Entropy.

["Guido Erreygers" <DSE.ERREYGERS.G@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Jim Devine asks for a specific case in which the concept of entropy
is crucial. I am not going to explain the whole model, but I do want
to mention that I found Georgescu-Roegen's assessment of the solar
energy technology illuminating. Here are some of the conclusions to
which Georgescu-Roegen arrived in his article `Energy analysis and
economic valuation' published in the _Southern Economic Journal_ in
April 1979 (vol. 45(4), pp. 1023-1058):

    "The obvious upshot is that at present it is not possible to
produce collectors only by the solar energy they collect. Any use of
a presently feasible recipe based on solar collectors, therefore, is
a parasite of the current technology. And, like any parasite, it
could not survive its host (...)." (p. 1053)

    "To try persistently to find more efficient recipes is not only
legitimate, it is imperative. But to claim that solar energy is here
before it actually is, or to preach that `come what may we shall find
a way' will only conceal from public awareness the seriousness of the
acute problem of natural resources and thus render any movement
toward an adequate policy to deal with that problem far more
difficult than it actually is." (p. 1055)


For those interested in the applicability or relevance of Georgescu-
Roegen's work it might be useful to know that there exists an
association which in its own words "intends to promote the studies
and the applications of bioeconomics and the work of Professor
Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen". This is the _European Association for
Bioeconomic Studies_ (EABS), with permanent office in Milan (Via
Larga 11, 20122 Milano, Italy). In the past the EABS has organized two
international conferences, the first on `Entropy and Bioeconomics'
(Rome, 1991), and the second on `Implications and Applications of
Bioeconomics' (Palma de Mallorca, 1994). [This is not intended as a
publicity message for the EABS; I just want to point out that some
people _do_ believe that Georgescu-Roegen's work is a good starting
point for a different approach to economic problems.]
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