Posts Tagged ‘energy’

hard-wired

Great Copper Search, Picher, Oklahoma © Jim Korpi

My feet were nimble and quick. Every step moved toward the stable footing of a solid stone. I descended the hillside like a wild ram. Millions of calculations flowed from stem to limb in a subconscious waltz of body and mind.
Humans are a supreme specimen of innate strength and keen movements. Sex and sport allow for a release of this native skill, but all else goes untouched and uncaressed. What we do not use in our sterile and stagnant lives should be recorded as the grandest waste of raw animal instinct, energy, prowess and primal divinity.

more new picher photographs

Keystone of an Empire

Grecian Façade © Jim Korpi

“When it comes to the exigencies of energy, our rich, high-tech Western societies aren’t any different from poor developing societies or, for that matter, from ancient Rome. All our societies require enormous flows of high-quality energy just to sustain, let alone raise, their complexity and order (to keep themselves, in the clumsy terminology of physics, far from thermodynamic equilibrium). Without constant inputs of high-quality energy, complex societies aren’t resilient to external shock. In fact, they almost certainly can’t endure. These ever present dangers drive societies to relentlessly search for energy sources with the highest possible return on investment (EROI). They also drive societies to aggressively control and organize the territories that supply their energy and to extend their interests, engagements, and often their political and economic domination far beyond their current borders—as we see today with American involvement in Iraq and the Persian Gulf.” – Thomas Homer-Dixon The Upside of Down

Winds of Change

Wind Farm © Jim Korpi

Tractor trailor trucks crowd our highways and make one wonder what ever happened to trains and how can it be economical for all those big rigs to run all over the country.
But there is something I’ve been seeing a lot of on the back of these trucks that brings a smile to my face.
The wings of a windmill look small in the distance, but when an escorted wide-load passes you on an interstate with one wobbling on its extended trailer you’re humbled by the size and the knowledge that this is only one piece of a giant.