re: #264 Thanos

He’s not suspect, his motives are clear. He wants to make a profit - that doesn’t make him evil in my books. You make a profit by providing something people want at a price they are willing to pay. Yay capitalism! If we want to get out of the low energy luddite curve we are headed into then we need all sources that are profitable online. There’s no such thing as bad energy, I’m in the midst of writing an essay on that now.

But there is bad energy - that is there is bad CONSUMPTION. Burning diamonds to make a cup of tea, would be bad energy. Burning ethanol made from corn, at the price of making meat too expensive, much less tortillas - is bad energy. Burning gasoline on primitive two-stroke engines and clunker-cars, is generally bad energy consumption. Arguably incandescent bulbs are bad energy, unless you burn them only in winter when their waste heat is needed, and also considering their very cheap price compared to alternatives.

The point being that energy supply and consumption comprise a system, and must be matched.