Auteur: ronald rovers

Metals are often said to be “non-renewable.” It’s suggested there’s no other way to deal with it. But we can renew them—though what’s usually meant is reuse or recycling: renewed use of something that already exists. And that, in turn, is called circular. But that’s not quite correct: it’s prolonged…

It seems that more and more energy is needed to keep the capitalist exhaustion of the Earth going, which also requires more and more material. How did we get here, and where do we go from here? A thought experiment. Originally, however, there was (and is) plenty of energy—solar energy—and…

There is a thought-provoking idea that lingers in the mind: “Societies go from high morale and strong consensus to pessimism and division.” This process has been termed “moral entropy.” The term invites speculation—could the principles of thermodynamics, typically applied to physical systems, also offer insights into moral and societal dynamics?…

The world is getting a bit crowded, and most people have no idea of the real impact of their activities, especially when it comes to land degradation, as the ultimate foudnation for our existence. They might be somewhat aware of their travel behavior (such as flight shame) or their eating…

elderly homes abandoned, elder people living lonely in too big houses Housing shortage constructions delayed, lost people since corona and will never get back on track. GPs are becoming overstressed medications often run out healthcare system is creaking amount of IC beds decreasing livestock farming is causing various dramas that…

It’s time to shine a light on an old technique: shutters. (No, I’m not following in the footsteps of Lowtech Magazine, but sometimes our paths cross).Shutters are as old as building itself, even predating the invention of glass. There was no glass back then, so how do you keep the…

What is Exergy, Entropy, Information, Order in relation to buildings? Everything will turn to dust. Inevitable. Except in a subsystem where solar radiation provides just enough energy to (re)create some order. I was once again struggling with a question: the relationship between entropy, exergy, value, and order. Yes, yes, you…

Land is our capital, and everything can be expressed in the space-time needed for the activity, in hectare-years of output to capture and store (solar) energy. This can be as food, as raw material, or as stored energy.But it’s not only ‘raw materials’ that require land; social activities and hobbies…

Dear readers, at the beginning of the year, let’s get some steam out, for a fresh start… Is it really that difficult to understand how the world works in essence, or do we still refuse to grasp it in 2025, or deliberately avoiding the subject?Look, it is still the case…

Since we’re talking about the 1960s, let’s dive a bit deeper and attach some numbers: In the 1960s, things really started to get out of hand. Energy graphs began to shoot up steeply from that point onward. Which made that prime minister Lubbers at the time called for “the living…