Energy

The three basic requirements for life are Energy and Water so that the necessary biochemistry can take place to create Biomass.

There is only one Energy source and that is the Sun.

The Sun initiates the Water Cycle by causing evaporation of sea water to form clouds, creating temperature and pressure differentials that cause winds that blow the clouds over land where they deposit clean freshwater as precipitation.

The Sun initiates the Nutrient Cycle by providing the Energy for Primary Biomass formation via photosynthesis, a process that started in water when Cyanobacteria and algae became the first life-forms of earth and still requires water when it drives plant and crop Biomass formation on land.

Fossil fuels are fossilized Primary Biomass, so it is more accurate to view them as Secondary Energy from the Sun. Biomass provides a means of storing the Sun’s Energy which we later access by combustion.

So switching to “renewable” Energy is really switching to Primary Energy from the Sun (photovoltaic, wind, hydro etc) from Secondary Energy from the Sun – Biomass in the form of wood, coal or oil.

Three facts:

  • we sit at the top of the Food Chain
  • our population has exploded during the Anthropocene age and
  • we live in high density urban developments

mean that we have to ensure that the performance of both the Water Cycle and the Nutrient Cycle are optimized in our favor.

Combustion destroys Biomass and effectively distorts the Nutrient Cycle by converting Biomass into atmospheric pollution. This highlights the unintended consequence of the new fad for “waterless toilets” which dry out fecal Biomass to form “biochar” for combustion to provide Energy. The effect is to syphon off Biomass from the Nutrient Cycle to exploit it as a Secondary Energy source just like coal or oil.

Understanding how distortions in the Nutrient Cycle degrade water quality in the Water Cycle to impair both water supply and food production at the WEB Nexus is critical to sustainable resource management.

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