ENERGY LAW (Darwin -- Lotka)
Charles François (2004). ENERGY LAW (Darwin -- Lotka), International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics, 2(1): 1090.
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 1090 ▶ |
| Object type | General information, Methodology or model |
- “Whenever it is necessary to transform and restore the greatest amount of energy at the fastest possible rate, 50 percent of it must go into the drain” (as stated by H.T. ODUM, 1971, p.31).
LOTKA himself wrote: “The discharge of a portion of the energy from the source into a sink is practised, not designedly because any useful purpose is served thereby, but unavoidedly because, in the case of all forms of heat engines, the second law of thermodynamics inexorably demands this payment of a tax to nature, as it were” (p.326).
Of course, biological organisms, and still more so human societies are “forms of heat engines”… and must pay the tax.