09 On Ingenuity

A consultant said, speak to us of ingenuity.
And the prophet spoke thusly:

When James Watt pioneered the steam engine, it powered a revolution. His key insight was the seemingly simple idea to separate the piston from the condensation chamber. Keeping the piston hot transformed the machine from a curious gadget into a powerful tool.

Unfortunately, as industrial society mushroomed, Watt’s machine rapidly gobbled up Europe’s forests. The solution to one problem had created an even greater challenge, and more ingenuity was called for.

The use of coal became widespread, giving rise to a new axiom: You gotta spend energy to make energy. Steam shovels dug the holes. Steam pumped the sump water out, crushed the ore, and transported whatever coal was not needed to power the machines that had helped produce it.

A concept is needed to define the relation between energy that goes in, and the energy that comes out. That concept is called the E.R.O.I. - the energy return on investment.

As our holes get deeper and deeper, and we crush the oil sands, we are rapidly heading towards an E.R.O.I. of one to one. For every barrel of oil produced, one barrel of oil will be required to produce it.

We’ve got to include the costs people! Global warming is also a cost of the energy extraction game. And the dreadful wars ! The wars to gain control of the lands through which the pipelines flow. How much oil does it take to keep a Hummer humming?

Dear people of Orphalese. This black sludge leaking from the rusty bucket behind me - we live in an age in which we are killing each other to secure its flow. Can you think of any reason to minimize its use?

We’ve reached the end stop of James Watt’s mechanical dream. It had its time, but move on we must. Ingenuity people. Ingenuity.