Jeremy Rifkin argues that our current energy consumption is irreversible and non-renewable, and that we need to transition to a low-entropy society. He suggests that this requires moderation in consumption, redistribution of wealth, and a more labor-intensive mode of production, but he questions whether these options are feasible in a modern capitalist society. His alternatives have been criticized as overly idealistic and unrealistic.
A few weeks ago, I was waiting in line at the bus stop to catch the school shuttle bus. In the distance, a blue bus I had never seen before approached, with the words “electric bus pilot” written on the front. This can be seen as a part of the policy regarding the installation of electric vehicles and their infrastructure, which is receiving great attention and being actively studied in Korea and around the world these days. Now, in the 21st century, the world is investing a lot of money to develop not only electricity but also bioenergy and solar energy that can replace crude oil. But why is the world so obsessed with developing these alternatives? In this book, Jeremy Rifkin outlines the reasons why we need to reduce our consumption of non-renewable energy and find alternatives, the problems that come with it, and the solutions.
When crude oil is refined into petroleum, naphtha, diesel, and heavy fuel oil, carbon dioxide is released. This carbon dioxide is used by plants as a raw material for photosynthesis, where it is fixed into carbon. Plants store it in the form of sugar, which is buried in the ground and deposited over time to create crude oil. In light of this process, you might wonder if the energy we use today could be renewable if it were circular. Jeremy Rifkin would say a firm “no” to this question. To understand this, we must first understand the concept of entropy and the law of entropy.
“Entropy means disorder, and more specifically, it is a measure of the degree to which the useful energy present in any system in the universe is converted into useless forms. The law of entropy is the second law of thermodynamics, which states that everything in the universe starts with a certain structure and value and gradually moves towards a state of disorder and waste, and that it is impossible to reverse this direction.”
To make it easier to understand this concept in terms of energy, Clausius explains that heat does not move from a cold source (useless energy) to a hot source (usable energy) on its own; it must be exerted from the outside.
The law of entropy is so self-evident that no phenomenon, whether physical or chemical, has ever been found to be an exception to this law. So how can we explain the logic of the crude oil cycle mentioned above? In the example above, the entropy appears to have decreased, but the entropy of the system as a whole has actually increased: the entropy of a particular system has decreased, but the entropy of its surroundings has increased to a greater extent. Refining crude oil also requires other sources of energy, and photosynthesis in plants involves the expenditure of biochemical energy. Jeremy Rifkin argues in his book that the law of entropy is absolute, and I believe that there are no exceptions to this law and that it is impossible to criticize it. In the end, we have to accept that the energy we use is irreversible and non-renewable.
According to the law of entropy, the degree of disorder in the world is constantly increasing, and the amount of useful energy is constantly decreasing. Since humans live under the great influence of energy, this means that life is becoming increasingly difficult. So how should the world respond to this situation? Jeremy Rifkin argues that entropy growth is inevitable and we need to move towards a new social framework centered on entropy to slow it down. He argues that several key changes must occur in the near term to make this happen, and that we must ultimately move from a high-entropy society, or industrialized society, to a low-entropy society.
He characterizes low-entropy societies as follows First, low-entropy societies need to reduce energy consumption as much as possible, which requires societies to limit consumption and curb materialistic expectations. Second, he argues that zero-growth policies should be adopted. Third, there should be a massive redistribution of wealth and power throughout society, and in terms of technology, it recommends that labor, not technology, be the means of resource use. Finally, politically, a government that governs minimally is ideal, and in the workplace and community, everyone should have an equal voice through egalitarian rather than hierarchical structures.
As mentioned above, I agree with Jeremy Rifkin’s ideas about the law of entropy. However, I have some doubts about his solution to reduce the rate of entropy growth. First of all, in economic terms, what would happen if we restricted consumers’ consumption in the short term? Consumption would be curbed, the amount of money would decrease, producers’ production would decrease, and investment in businesses would decrease. With less demand, the price level would fall, which could lead to severe deflation, which could lead to a long-term economic stagnation. In this case, it is questionable whether the society can be called a low-entropy society.
The argument for redistribution of wealth and power also seems difficult to implement in practice. In capitalist societies, of course, some people accumulate wealth through unjust means, but is it possible to redistribute the fruits of their abilities and efforts to the rest of society for free, given that most countries have adopted a capitalist system? Furthermore, he emphasizes labor-intensive means of production instead of technology, arguing that the larger the tools of labor become, the more capital- and energy-intensive they become, creating more entropy. However, I think it is a hasty generalization to assume that the use of automated tools increases entropy faster. For example, if you were to make a rice cake by hand versus using a water wheel that utilizes the height difference of water to make the rice cake, would you say that the water wheel increases entropy more?
In addition, machines that automate production using electricity are currently dominated by nuclear power in Korea, but there is also a significant proportion of hydropower, tidal power, and wind power. The driving force behind this power generation is the movement of water and wind by the sun’s heat, so the increase in the sun’s entropy is not human-caused. Therefore, the use of automated tools does not necessarily imply a high-entropy society, just as the use of energy produced by nuclear or thermal power, which increase entropy rapidly, contributes to the increase in entropy.
The message Jeremy Rifkin is trying to convey in this book is self-evidently correct. Entropy on a cosmic scale is increasing rapidly, according to the law of entropy, and we need to reduce our consumption in preparation for the coming energy crisis. However, many of the solutions he proposes seem impractical, overly theoretical and idealistic. He calls for a de-industrialized, agriculturalized, and even prehistoric society, which is not compatible with modern society and is not realistic. It will be difficult to find a clear alternative, but we will have to look for something more practical and in line with modern society.
