Energy Complexity And Wealth Maximization

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Energy, Complexity and Wealth Maximization

Robert Ayres
Energy Complexity and Wealth Maximization Book PDF

Author : Robert Ayres
Publisher : Springer
Page : 593 pages
File Size : 48,6 Mb
Release : 2016-07-14
Category : Science
ISBN : 9783319305455

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Energy, Complexity and Wealth Maximization by Robert Ayres Pdf

This book is about the mechanisms of wealth creation, or what we like to think of as evolutionary "progress." The massive circular flow of goods and services between producers and consumers is not a perpetual motion machine; it has been dependent for the past 150 years on energy inputs from a finite storage of fossil fuels. In this book, you will learn about the three key requirements for wealth creation, and how this process acts according to physical laws, and usually after some part of the natural wealth of the planet has been exploited in an episode of "creative destruction." Knowledge and natural capital, particularly energy, will interact to power the human wealth engine in the future as it has in the past. Will it sputter or continue along the path of evolutionary progress that we have come to expect? Can the new immaterial wealth of information and ideas, which makes up the so-called knowledge economy, replace depleted natural wealth? These questions have no simple answers, but this masterful book will help you to understand the grand challenge of our time. Praise for Energy, Complexity and Wealth Maximization: “... people who run the modern world (politicians, economists and lawyers) have a very poor grasp of how it really works because they do not understand the fundamentals of energy, exergy and entropy ... those decision-makers would greatly benefit from reading this book ...” - Vaclav Smil, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, University of Manitoba “... A grandiose design; impressive, worth reading and reflecting!” - Prof. Dr. Ernst Ulrich von Weizäcker, Founder of Wuppertal Institute; Co-President of the Club of Rome, Former Member of the German Bundestag, co-chair of the UN’s Resource Panel “... The book is a must read for concerned citizens and decision makers across the globe.” - RK Pachauri, Founder and Executive Vice Chairman, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and ex-chair, International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

Chemical Complexity

Alexander S. Mikhailov,Gerhard Ertl
Chemical Complexity Book PDF

Author : Alexander S. Mikhailov,Gerhard Ertl
Publisher : Springer
Page : 208 pages
File Size : 50,7 Mb
Release : 2017-08-10
Category : Science
ISBN : 9783319573779

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Chemical Complexity by Alexander S. Mikhailov,Gerhard Ertl Pdf

This book provides an outline of theoretical concepts and their experimental verification in studies of self-organization phenomena in chemical systems, as they emerged in the mid-20th century and have evolved since. Presenting essays on selected topics, it was prepared by authors who have made profound contributions to the field. Traditionally, physical chemistry has been concerned with interactions between atoms and molecules that produce a variety of equilibrium structures - or the 'dead' order - in a stationary state. But biological cells exhibit a different 'living' kind of order, prompting E. Schrödinger to pose his famous question “What is life?” in 1943. Through an unprecedented theoretical and experimental development, it was later revealed that biological self-organization phenomena are in complete agreement with the laws of physics, once they are applied to a special class of thermodynamically open systems and non-equilibrium states. This knowledge has in turn led to the design and synthesis of simple inorganic systems capable of self-organization effects. These artificial 'living organisms' are able to operate on macroscopic to microscopic scales, even down to single-molecule machines. In the future, such research could provide a basis for a technological breakthrough, comparable in its impact with the invention of lasers and semiconductors. Its results can be used to control natural chemical processes, and to design artificial complex chemical processes with various functionalities. The book offers an extensive discussion of the history of research on complex chemical systems and its future prospects.

