Have you read "Beyond Growth", Herman Daly? Ed
> From: Keith Addison <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Reply-To: biofuel@yahoogroups.com > Date: Wed, 06 Mar 2002 19:20:00 +0900 > To: biofuel@yahoogroups.com > Subject: Re: [biofuel] the need for speed? > > Hi Ed > > That's very well put! > > "Progress" too often just means "faster". If only it were just > mindless, and not so wasteful and destructive. Brother Aesop was > right about the hare and the tortoise - tortoises also live longer > and they don't go crazy. Well, I don't think they do - have you ever > seen a crazed tortoise? Very elegant housing arrangements too. > > Here's a bit from Kirkpatrick Sale that seems relevant: > Five Facets of the Myth of Progress > http://www.primitivism.com/facets-myth.htm > > ... and another one from Lester Brown, from Eco-Economy: Building an > Economy for the Earth: > Book Excerpt: Rethinking Economic Progress > The Dow May Be Up Over The Past Decade, But Cod, Aquifers, Topsoil, > Fisheries, Forests And Coral Reefs Are Down > http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm?ID=5023 > > By the way, free download of the whole of Eco-Economy here: > http://www.earth-policy.org/Books/Eco_contents.htm > > Best > > Keith > > >> Rail, and water - we built our current industrialized nations with a pretty >> basic and still very energy efficient technology, the railroad and the boat. >> >> When my neighbour's hot tub arrived and he needed to get it into the >> backyard, way off in the corner, it was going to take 6 guys to carry it. It >> was not round, so could not be rolled. >> >> Solution: I wandered over to my garage, let the other 3 guys we had on hand >> stand there and deliberate, and I grabbed four 20' pieces of light gauge >> barn door track. We laid it on the ground and just slid the thing about 18' >> at a time, and brought up the track behind it. We built a railroad. >> >> I knew a contractor that made a fortune on one job alone. A refinery wanted >> some tanks moved. Those huge round ones. Everyone else figured out how much >> to drag, disassemble, etc. He bid low, crazy low. >> >> Then he dug a canal. It was not a long distance move. Filled the canal with >> water. Floated the tanks across. Filled in the canal again. >> >> It took a lot longer. Not a problem. So it took a few weeks instead of a few >> days. Not a problem, as it turned out. It cost a lot less. He was the >> beneficiary of slowing down, thinking, and using his head instead of being >> in a rush about it. >> >> We are in a race, in a society, where speed is thought synonymous with >> efficiency.It's not, not energy efficiency. Slower is better. We pay that >> mindset with huge amounts of fossil fuel. We pay for that in a lot of ways >> that we don't like to think about much. >> >> We have sacrificed the efficiency of transport for the excitement of speed >> and "door-to-door" convenience. >> >> Remember that inefficiency the next time somebody tells you that biofuels >> can't supply our energy "needs". >> >> Maybe it depends on how fast our planes go, how often we choose to use >> trucks instead of rail, how often we print things and courier them or mail >> them instead of sending electronically, how we rely on a "just in time" >> inventory method in a country much larger then where the concept originated, >> and how we have to panic/rush things whenever that model lets us down. >> >> >> Edward Beggs >> www.biofuels.ca > > > > Biofuel at Journey to Forever: > http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > Please do NOT send "unsubscribe" messages to the list address. > To unsubscribe, send an email to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ > > ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> FREE COLLEGE MONEY CLICK HERE to search 600,000 scholarships! http://us.click.yahoo.com/iZp8OC/4m7CAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send "unsubscribe" messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
