Shining The Light Of Truth On Fossil Fuel Madness - CleanTechnica

The article "Shining The Light Of Truth On Fossil Fuel Madness" by Lloyd Alter, featured on CleanTechnica, highlights the fundamental role of energy in economic systems, drawing heavily on the work of economist and physicist Robert Ayers. Ayers emphasized that economies function by extracting and transforming energy into goods and services, a process inherently governed by the laws of thermodynamics. Alter underscores that industrial activities generate significant waste and emissions, with the mass of residuals often exceeding the materials processed. This inefficiency challenges traditional economic views and stresses the environmental costs embedded in consumption patterns, such as the production and disposal of goods. Alter further critiques the fossil fuel economy by illustrating its inefficiency and the systemic incentives that perpetuate it. Using 2023 data from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, he notes that only about 10-12% of the energy in fuels used for transportation effectively powers vehicles, with the rest lost as heat and emissions. This inefficiency benefits oil companies and related industries