The Age of Sustainability

Mark Swilling
The Age of Sustainability Book PDF

Author : Mark Swilling
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 331 pages
File Size : 53,9 Mb
Release : 2019-11-06
Category : Nature
ISBN : 9780429603723

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The Age of Sustainability by Mark Swilling Pdf

With transitions to more sustainable ways of living already underway, this book examines how we understand the underlying dynamics of the transitions that are unfolding. Without this understanding, we enter the future in a state of informed bewilderment. Every day we are bombarded by reports about ecosystem breakdown, social conflict, economic stagnation and a crisis of identity. There is mounting evidence that deeper transitions are underway that suggest we may be entering another period of great transformation equal in significance to the agricultural revolution some 13,000 years ago or the Industrial Revolution 250 years ago. This book helps readers make sense of our global crisis and the dynamics of transition that could result in a shift from the industrial epoch that we live in now to a more sustainable and equitable age. The global renewable energy transition that is already underway holds the key to the wider just transition. However, the evolutionary potential of the present also manifests in the mushrooming of ecocultures, new urban visions, sustainability-oriented developmental states and new ways of learning and researching. Shedding light on the highly complex challenge of a sustainable and just transition, this book is essential reading for anyone concerned with establishing a more sustainable and equitable world. Ultimately, this is a book about hope but without easy answers.

Dictionary of Ecological Economics

Brent M. Haddad,Barry D. Solomon
Dictionary of Ecological Economics Book PDF

Author : Brent M. Haddad,Barry D. Solomon
Publisher : Edward Elgar Publishing
Page : 619 pages
File Size : 45,9 Mb
Release : 2023-02-14
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9781788974912

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Dictionary of Ecological Economics by Brent M. Haddad,Barry D. Solomon Pdf

This comprehensive Dictionary brings together an extensive range of definitive terms in ecological economics. Assembling contributions from distinguished scholars, it provides an intellectual map to this evolving subject ranging from the practical to the philosophical.

Solar Technology and Global Environmental Justice

Andreas Roos
Solar Technology and Global Environmental Justice Book PDF

Author : Andreas Roos
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
Page : 239 pages
File Size : 48,8 Mb
Release : 2023-02-02
Category : Technology & Engineering
ISBN : 9781000832617

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Solar Technology and Global Environmental Justice by Andreas Roos Pdf

Building on insights from ecological economics and philosophy of technology, this book offers a novel, interdisciplinary approach to understand the contradictory nature of Solar photovoltaic (PV) technology. Solar photovoltaic (PV) technology is rapidly emerging as a cost-effective option in the world economy. However, reports about miserable working conditions, environmentally deleterious mineral extraction and toxic waste dumps corrode the image of a problem-free future based on solar power. Against this backdrop, Andreas Roos explores whether ‘ecologically unequal exchange’ – an asymmetric transfer of labour time and natural resources – is a necessary condition for solar PV development. He demonstrates how the massive increase in solar PV installation over recent years would not have been possible without significant wage/price differences in the world economy - notably between Europe/North America and Asia- and concludes that solar PV development is currently contingent on environmental injustices in the world economy. As a solution, Roos argues that solar technology is best coupled with strategies for degrowth, which allow for a transition away from fossil fuels and towards a socially just and ecologically sustainable future. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of solar power, philosophy of technology, and environmental justice.

Ecological Limits of Development

Kaitlin Kish,Stephen Quilley
Ecological Limits of Development Book PDF

Author : Kaitlin Kish,Stephen Quilley
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 275 pages
File Size : 41,5 Mb
Release : 2021-11-03
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9781000471472

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Ecological Limits of Development by Kaitlin Kish,Stephen Quilley Pdf

Embracing the reality of biophysical limits to growth, this volume uses the technical tools from ecological economics to recast the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as Ecological Livelihood Goals – policy agendas and trajectories that seek to reconcile the social and spatial mobility and liberty of individuals, with both material security and ecological integrity. Since the 1970s, mainstream approaches to sustainable development have sought to reconcile ecological constraints with modernization through much vaunted and seldom demonstrated strategies of ‘decoupling’ and ‘dematerialization’. In this context, the UN SDGs have become the orchestrating drivers of sustainability governance. However, biophysical limits are not so easily sidestepped. Building on an ecological- economic critique of mainstream economics and a historical- sociological understanding of state formation, this book explores the implications of ecological limits for modern progressive politics. Each chapter outlines leverage points for municipal engagement in local and regional contexts. Systems theory and community development perspectives are used to explore under- appreciated avenues for the kind of social and cultural change that would be necessary for any accommodation between modernity and ecological limits. Drawing on ideas from H.T. Odum, Herman Daly, Zigmunt Bauman, and many others, this book provides guiding research for a convergence between North and South that is bottom-up, household-centred, and predicated on a re- emerging domain of Livelihood. In each chapter, the authors provide recommendations for reconfiguring the UN’s SDGs as Ecological Livelihood Goals – a framework for sustainable development in an era of limits. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of ecological economics, socio- ecological systems, political economy, international and community development, global governance, and sustainable development.

