianity. ... As is clear from discussions on this List, some who might define themselves as Marxists also turn out when scratched to be made of different metal.

Doe he mean to imply that Marxism is just Christianity in another guise?

Whether or not sunshine is infinite, the earth is a closed entropic system

Huh?  I have a very limited understanding of energy issues, but how could the earth be considered a "closed entropic system" if Averaged over the entire surface of the planet, 24 hours per day for a year, each square meter collects the approximate energy equivalent of almost a barrel of oil each year, or 4.2 kilowatt-hours of energy every day.?

Fuel cells, PV's and biomass ethanol almost certainly are sinks, or else of almost no net benefit. ... so-called 'renewables', which in all cases anyway depend for their development on cross-subsidies from fossil fuels. All of this is well-known stuff by now.

This kind of hand-waving rhetoric always rings alarm bells.  Just how "well known" is this stuff anyway?

The energy payback time of photovoltaic (PV) cells has been a contentious issue for more than a decade. Some studies claim that the joule content of the energy and materials that were put into the process of making the PV cell, will be equaled by the joule content of the electrical output of the cell within a few years of operation. <...>

This review has concluded that the likely energy payback of a typical domestic sized rooftop grid connected PV cell is approximately four years. In addition, it was estimated that larger utility PV cell power stations would have a much longer energy payback period.

Energy Payback of Roof Mounted Photovoltaic Cells



Truth unfolds in time through a communal process.
by marco on Tue Aug 14th, 2007 at 07:44:15 AM EST
[ Parent ]
'Closed entropic system' rang an alarm bell for me too

You can't be me, I'm taken
by Sven Triloqvist on Tue Aug 14th, 2007 at 01:45:59 PM EST
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Yes, to be fair we have to note this was written in 2000 when we knew much less about the potential of solar and wind even though it was only 7 years ago.

I understand Jones won't be able to tell us whether his perspective on renewables would be different today. I am a little surprised he didn't think then that, although limited, the solar flux is great enough to provide all of our necessary needs and more ("a world with a damaged ecosphere, and very little usable energy (orders of magnitude less than now)" as long as we develop the technologies necessary to harness efficiently the energy provided.

I don't see a problem with his use of 'closed entropic system'. A closed system doesn't allow mass transfers with its surroundings but it permits energy transfer freely (by opposition to an 'isolated' system).

by Fete des fous on Tue Aug 14th, 2007 at 09:32:00 PM EST
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I wish he would have unpacked strange insinuations like the following:
... the same kind of leap of faith which Yoshie Furuhashi reminded us was the great French mathematician Pascal's definition of Christianity. ... As is clear from discussions on this List, some who might define themselves as Marxists also turn out when scratched to be made of different metal.
Doe[s] he mean to imply that Marxism is just Christianity in another guise?
No, he means that, just as Protestants and Catholics are essentially Christian, so Marxists and Capitalists are what De has called "Industrial Cornucopians". Both are Industrial-Revolution ideologies, and both believe in economic growth and productivity. If anything, "real" Communism has been more socially and environmentally destructive than Capitalism when it has embarked on mad dashes for progress and development.

Can the last politician to go out the revolving door please turn the lights off?
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon Aug 27th, 2007 at 03:48:45 PM EST
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