The energy connection

Life is about energy. Energy powers our production systems. We wake up, exercise, and pretty much do everything (it's called work) because of energy. But what is energy? What exactly does energy do in our systems? In the same way as our motor vehicles need energy to move, we need energy to get on with life. Fairly simplistic, right?

And from the star it all began…

Energy comes from the sun of course. The sun will be around for a billion more years, so our immediate energy future is assured. Besides, none of us will be around for that long anyway. So it really doesn't matter that much, right? But it sure does. There’s the small little matter about how to access that energy.

An age-old yet relevant process

So energy is harvested from the sun by green plants (through photosynthesis of course - remember that?). The energy is either consumed directly from plants by human beings or other animals, and then converted to other forms of energy. Energy can't be created or destroyed (law of conservation of energy), so it's either used in the form it is in (from plants, animals, etc.), or transferred down the food chain. It's energy all the way. Whether it’s the burgers you buy from McDonald's, the oil or petrol from the pump, or whether it's the electricity (most of it derived from coal) from Eskom, it's all energy from the sun of course. Available in different forms. Wars are fought over access to energy. That's how central energy is to our lives. Kind of funny when you get to consider how things connect.

And up the chain it goes…

And yet because of energy, we are stuck with problems of pollution and climate change (emissions from the burning of fossil fuels are to blame – coal, oil, biomass, etc.). The so-called war on terror, which caused untold damage to the lives of poor people in Iraq, had everything to do with access to oil. The current wrangles over Iran’s nuclear ambitions are effectively over a poor nation’s rights to access a convenient form of energy (oil is going to run out soon).  We get companies dedicated to selling energy in one form or another. Some of the biggest companies in the world are in the oil and gas sector (Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell, China National Petroleum Corporation, among others.). The big 4 oil and gas companies in SA make fortunes in selling oil and its derivatives. Farmers sell their hard-earned produce to established retailers who make most of the killing – and in the end screw the poor farmers of course. But it's all about energy. That's why it's so central to life. Without energy, life is not possible. It's as simple as that. So the whole point of life is about accessing energy and using it to power our systems. Our brains use up most of the energy in our bodies. If you cut off energy supply to the brain even for a short while, life grinds to a halt. 

Hopefully society will have a better appreciation of energy. Next time I'll write a piece about the amount of oil in the world and the whole peak-oil story. It’s a bit of a murky subject. You'll make up your mind what you think of that. It's one of the hottest topics of our generation. In much the same way as is climate change. Or any of the other sexy topics bandied about by the media.