How To Think About Climate Change

Riccardo Rebonato
How To Think About Climate Change Book PDF

Author : Riccardo Rebonato
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 362 pages
File Size : 53,8 Mb
Release : 2023-12-04
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9781009404990

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How To Think About Climate Change by Riccardo Rebonato Pdf

Caught in the crossfire between climate deniers and catastrophists, the intelligent layperson is understandably bewildered when faced with the complexity of climate change. How To Think About Climate Change shows that economics provides not just a suitable, but an indispensable perspective to understand the root causes of the climate-change problem: scarcity of resources, externalities and free riding. Riccardo Rebonato argues that there are no silver bullets or easy solutions. However, he shows that the new-generation economics models offer a radically different insight about our best course of action from what most early models recommended - in particular, they suggest that fast and large-scale climate action can now be justified as the most cost-effective strategy without requiring the 'infinite altruism' of earlier models. Given the conceptual tools provided in this book, readers can decide whether they agree with these conclusions - and, if they do, what the most effective courses of action are.

Sustainability Beyond Technology

Pasi Heikkurinen,Toni Ruuska
Sustainability Beyond Technology Book PDF

Author : Pasi Heikkurinen,Toni Ruuska
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 256 pages
File Size : 42,6 Mb
Release : 2021-03-29
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780192634078

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Sustainability Beyond Technology by Pasi Heikkurinen,Toni Ruuska Pdf

Current debates on sustainability are largely building on a problematic assumption that increasing technology use and advancement are a desired phenomenon, creating positive change in human organizations. This kind of techno-optimism prevails particularly in the discourses of ecological modernization and green growth, as well as in the attempts to design sustainable modes of production and consumption within growth-driven capitalism. This transdisciplinary book investigates the philosophical underpinnings of technology, presents a culturally sensitive critique to technology, and outlines feasible alternatives for sustainability beyond technology. It draws on a variety of scholarly disciplines, including the humanities (philosophy and environmental history), social sciences (ecological economics, political economy, and ecology) and natural sciences (geology and thermodynamics) to contribute to sustainability theory and policy. By examining the conflicts and contradictions between technology and sustainability in human organization, the book develops a novel way to conceptualize, confront, and change technology in modern society.

Growth

Vaclav Smil
Growth Book PDF

Author : Vaclav Smil
Publisher : MIT Press
Page : 665 pages
File Size : 54,6 Mb
Release : 2019-09-24
Category : Nature
ISBN : 9780262042833

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Growth by Vaclav Smil Pdf

A systematic investigation of growth in nature and society, from tiny organisms to the trajectories of empires and civilizations. Growth has been both an unspoken and an explicit aim of our individual and collective striving. It governs the lives of microorganisms and galaxies; it shapes the capabilities of our extraordinarily large brains and the fortunes of our economies. Growth is manifested in annual increments of continental crust, a rising gross domestic product, a child's growth chart, the spread of cancerous cells. In this magisterial book, Vaclav Smil offers systematic investigation of growth in nature and society, from tiny organisms to the trajectories of empires and civilizations. Smil takes readers from bacterial invasions through animal metabolisms to megacities and the global economy. He begins with organisms whose mature sizes range from microscopic to enormous, looking at disease-causing microbes, the cultivation of staple crops, and human growth from infancy to adulthood. He examines the growth of energy conversions and man-made objects that enable economic activities—developments that have been essential to civilization. Finally, he looks at growth in complex systems, beginning with the growth of human populations and proceeding to the growth of cities. He considers the challenges of tracing the growth of empires and civilizations, explaining that we can chart the growth of organisms across individual and evolutionary time, but that the progress of societies and economies, not so linear, encompasses both decline and renewal. The trajectory of modern civilization, driven by competing imperatives of material growth and biospheric limits, Smil tells us, remains uncertain.

