Alf Hornborg
Professor emeritus
Challenging the green machine : Rejoinder to Schwartzman
Författare
Summary, in English
We respond to David Schwartzman’s critique of our paper. We argue that his
“solar communism,” his approach to the question of energy return on energy
investment (EROI), and his critique of Georgescu-Roegen’s fourth law of
thermodynamics situate him as a left ecomodernist, albeit with sympathy for
degrowth. Schwartzman’s take on these issues illustrates how the ontological
separation of human ingenuity and global social metabolism obscures the
question of for whom a high-energy modern society is possible. This is
further exacerbated by his commitment to the notion of perfect recycling,
which has been proven practically impossible in inorganic systems.
“solar communism,” his approach to the question of energy return on energy
investment (EROI), and his critique of Georgescu-Roegen’s fourth law of
thermodynamics situate him as a left ecomodernist, albeit with sympathy for
degrowth. Schwartzman’s take on these issues illustrates how the ontological
separation of human ingenuity and global social metabolism obscures the
question of for whom a high-energy modern society is possible. This is
further exacerbated by his commitment to the notion of perfect recycling,
which has been proven practically impossible in inorganic systems.
Avdelning/ar
- Humanekologi
Publiceringsår
2025-01-08
Språk
Engelska
Sidor
104-111
Publikation/Tidskrift/Serie
Capitalism, Nature, Socialism
Volym
36
Avvikelse
1
Dokumenttyp
Artikel i tidskrift
Förlag
Routledge
Ämne
- Philosophy, Ethics and Religion
Aktiv
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Övrigt
- ISSN: 1548-3290