Grand Transitions

Vaclav Smil
Grand Transitions Book PDF

Author : Vaclav Smil
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 385 pages
File Size : 50,9 Mb
Release : 2021-02-12
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780190060688

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Grand Transitions by Vaclav Smil Pdf

What makes the modern world work? The answer to this deceptively simple question lies in four "grand transitions" of civilization--in populations, agriculture, energy, and economics--which have transformed the way we live. Societies that have undergone all four transitions emerge into an era of radically different population dynamics, food surpluses (and waste), abundant energy use, and expanding economic opportunities. Simultaneously, in other parts of the world, hundreds of millions remain largely untouched by these developments. Through erudite storytelling, Vaclav Smil investigates the fascinating and complex interactions of these transitions. He argues that the moral imperative to share modernity's benefits has become more acute with increasing economic inequality, but addressing this imbalance would make it exceedingly difficult to implement the changes necessary for the long-term preservation of the environment. Thus, managing the fifth transition--environmental changes from natural-resource depletion, biodiversity loss, and global warming--will determine the success or eventual failure of the grand transitions that have made the world we live in today.

Information-Driven Machine Learning

Gerald Friedland
Information Driven Machine Learning Book PDF

Author : Gerald Friedland
Publisher : Springer Nature
Page : 281 pages
File Size : 48,7 Mb
Release : 2024-01-02
Category : Computers
ISBN : 9783031394775

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Information-Driven Machine Learning by Gerald Friedland Pdf

This groundbreaking book transcends traditional machine learning approaches by introducing information measurement methodologies that revolutionize the field. Stemming from a UC Berkeley seminar on experimental design for machine learning tasks, these techniques aim to overcome the 'black box' approach of machine learning by reducing conjectures such as magic numbers (hyper-parameters) or model-type bias. Information-based machine learning enables data quality measurements, a priori task complexity estimations, and reproducible design of data science experiments. The benefits include significant size reduction, increased explainability, and enhanced resilience of models, all contributing to advancing the discipline's robustness and credibility. While bridging the gap between machine learning and disciplines such as physics, information theory, and computer engineering, this textbook maintains an accessible and comprehensive style, making complex topics digestible for a broad readership. Information-Driven Machine Learning explores the synergistic harmony among these disciplines to enhance our understanding of data science modeling. Instead of solely focusing on the "how," this text provides answers to the "why" questions that permeate the field, shedding light on the underlying principles of machine learning processes and their practical implications. By advocating for systematic methodologies grounded in fundamental principles, this book challenges industry practices that have often evolved from ideologic or profit-driven motivations. It addresses a range of topics, including deep learning, data drift, and MLOps, using fundamental principles such as entropy, capacity, and high dimensionality. Ideal for both academia and industry professionals, this textbook serves as a valuable tool for those seeking to deepen their understanding of data science as an engineering discipline. Its thought-provoking content stimulates intellectual curiosity and caters to readers who desire more than just code or ready-made formulas. The text invites readers to explore beyond conventional viewpoints, offering an alternative perspective that promotes a big-picture view for integrating theory with practice. Suitable for upper undergraduate or graduate-level courses, this book can also benefit practicing engineers and scientists in various disciplines by enhancing their understanding of modeling and improving data measurement effectively.

Spirals and Vortices

Kinko Tsuji,Stefan C. Müller
Spirals and Vortices Book PDF

Author : Kinko Tsuji,Stefan C. Müller
Publisher : Springer
Page : 297 pages
File Size : 42,7 Mb
Release : 2019-04-04
Category : Science
ISBN : 9783030057985

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Spirals and Vortices by Kinko Tsuji,Stefan C. Müller Pdf

This richly illustrated book explores the fascinating and ubiquitous occurrence of spirals and vortices in human culture and in nature. Spiral forms have been used as elements in the arts for thousands of years, whereas their role in nature and science – from DNA and sea shells to galaxies – is still a topic of investigation in numerous fields. Following an introduction to the cultural history of spiral forms, the book presents contributions from leading experts, who describe the origins, mechanisms and dynamics of spirals and vortices in their special fields. As a whole the book provides a valuable source of information, while also taking the reader on an aesthetic and scientific journey through the world of spiral forms.

The Seneca Effect

Ugo Bardi
The Seneca Effect Book PDF

Author : Ugo Bardi
Publisher : Springer
Page : 219 pages
File Size : 47,8 Mb
Release : 2017-08-22
Category : Science
ISBN : 9783319572079

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The Seneca Effect by Ugo Bardi Pdf

The essence of this book can be found in a line written by the ancient Roman Stoic Philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca: "Fortune is of sluggish growth, but ruin is rapid". This sentence summarizes the features of the phenomenon that we call "collapse," which is typically sudden and often unexpected, like the proverbial "house of cards." But why are such collapses so common, and what generates them? Several books have been published on the subject, including the well known "Collapse" by Jared Diamond (2005), "The collapse of complex societies" by Joseph Tainter (1998) and "The Tipping Point," by Malcom Gladwell (2000). Why The Seneca Effect? This book is an ambitious attempt to pull these various strands together by describing collapse from a multi-disciplinary viewpoint. The reader will discover how collapse is a collective phenomenon that occurs in what we call today "complex systems," with a special emphasis on system dynamics and the concept of "feedback." From this foundation, Bardi applies the theory to real-world systems, from the mechanics of fracture and the collapse of large structures to financial collapses, famines and population collapses, the fall of entire civilzations, and the most dreadful collapse we can imagine: that of the planetary ecosystem generated by overexploitation and climate change. The final objective of the book is to describe a conclusion that the ancient stoic philosophers had already discovered long ago, but that modern system science has rediscovered today. If you want to avoid collapse you need to embrace change, not fight it. Neither a book about doom and gloom nor a cornucopianist's dream, The Seneca Effect goes to the heart of the challenges that we are facing today, helping us to manage our future rather than be managed by it.

Particles, Fields and Forces

Wouter Schmitz
Particles Fields and Forces Book PDF

Author : Wouter Schmitz
Publisher : Springer
Page : 321 pages
File Size : 42,7 Mb
Release : 2019-04-23
Category : Science
ISBN : 9783030128784

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Particles, Fields and Forces by Wouter Schmitz Pdf

How can fundamental particles exist as waves in the vacuum? How can such waves have particle properties such as inertia? What is behind the notion of “virtual” particles? Why and how do particles exert forces on one another? Not least: What are forces anyway? These are some of the central questions that have intriguing answers in Quantum Field Theory and the Standard Model of Particle Physics. Unfortunately, these theories are highly mathematical, so that most people - even many scientists - are not able to fully grasp their meaning. This book unravels these theories in a conceptual manner, using more than 180 figures and extensive explanations and will provide the nonspecialist with great insights that are not to be found in the popular science literature.

Information—Consciousness—Reality

James B. Glattfelder
Information Consciousness Reality Book PDF

Author : James B. Glattfelder
Publisher : Springer
Page : 662 pages
File Size : 53,7 Mb
Release : 2019-04-10
Category : Science
ISBN : 9783030036331

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Information—Consciousness—Reality by James B. Glattfelder Pdf

This open access book chronicles the rise of a new scientific paradigm offering novel insights into the age-old enigmas of existence. Over 300 years ago, the human mind discovered the machine code of reality: mathematics. By utilizing abstract thought systems, humans began to decode the workings of the cosmos. From this understanding, the current scientific paradigm emerged, ultimately discovering the gift of technology. Today, however, our island of knowledge is surrounded by ever longer shores of ignorance. Science appears to have hit a dead end when confronted with the nature of reality and consciousness. In this fascinating and accessible volume, James Glattfelder explores a radical paradigm shift uncovering the ontology of reality. It is found to be information-theoretic and participatory, yielding a computational and programmable universe.